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Dafydd Wigley

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The Right Honourable
The Lord Wigley
PC
Wigley in 2006
Leader of Plaid Cymru[a]
In office
24 September 1991 – 3 August 2000
In office
1 November 1981 – 27 October 1984
Member of the Welsh Assembly
for Caernarfon
In office
6 May 1999 – 1 May 2003
Preceded byOffice Created
Succeeded byAlun Ffred Jones
Member of Parliament
for Caernarfon
In office
28 February 1974 – 14 May 2001
Preceded byGoronwy Roberts
Succeeded byHywel Williams
Member of the House of Lords
Lord Temporal
Incumbent
Assumed office
24 January 2011
Life Peerage
Personal details
Born
David Wigley

(1943-04-01) 1 April 1943 (age 81)
Derby, England
Political partyPlaid Cymru
SpouseElinor Bennett
Alma materVictoria University of Manchester

Dafydd Wynne Wigley, Baron Wigley, PC (born David Wigley; 1 April 1943) is a Welsh politician who served as the leader of Plaid Cymru from 1981 to 1984 and again from 1991 to 2000. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Caernarfon from 1974 to 2001 and as the Member of the Welsh Assembly for Caernarfon from 1999 to 2003. In 2010, Wigley was granted life peerage, taking his seat in the House of Lords in 2011.

Early life

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Wigley was born in Derby, England, the only child of Welsh parents Elfyn Edward Wigley and Myfanwy Batterbee. He attended Caernarfon grammar school and Rydal School before going on to the Victoria University of Manchester.[1]

Before becoming a Plaid Cymru MP for Caernarfon, Wigley worked for Ford Motor Company, Mars and Hoover.[2]

Political career

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In May 1972 Wigley became a councillor on the pre-1974 Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council, winning in the Park, Merthyr Tydfil ward, with the sitting Labour councillor in third place.[3]

UK Parliament

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Wigley was elected as a Plaid Cymru councillor for Merthyr Tydfil in 1972 and was then the MP for Caernarfon from 1974 until 2001,[4] first elected at the February 1974 general election.

The election for president was seen as instrumental in deciding the future direction of Plaid Cymru. Wigley represented a moderate, pragmatic social democracy, in sharp contrast with rival candidate Dafydd Elis-Thomas's socialism. In 1981 Wigley won the presidency, but Elis Thomas had greater influence over the party's ideology throughout the 1980s. In 1984 Wigley resigned from the presidency because of his children's health, but he returned in 1991 for a second term after the resignation of Elis Thomas. Wigley led Plaid until 2000. He stood down as a Member of Parliament at the 2001 General Election to concentrate on his role in the Assembly.[5] Having served 27 years as an MP, Wigley is the longest-ever serving post-war MP from a nationalist party.

National Assembly for Wales

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Wigley was the Assembly member for Caernarfon from 1999 to 2003.[4]

House of Lords

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He secured a Plaid Cymru nomination for a peerage alongside Eurfyl ap Gwilym and Janet Davies.[6] He initially withdrew his candidature after complaining about how long the process was taking.[7]

On 19 November 2010 it was announced that he had been granted a life peerage by the Queen,[8] and he took his seat in the House of Lords as Baron Wigley, of Caernarfon in the County of Gwynedd on 24 January 2011,[9] supported by fellow Plaid peer Lord Elis-Thomas and by Lord Faulkner of Worcester.[10] He made his maiden speech on 27 January during a debate on tourism.[11] Having been one of the first MPs to take the House of Commons oath of allegiance in the Welsh language in 1974, he took the oath of allegiance in Welsh on entering the Lords.[12]

In 2024, Wigley criticised the Senedd Reform Bill due to the introduction of a closed list PR system for elections to the Senedd.[13]

Personal life

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He married the Welsh harpist Elinor Bennett. The couple had four children, son Hywel Wigley and daughter Eluned Wigley as well as two sons, Alun and Geraint, who died of a genetic illness. His sons' condition influenced the direction of his career, and he took a strong interest in the affairs of disabled people, being vice-chairman of the Parliamentary all-party disablement group, vice-president of Disability Wales, vice-president of Mencap (Wales), former president of the Spastics' Society of Wales and sponsor of the Disabled Persons Act in 1981. In 2003 Wigley became Pro-Chancellor of the University of Wales.[14][15]

Awards

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In 2008, Wigley was awarded an Honorary Chair in Business at Bangor University.[16]

Notes

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  1. ^ The Party leader was referred to as the president until March 2000 when the separate role of Leader was created

References

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  1. ^ "Wigley accepts Plaid peerage call". BBC News. 14 January 2008. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
  2. ^ Live, North Wales (30 July 2008). "Dafydd Wigley honoured by Bangor University". North Wales Live. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  3. ^ "Labour sweep in with big gains". South Wales Echo. 5 May 1972. pp. 1, 6. The Welsh Nationalists... brought off a shock victory in the Park ward of Merthyr where Mr Eddie Rowlands, former chairman of the local Labour Party, was beaten into third place by Mr D. Wigley (Plaid) and Mr. Arthur Jones (Communist).
  4. ^ a b "Dafydd Wigley: Ex-Plaid leader to retire from House of Lords". BBC News. 12 June 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2023.
  5. ^ McAllister, L, Plaid Cymru: The Emergence of a Political Party, (2001), Seren
  6. ^ Shipton, Martin (20 November 2010). "Wigley's Lords appointment nearly three years after nomination". WalesOnline. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  7. ^ "Dafydd Wigley withdraws Lords nomination". NorthWalesLive. 7 September 2009. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  8. ^ "Peerage for former Plaid Cymru leader Dafydd Wigley". bbc.co.uk. 19 November 2010. Retrieved 14 July 2011.
  9. ^ "No. 26895". The Edinburgh Gazette. 25 June 2011. p. 147.
  10. ^ "Introduction: Lord Wigley". UK Parliament. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 3 June 2020.
  11. ^ "Tourism", UK Parliament, 27 January 2011, retrieved 3 June 2020
  12. ^ "Plaid peer Dafydd Wigley to champion disability rights". BBC News. 24 January 2011. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  13. ^ "New Wales political system poses great danger – Wigley". BBC News. 3 February 2024. Retrieved 4 February 2024.
  14. ^ Live, North Wales (5 December 2003). "University honour for Dafydd Wigley". North Wales Live.
  15. ^ "Plaid peer to champion disabled". BBC News. 24 January 2011 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  16. ^ "Honouring Dafydd Wigley's contribution with Business Chair". Bangor University. Archived from the original on 1 November 2013. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dafydd Wigley.
Parliament of the United Kingdom
Preceded by Member of Parliament for Caernarfon
Feb. 1974 – 2001 		Succeeded by
Senedd
New office Assembly Member for Caernarfon
1999 – 2003 		Succeeded by
Political offices
Preceded by President of Plaid Cymru
1981–1984 		Succeeded by
Preceded by President of Plaid Cymru
1991–2000 		Succeeded by
New office Leader of Plaid Cymru in the National Assembly for Wales
1999–2000
New office Leader of the Opposition
1999–2000
Preceded by Honorary President of Plaid Cymru
2005– 		Incumbent
Academic offices
Preceded by Pro-Chancellor of the University of Wales
2003–2006 		Succeeded by
Orders of precedence in the United Kingdom
Preceded by Gentlemen
Baron Wigley 		Followed by
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