Mark Williams (politician)

For other people named Mark Williams, see Mark Williams (disambiguation).

Mark Williams MP
Member of Parliament for Ceredigion
Incumbent
Assumed office 5 May 2005
Preceded by	Simon Thomas
Majority	8,324 (21.8%)
Personal details
Born	24 March 1966 (1966-03-24) (age 45) Hertfordshire, England
Nationality	British
Political party	Welsh Liberal Democrats
Alma mater	University of Wales, Aberystwyth, University of Plymouth
Religion	Anglican

Mark Fraser Williams (born March 24, 1966) is a British Welsh Liberal Democrat politician and the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Ceredigion constituency, a seat he gained from Plaid Cymru in 2005. He sits on the Welsh Affairs Select Committee, and in 2006 he became a Shadow Minister for Wales under Menzies Campbell.

Mark Williams is a graduate of the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and the University of Plymouth, and was Deputy Headteacher of a school in Llangorse near Brecon before becoming an MP.

Early life

Mark Williams was born in Hertfordshire on 24 March 1966. His mother worked as a classroom assistant, and his father ran a printing business. He has two older sisters. He attended the local village primary school and then Richard Hale Secondary School, Hertford, from where he moved on to the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1984 to study politics.^[1] It was at school during the days of the SDP-Liberal Alliance that he become involved in Liberal politics, later saying:

"I instinctively knew I wasn’t a Conservative, despite coming from a formally conservative family and the Labour Party was in perpetual decline."

Political career

Within a week of arriving in Aberystwyth, Williams became secretary of the student group and had met local Liberal MP Geraint Howells. After graduating, he became a part-time researcher to the Liberal Peers in the House of Lords,^[1] but was determined to stay in Ceredigion and spent half the week and all Parliamentary holidays as assistant to Geraint Howells in Ceredigion until Howells lost Ceredigion in the 1992 General Election.

He then returned to student life at the teacher training college in Exmouth, part of the University of Plymouth. After securing this qualification he taught in primary schools in Penzance and Barnstaple before becoming a Deputy Head teacher in Llangors School, Powys, in 2000.^[1]

In February 2000, after a spell as President of Ceredigion Liberal Democrats, Williams was selected to fight the Ceredigion seat in the by-election caused by the resignation of Cynog Dafis. In that by-election the Liberal Democrats rose back into second place, and in the general election of 2001 consolidated that second, and were just 3,944 votes behind Plaid Cymru. In May 2005, 13 years after Geraint Howells had been defeated, the Liberal Democrats regained Ceredigion with Mark Williams as MP by a very narrow majority of 219 votes.^[2] Williams is the first non Welsh-speaking Member of Parliament to represent the constituency since the widening of the electoral franchise in 1867. In 2010, Williams substantially increased his majority, winning just over 50% of the vote; this was the first time any candidate had won more than 50% of the vote in Ceredigion since 1959.

He has called for Saint David's Day to be made a public holiday.^[3]

Family life

Mark Williams and his wife Helen have four children, Eleanor, Anna, and twins Eliza and Oliver who were born December 23, 2005. Both Mark and Helen Williams are confirmed members of the Church of England, and their children have been christened into the church. The family live together in Borth, near Aberystwyth.

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} "Profile". Guardian Unlimited. http://politics.guardian.co.uk/person/biography/0,,-6606,00.html. Retrieved 2007-05-15. 
2. ^ "Lib Dems win Cardiff, Ceredigion". BBC News. 2005-05-06. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/vote_2005/wales/4513611.stm. Retrieved 2007-05-15. 
3. ^ "St David's Day Debate". BBC - Democracy Live. BBC. http://news.bbc.co.uk/democracylive/hi/house_of_commons/newsid_9410000/9410584.stm. Retrieved 3 November 2011. 

External links

• Mark Williams MP official constituency website
• Profile at the Liberal Democrats
• Profile at the Welsh Liberal Democrats
• Profile at Parliament of the United Kingdom
• Contributions in Parliament at Hansard 1803–2005
• Current session contributions in Parliament at Hansard
• Electoral history and profile at The Guardian
• Voting record at PublicWhip.org
• Record in Parliament at TheyWorkForYou.com
• Profile at Westminster Parliamentary Record
• Profile at BBC News Democracy Live

Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Simon Thomas	Member of Parliament for Ceredigion 2005–present	Incumbent

Persondata
Name	Williams, Mark
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1966-03-24
Place of birth	Hertfordshire
Date of death
Place of death