Dafydd Wigley
Encyclopedia
Dafydd Wigley, Baron Wigley (formerly David Wigley; born 1 April 1943) is a Welsh
politician. He served as Plaid Cymru
Member of Parliament
for Caernarfon
from 1974 until 2001 and as an Assembly Member for Caernarfon
from 1999 until 2003. He was leader of the Plaid Cymru party from 1991 to 2000. On 19 November 2010 it was announced that he had been granted a peerage by the Queen, and took his seat in the House of Lords as Baron Wigley, of Caernarfon on 24 January 2011.
and Rydal
independent school
before going on to the Victoria University of Manchester
and training as an accountant. He was employed by Hoover
as a financial controller before entering parliament.
He married the international harpist Elinor Bennett
. The couple had four children, but twin sons 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.
had led Plaid Cymru since 1945, but resigned after the devastating defeat of the Yes Campaign in the devolution referendum of 1979. It was naturally assumed that either Wigley or Dafydd Elis Thomas would succeed him as president.
The election for president was seen as instrumental in deciding the future direction of the Plaid Cymru. Wigley represented a moderate, pragmatic social-democracy, in sharp contrast with rival candidate Dafydd Elis Thomas's left-wing socialism. Wigley's triumph in 1981 was largely a pyrrhic victory
- he won the presidency, but Elis Thomas would have a greater influence over the party's ideology throughout the 80s. In 1984 Wigley resigned from the presidency because of his children's health, but returned to the job in 1991 after the resignation of Dafydd Elis Thomas.
In 1977 Dafydd Wigley in Parliament asked the Attorney General for England and Wales if he would provide the date upon which enactments of the Charter of Pardon of 1508 were rescinded. (Concerning the Cornish Stannary Parliament). The reply, received on 14 May 1977, stated that a Stannator's right to veto Westminster legislation had never been formally withdrawn.
, and led the Plaid Cymru opposition to Labour, before his resignation from the leadership, officially on medical advice but amid rumours of an internal plot against him in 2000.
housing committee chairman and Plaid Cymru member, voiced frustration over "English immigrants" moving into traditionally Welsh speaking communities. Glyn was commenting on a report underscoring the dilemma of rocketing house prices outstripping that which locals could afford, with the report warning that '...traditional Welsh communities could die out..." as a consequence.
Much of the rural Welsh real estate market was driven by buyers looking for second homes for use as holiday homes, or for retirement. Many buyers were drawn to Wales from England because of relatively inexpensive house prices in Wales as compared to house prices in England. The rise in home prices outpaced the average earnings income in Wales and meant that many local people could not afford to purchase their first home.
In 2001 nearly a third of all properties in Gwynedd were bought by buyers from out of the county, and with some communities reporting as many as a third of local homes used as holiday homes. Holiday home owners spend less than six months of the year in the local community.
The issue of locals being priced out of the local housing market is common to many rural communities throughout Britain, but in Wales the added dimension of language further complicated the issue, as many new residents did not learn the Welsh language.
Concerned for the Welsh language under these pressures, Glyn said "Once you have more than 50% of anybody living in a community that speaks a foreign language, then you lose your indigenous tongue almost immediately".
Plaid Cymru had long advocated controls on second homes, and a 2001 taskforce headed by Dafydd Wigley recommended land should be allocated for affordable local housing, and called for grants for locals to buy houses, and recommended council tax on holiday homes should double, following similar measures in the Scottish Highlands
.
However the Welsh Labour-Liberal Democrat
Assembly coalition rebuffed these proposals, with Assembly housing spokesman Peter Black
stating that "we [cannot] frame our planning laws around the Welsh language", adding "Nor can we take punitive measures against second home owners in the way that they propose as these will have an impact on the value of the homes of local people".
By autumn 2001 the Exmoor National Park authority in England began consideration to limit second home ownership there which was also driving up local housing prices by as much as 31%. Elfyn Llwyd
, Plaid Cymru's Parliamentary Group Leader, said that the issues in Exmoor National Park were the same as in Wales, however in Wales there is the added deminsion of language and culture.
Reflecting on the controversy Glyn's comments caused earlier in the year, Llwyd observed "What is interesting is of course it is fine for Exmoor to defend their community but in Wales when you try to say these things it is called racist..."
Llwyd called on other parties to join in a debate to bring the Exmoor experience to Wales when he said "... I really do ask them and I plead with them to come around the table and talk about the Exmoor suggestion and see if we can now bring it into Wales".
By spring 2002 both the Snowdonia National Park
(Welsh: Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri) and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
(Welsh: Parc Cenedlaethol Arfordir Penfro) authorities began limiting second home ownership within the parks, following the example set by Exmoor. According to planners in Snowdonia and Pembroke, applicants for new homes must demonstrate a proven local need or the applicant has strong links with the area.
In 2003 Wigley became Pro-Chancellor of the University of Wales
. In 2006 he sought and secured nomination to Plaid Cymru's North Wales party list as the secondary candidate for the National Assembly for Wales election, 2007
but, because in part of constituency seat gains, Plaid Cymru failed to a gain a second regional seat.
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
politician. He served as Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru
' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
for Caernarfon
Caernarfon (UK Parliament constituency)
Caernarfon was a parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Caernarfon in Wales. It elected one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system....
from 1974 until 2001 and as an Assembly Member for Caernarfon
Caernarfon (National Assembly for Wales constituency)
Caernarfon was a constituency of the National Assembly for Wales from 1999 to 2007. It elected one Assembly Member by the first past the post method of election...
from 1999 until 2003. He was leader of the Plaid Cymru party from 1991 to 2000. On 19 November 2010 it was announced that he had been granted a peerage by the Queen, and took his seat in the House of Lords as Baron Wigley, of Caernarfon on 24 January 2011.
Background
Wigley was born in Derby, England, but attended Caernarfon grammar schoolGrammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and some other English-speaking countries, originally a school teaching classical languages but more recently an academically-oriented secondary school.The original purpose of mediaeval...
and Rydal
Rydal Penrhos
Rydal Penrhos is a private co-educational boarding school in Colwyn Bay, North Wales. It is located on multiple sites around the town including a site in the neighbouring village of Rhos-on-Sea where it keeps its watersports equipment for easy access to the beach.The school, as it exists today,...
independent school
Independent school
An independent school is a school that is independent in its finances and governance; it is not dependent upon national or local government for financing its operations, nor reliant on taxpayer contributions, and is instead funded by a combination of tuition charges, gifts, and in some cases the...
before going on to the Victoria University of Manchester
Victoria University of Manchester
The Victoria University of Manchester was a university in Manchester, England. On 1 October 2004 it merged with the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology to form a new entity, "The University of Manchester".-1851 - 1951:The University was founded in 1851 as Owens College,...
and training as an accountant. He was employed by Hoover
The Hoover Company
The Hoover Company started out as an American floor care manufacturer based in North Canton, Ohio. It also established a major base in the United Kingdom and for most of the early-and-mid-20th century, it dominated the electric vacuum cleaner industry, to the point where the "hoover" brand name...
as a financial controller before entering parliament.
He married the international harpist Elinor Bennett
Elinor Bennett
Elinor Bennett is a Welsh harpist.Bennett was born in Llanidloes, Wales. As a harpist, she is one of the foremost performers in the world. She has recorded twelve solo albums, and is one of the organisers of the Wales International Harp Festival. She also runs an annual 'Harp College'...
. The couple had four children, but twin sons 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
Mencap
The Royal Mencap Society is a charity based in the UK that works with people with a learning disability.-Profile:Mencap is the UK's leading learning disability charity working with people with a learning disability and their families and carers...
(Wales), former president of the Spastics' Society of Wales and sponsor of the Disabled Persons Act in 1981.
UK Parliament
In 1974 he became one of Plaid Cymru's first three MPs to be elected at a General Election, and first became the party's president in 1981. Gwynfor EvansGwynfor Evans
Dr Richard Gwynfor Evans , was a Welsh politician, lawyer and author. President of Plaid Cymru for thirty six years, he was the first Member of Parliament to represent Plaid Cymru at Westminster ....
had led Plaid Cymru since 1945, but resigned after the devastating defeat of the Yes Campaign in the devolution referendum of 1979. It was naturally assumed that either Wigley or Dafydd Elis Thomas would succeed him as president.
The election for president was seen as instrumental in deciding the future direction of the Plaid Cymru. Wigley represented a moderate, pragmatic social-democracy, in sharp contrast with rival candidate Dafydd Elis Thomas's left-wing socialism. Wigley's triumph in 1981 was largely a pyrrhic victory
Pyrrhic victory
A Pyrrhic victory is a victory with such a devastating cost to the victor that it carries the implication that another such victory will ultimately cause defeat.-Origin:...
- he won the presidency, but Elis Thomas would have a greater influence over the party's ideology throughout the 80s. In 1984 Wigley resigned from the presidency because of his children's health, but returned to the job in 1991 after the resignation of Dafydd Elis Thomas.
In 1977 Dafydd Wigley in Parliament asked the Attorney General for England and Wales if he would provide the date upon which enactments of the Charter of Pardon of 1508 were rescinded. (Concerning the Cornish Stannary Parliament). The reply, received on 14 May 1977, stated that a Stannator's right to veto Westminster legislation had never been formally withdrawn.
National Assembly for Wales
In 1999 Wigley became a member of the National Assembly for WalesNational Assembly for Wales
The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
, and led the Plaid Cymru opposition to Labour, before his resignation from the leadership, officially on medical advice but amid rumours of an internal plot against him in 2000.
Housing and language controversy
Controversy erupted in mid-winter 2001 when Seimon Glyn, Gwynedd County Council'sGwynedd Council
Gwynedd Council is the governing body for the principal area of Gwynedd, one of the subdivisions of Wales within the United Kingdom.- Creation of the Authority :...
housing committee chairman and Plaid Cymru member, voiced frustration over "English immigrants" moving into traditionally Welsh speaking communities. Glyn was commenting on a report underscoring the dilemma of rocketing house prices outstripping that which locals could afford, with the report warning that '...traditional Welsh communities could die out..." as a consequence.
Much of the rural Welsh real estate market was driven by buyers looking for second homes for use as holiday homes, or for retirement. Many buyers were drawn to Wales from England because of relatively inexpensive house prices in Wales as compared to house prices in England. The rise in home prices outpaced the average earnings income in Wales and meant that many local people could not afford to purchase their first home.
In 2001 nearly a third of all properties in Gwynedd were bought by buyers from out of the county, and with some communities reporting as many as a third of local homes used as holiday homes. Holiday home owners spend less than six months of the year in the local community.
The issue of locals being priced out of the local housing market is common to many rural communities throughout Britain, but in Wales the added dimension of language further complicated the issue, as many new residents did not learn the Welsh language.
Concerned for the Welsh language under these pressures, Glyn said "Once you have more than 50% of anybody living in a community that speaks a foreign language, then you lose your indigenous tongue almost immediately".
Plaid Cymru had long advocated controls on second homes, and a 2001 taskforce headed by Dafydd Wigley recommended land should be allocated for affordable local housing, and called for grants for locals to buy houses, and recommended council tax on holiday homes should double, following similar measures in the Scottish Highlands
Scottish Highlands
The Highlands is an historic region of Scotland. The area is sometimes referred to as the "Scottish Highlands". It was culturally distinguishable from the Lowlands from the later Middle Ages into the modern period, when Lowland Scots replaced Scottish Gaelic throughout most of the Lowlands...
.
However the Welsh Labour-Liberal Democrat
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...
Assembly coalition rebuffed these proposals, with Assembly housing spokesman Peter Black
Peter Black (Welsh politician)
Peter Black is a Welsh Liberal Democrat politician, and Member of the Welsh Assembly for the South Wales West Region.-Background:...
stating that "we [cannot] frame our planning laws around the Welsh language", adding "Nor can we take punitive measures against second home owners in the way that they propose as these will have an impact on the value of the homes of local people".
By autumn 2001 the Exmoor National Park authority in England began consideration to limit second home ownership there which was also driving up local housing prices by as much as 31%. Elfyn Llwyd
Elfyn Llwyd
Elfyn Llwyd, PC is a Welsh barrister and politician. He has been a Member of Parliament since 1992, representing Meirionnydd Nant Conwy in the House of Commons from 1992 to 2010 and Dwyfor Meirionnydd since 2010...
, Plaid Cymru's Parliamentary Group Leader, said that the issues in Exmoor National Park were the same as in Wales, however in Wales there is the added deminsion of language and culture.
Reflecting on the controversy Glyn's comments caused earlier in the year, Llwyd observed "What is interesting is of course it is fine for Exmoor to defend their community but in Wales when you try to say these things it is called racist..."
Llwyd called on other parties to join in a debate to bring the Exmoor experience to Wales when he said "... I really do ask them and I plead with them to come around the table and talk about the Exmoor suggestion and see if we can now bring it into Wales".
By spring 2002 both the Snowdonia National Park
Snowdonia
Snowdonia is a region in north Wales and a national park of in area. It was the first to be designated of the three National Parks in Wales, in 1951.-Name and extent:...
(Welsh: Parc Cenedlaethol Eryri) and Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park
Pembrokeshire Coast National Park is a national park along the Pembrokeshire coast in West Wales.It was established as a National Park in 1952, and is the only one in the United Kingdom to have been designated primarily because of its spectacular coastline...
(Welsh: Parc Cenedlaethol Arfordir Penfro) authorities began limiting second home ownership within the parks, following the example set by Exmoor. According to planners in Snowdonia and Pembroke, applicants for new homes must demonstrate a proven local need or the applicant has strong links with the area.
In 2003 Wigley became Pro-Chancellor of the University of Wales
University of Wales
The University of Wales was a confederal university founded in 1893. It had accredited institutions throughout Wales, and formerly accredited courses in Britain and abroad, with over 100,000 students, but in October 2011, after a number of scandals, it withdrew all accreditation, and it was...
. In 2006 he sought and secured nomination to Plaid Cymru's North Wales party list as the secondary candidate for the National Assembly for Wales election, 2007
National Assembly for Wales election, 2007
The 2007 National Assembly election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland, and the Scottish Parliament election took place...
but, because in part of constituency seat gains, Plaid Cymru failed to a gain a second regional seat.
External links
- UK Parliament Profile
- The Right Honourable Dafydd Wigley – University of Wales
- BBC News CV on Dafydd Wigley