Dafydd Elis-Thomas

The Right Honourable The Lord Elis-Thomas PC AM
Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales
In office 12 May 1999 – 11 May 2011
Monarch	Elizabeth II
Preceded by	New post
Succeeded by	Rosemary Butler
Member of the Welsh Assembly for Dwyfor Meirionnydd Meirionnydd Nant Conwy (1999-2007)
Incumbent
Assumed office 6 May 1999
Majority	8,868 (40.1%)
Member of Parliament for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy Meirionnydd (Feb. 1974-1983)
In office 28 February 1974 – 9 April 1992
Preceded by	William Edwards
Succeeded by	Elfyn Llwyd
Personal details
Born	18 October 1946 (1946-10-18) (age 65) Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Political party	Plaid Cymru
Spouse(s)	Mair Parry Jones

Dafydd Elis Elis-Thomas, Baron Elis-Thomas, PC, AM, (born 18 October 1946) is a Welsh politician and was the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales until 2011. He is a member of the House of Lords, a former leader of Plaid Cymru, and, since 2004, a privy counsellor.

Personal

Thomas was born in the Priory Hospital in Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire and brought up in the Llandysul area of Ceredigion, and in Llanrwst in the Conwy Valley.

In 1970, he married Elen M. Williams and had three sons. They later divorced, and 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, who is head of the translation department at the National Assembly. He currently lives in Llandaff in Cardiff (when working at the National Assembly) and Betws-y-Coed (in the Aberconwy constituency).

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 and the British Film Institute where he was Chairman of Screen between 1992 and 1999. 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.

Political career

UK Parliament

Having served as Member of Parliament for the Meirionnydd Westmister constituency between 1974 and 1983, initially as the "Baby of the House", and the Meirionnydd Nant Conwy Westminster constituency since 1983, he was made a life peer in 1992, and changed his surname from Thomas to Elis-Thomas by deed poll, enabling him to take the title Baron Elis-Thomas, of Nant Conwy in the County of Gwynedd.

National Assembly for Wales

As of 2011, Elis-Thomas is also a member of the National Assembly for Wales, where he represented the Meirionnydd Nant Conwy Assembly constituency from 1999 until the 2007 election, and then the Dwyfor Meirionnydd constituency. He also held the position of Presiding Officer since the Assembly's inception in 1999 until 2011. Making an announcement at a Senedd reception, he accepted the position of honorary president of anti-fascist organisation Searchlight Cymru.

References

• UK Parliament
• Welsh Assembly

Offices held

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by William Edwards	Member of Parliament for Meirionnydd 1974 – 1983	Constituency renamed
New constituency	Member of Parliament for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy 1983 – 1992	Succeeded by Elfyn Llwyd
Preceded by Bernadette Devlin	Baby of the House 1974	Succeeded by Hélène Hayman
National Assembly for Wales
New constituency	Assembly Member for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy 1999 – 2007	Constituency abolished
New constituency	Assembly Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd 2007 – present	Incumbent
Preceded by Position Created	Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales 1999–2011	Succeeded by Rosemary Butler
First	Assembly Commission 2007 – present	Incumbent
Political offices
Preceded by Dafydd Wigley	President of Plaid Cymru 1984–1991	Succeeded by Dafydd Wigley

Persondata
Name	Elis-Thomas, Dafydd
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	18 October 1946
Place of birth	Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales
Date of death
Place of death