Dafydd Elis Elis-Thomas, Baron Elis-Thomas, PC (néThomas; born 18 October 1946), is a Welsh politician who served as the leader of Plaid Cymru from 1984 to 1991 and represented the Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency in the Senedd from 1999 to 2021.
Dafydd Elis Thomas was born on 18 October 1946 at Priory Hospital, Carmarthen, and brought up in the Llandysul area of Ceredigion, and in Llanrwst in the Conwy Valley.[3][4] In 1970, he married Elen Williams and had three sons. They later divorced. From the mid-1980s until 1992 his partner was Marjorie Thompson, the chairwoman of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND). In 1993, he married Mair Parry-Jones. He lives in Llandaff, Cardiff (when working at the Senedd) and Betws-y-Coed (in the Aberconwy constituency, but prior to boundary changes in his constituency). [citation needed]
Professional career
He was the chairman of the Welsh Language Board between 1994 and 1999, and is a former member of the Arts Council of Wales, Governor of the British Film Institute and Chairman of Screen Wales between 1992 and 1999.[5][6] He was also a director and vice-chairman of Cynefin Environmental Ltd. between 1992 and 1999. A former university lecturer, he has also been the president of Bangor University since 2000, as well as currently being a member of the governing body of the Church in Wales.
He was created a life peer on 18 September 1992 as Baron Elis-Thomas, of Nant Conwy in the County of Gwynedd, with a change of his surname from Thomas to Elis-Thomas.[8] He sat as a crossbench peer because at that time he had taken on the non-political role of chair of the Welsh Language Board;[9] in 2012, he took the Plaid Cymru whip in the Lords until leaving the party in 2016.
Senedd
Elis-Thomas was elected to the newly established National Assembly for Wales (now called "Senedd Cymru" or "the Welsh Parliament", or simply Senedd) in 1999, representing the Meirionnydd Nant Conwy constituency until the 2007 election, and then the Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency.[3] He also held the position of Presiding Officer from the Assembly's inception in 1999 until 2011.[3] During his tenure as Presiding Officer, he expelled Assembly member Leanne Wood from the Assembly chamber during a December 2004 debate after Wood referred to Queen Elizabeth II as "Mrs Windsor" during a debate and refused to withdraw the remark, the first time an AM was ordered out of the chamber on those grounds.[10]
From 2011, Elis-Thomas was Plaid Cymru's spokesperson for Environment, Energy and Planning before transferring to Rural Affairs, Fisheries and Food in 2012.[3] In October 2016 he left Plaid Cymru, but remained in the Assembly as an Independent member.[11] In November 2017, as part of a Welsh Government reshuffle, Elis-Thomas was appointed as Minister for Culture, Tourism and Sport.[12]
Elis-Thomas is also Honorary President of the anti-fascist organisation Searchlight Cymru.[4]
He announced on Dewi Llwyd's BBC Radio Cymru programme on 12 April 2020 that he will not be standing in the 2021 Senedd election. After long consideration he said that he will not be standing in Dwyfor Meirionnydd in 2021, but said that there are many other ways to serve society. [13]
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