Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
William Powell (Liberal Democrat politician)
Welsh politician From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
William Denston Powell (born May 1965) is a Welsh Liberal Democrat politician. He has been a Powys County Councillor since 2004,[2] and was the Member of the Welsh Assembly (AM) for the Mid and West Wales Region from 2011 to 2016.
 |
Remove ads
Background
Powell attended Talgarth Community Primary School[3] and Gwernyfed High School,[4] gaining a scholarship to read Modern Languages (French and German) at Pembroke College, Oxford.[5] He is a qualified teacher and has taught French and German at a number of schools in Wales and the Marches. Latterly, William was Head of German at Hereford Sixth Form College, where he was also the European Officer.[6]
In 1998 he was awarded County Winner of the Royal Welsh Agricultural Society Agri-Environment Award.[citation needed]
Powell has consistently attended the annual Cilmeri commemoration to mark the last battle of Prince Llywelyn.[7][8]
Remove ads
Political career
Summarize
Perspective
Powell represented Talgarth ward on Powys County Council since 2004 and has been active in rural regeneration projects, including the restoration of Talgarth Mill, of which he is a founder Director. He is also a Member of the FUW, a Governor of Talgarth CP School and Gwernyfed High School. He is also a member of the Lloyd George Society, where he serves on the Committee. He is a former member of the Brecon Beacons National Park Authority.
For many years Powell has been one of the central figures in the European Movement in Wales.[citation needed] He was a founding Board Member of Wales in Europe and is an active Member of Wales Council European Movement, which he chaired for over a decade. In addition, he is a Council Member of the European Liberal Democrats (ALDE) which includes Liberal sister-parties from across Europe. In 1999 he stood for the Pro-Euro Conservative Party in the European election in Wales but joined the Liberal Democrats shortly afterwards.
Member of the Welsh Assembly
He was elected as the first Welsh Liberal Democrat Assembly Member for the Mid and West Wales region in the elections in May 2011.[9] Following the election he was Welsh Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Environment, Sustainable Development and Rural Affairs.
Within the Assembly, Powell was Chair of the Petitions Committee[10] throughout the 4th Assembly and a member for the Environment and Sustainability Committee.[11] He represented the Welsh Liberal Democrats in the National Assembly on both the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA) and the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA). He was also Chair of the Cross Party Group on Europe.
As Chair of the Assembly's Petitions Committee, he was central to a number of successful petitions, including one on term-time school holidays,[12] one calling for the construction of a second Dyfi bridge[13] and a further one which successfully resulted in the reinstatement of the Diabetes Reference Group for Powys.[14]
In January 2014, the BBC[15] and Western Mail[16] reported that Powell had been given a formal warning by the Liberal Democrats for inappropriate behaviour towards a young female party activist.
In July 2014,[17] Powell hit out at Alun Davies AM for seeking to gain personal information on him and four other Assembly Members, Andrew RT Davies, Llyr Huws Gruffydd, Kirsty Williams and Antoinette Sandbach, regarding EU farming subsidies received by their respective family businesses. Alun Davies believed this caused a conflict of interest, however the Minister's actions led directly to his sacking by First Minister Carwyn Jones and Alun Davies subsequently issued a personal apology to all AMs involved regarding EU farming subsidies received by their respective family businesses.[18]
In 2015 Powell was shortlisted for the Wales Green Energy Awards in recognition for his support for renewable energy throughout his time as an Assembly Member. He spoke about the topic during Plenary sessions, and worked with energy companies to try and advance their case, whilst at the same time ensuring that the communities and businesses he represents have their voices heard.[citation needed]
For the 2016 Welsh Assembly election, Powell ran in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, coming sixth with 837 votes (3%).[19][20]No Liberal Democrat AMs were returned in any of the regions, with Powell having unsuccessfully headed the party list in Mid and West Wales.[21][22][23][24]
Subsequent activity
He was re-elected as a County Councillor for Talgarth in Powys in 2017.[2]
Ahead of the 2021 Senedd election, Kirsty Williams, Minister for Education and the member for Brecon and Radnorshire, announced that she would not be seeking re-election.[25] Powell was selected as the Liberal Democrats' candidate for the constituency in December 2020.[26] At the time, this was the party's only seat in the Senedd.[27] He was unsuccessful in defending the constituency, which saw the Conservatives take the seat with a majority of nearly 4,000 votes. Powell finished a distant second, receiving 8,291 votes (27.8%).[28] [29] As a consequence of losing the constituency seat, the Liberal Democrats gained representation on the regional list, with Jane Dodds being elected. [30]Powell, himself, was placed second on the list.[31]
In preparation for the 2024 general election, Powell was selected to be his party's candidate for Monmouthshire.[32][33] He came fifth, taking 2,279 votes (4.5%).[34][35][36]
In the 2026 Senedd election, he will be a candidate in the Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd constituency.[37]
Remove ads
Personal life
Powell lives with his family on their farm in the Black Mountains near Talgarth, Powys, where his ancestors have farmed since the 18th Century.[38]
On 26 March 2020, he was admitted to Nevill Hall Hospital in Abergavenny with COVID-19 symptoms.[39] He spent two and a half weeks of his three-week stay in an induced coma on a ventilator.[40]
References
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads