2003 in Wales

This article is about the particular significance of the year 2003 to Wales and its people.

Incumbents

*Prince of Wales - Charles, Prince of Wales
*Princess of Wales - "vacant"
*First Minister - Rhodri Morgan
*Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales - Dafydd Elis-Thomas
*Secretary of State for Wales - Peter Hain
*Archbishop of Wales - Barry Morgan (Bishop of Llandaff)

Events

*February - Former Conservative Assembly leader Rod Richards is declared bankrupt with debts estimated at over £300,000.
*February 27 - Rowan Williams is enthroned as Archbishop of Canterbury. Dominic Walker is installed as his replacement as Bishop of Monmouth
*March 9 - Ron Davies announces that he is quitting politics after being asked to stand down by his local party following further revelations by the press about his private life.
*May 1 - In the National Assembly for Wales election, Labour win 30 seats, enabling them to form a government.Following disappointing results for Plaid Cymru, Ieuan Wyn Jones stands down as party president and leader of the assembly group.
*June 19 - Prince William of Wales visits Bangor and Anglesey, to mark his 21st birthday (on June 21).
*August
**National Eisteddfod of Wales held at Meifod.
**A memorial to Owain Lawgoch is unveiled at Montague-sur-Gironde, France.
*September - Porthmadog Cob is bought by the Welsh Assembly Government and the road toll is discontinued after 192 years.
*October - Dafydd Iwan, newly-elected President of Plaid Cymru, escapes a driving ban for speeding offences on the grounds that he needs to drive to fulfil his musical and political engagements.
*12 October - The Friends of the Leinster hold a service at Holyhead to commemorate the 85th anniversary of the sinking of RMS Leinster by a German U-boat.
*November - Michael Howard becomes leader of the Conservative Party.
*December - Dafydd Wigley is appointed Pro-Chancellor of the University of Wales.
*The former Brain's Old Brewery site in Cardiff is redeveloped into the 85,000 sq ft "Old Brewery Quarter".
*Veteran Cardiff politician Stefan Terlezki goes to the European Parliament to press the case for eventual Ukrainian membership of the European Union.
*In Channel 4's 100 Worst Britons poll (which included only living people), the following entries had Welsh connections:
**H from Steps - 8
**Charlotte Church - 21
**Charles, Prince of Wales - 24
**Catherine Zeta-Jones - 39
**Lawrence Llewelyn-Bowen - 42
**Vinnie Jones - 61
**Tom Jones - 72

Arts and literature

Awards

*National Eisteddfod of Wales: Chair - Twm Morys
*National Eisteddfod of Wales: Crown - Mererid Hopwood
*National Eisteddfod of Wales: Prose Medal - Cefin Roberts
*National Eisteddfod of Wales: Music Medal - Owain Llwyd
*Wales Book of the Year:
**English language: "Sugar and Slate" - Charlotte Williams
**Welsh language: "O! Tyn y Gorchudd - Hunangofiant Rebecca Jones" - Angharad Price
*Gwobr Goffa Daniel Owen - Elfyn Pritchard, "Pan ddaw'r dydd"
*John Tripp Award for Spoken Poetry: Emily Hinshelwood

New books

*Rhys Hughes - "The Percolated Stars"
*Bernice Rubens - "The Sergeants' Tale"

Music

Albums

*Huw Chiswell - "Dere Nawr"
*Elin Fflur - "Dim Gair (No Words)"
*Catrin Finch - "Crossing the Stone"
*Funeral for a Friend - "Casually Dressed & Deep in Conversation"
*Karl Jenkins - ""
*Stereophonics - "You Gotta Go There to Come Back"
*Thighpaulsandra - "Double Vulgar"

Film

English-language films

*Michael Sheen stars in "Underworld".

Welsh-language films

*"Y Mabinogi"

Broadcasting

Welsh-language television

*"Wawffactor"' is S4C's answer to "Pop Idol".
Cor Cymru - S4C's search for the best choir in Wales - is broadcast for the first time.

English-language television

*Michael Sheen and Paul Rhys star in the award-winning TV drama, "The Deal"
*"The Story of Welsh" presented by Huw Edwards
*"Quest For Perfection", written and presented by Russell Davies on BBC Four

port

*Cricket
**December 31 - Tony Lewis is awarded the CBE in the New Year Honours List.
*Cycling - Nicole Cooke wins La Flèche Wallonne Féminine for the first time.
*Rugby union
**October - The Welsh team participate in the Rugby World Cup in Australia. Having defeated Canada 41-10, Tonga 27-20, and Italy 41-10, they lose to New Zealand 37-53 and to England 17-28 to go out of the competition.
*Jamie Baulch finishes third in the BBC's "Superstars" event.

Births

Deaths

*5 January - Roy Jenkins, politician and Chancellor of Oxford University
*6 January - Glyn Davies, economist (born 1919)
*17 January - Goronwy Daniel, academic and civil servant, 88
*13 May - John Savage, prime minister of Nova Scotia 1993-97
*29 May - Trevor Ford, footballer, 79
*8 June - Leighton Rees, darts player, 63
*10 June - Phil Williams, politician, 64
*17 July - Dr David Kelly, government scientist
*21 July - John Davies, Olympic athlete of Welsh descent
*5 August - Benjamin Noel Young Vaughan, Bishop of Swansea and Brecon, 85
*20 September - Gareth Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn, politician, 62
*25 September - David Williams, crime novelist, 77
*29 September - Billy Cleaver, Wales international rugby union player, 82
*7 October - Henry Herbert, 17th Earl of Pembroke, 64
*23 November - Paul Grant, bodybuilding champion
*1 December - Hugh Rees, politician, 75
*19 December - Roy Hughes, Baron Islwyn, politician, 78
*"date unknown" - Brian Morgan Edwards, businessman