Leanne Wood
Encyclopedia
Leanne Wood AM is a Welsh
politician, born in the Rhondda
, Wales, who has represented the South Wales Central
region for Plaid Cymru
as a Member of the National Assembly for Wales since 2003. Wood is known as a republican
and socialist
.
on 13 December 1971. She grew up in the nearby Rhondda village of Penygraig
, south Wales, where she attended Tonypandy Comprehensive School (now Tonypandy Community College).
From 1997 to 2000, Wood worked with the Mid Glamorgan Probation Service as a probation officer. From 1998 to 2000 she was co-Chair of the National Association of Probation Officers
. Wood worked as a support worker for Cwm Cynon Women's Aid from 2001 to 2002, where she has been Chair since 2001. Wood lectured in social work at Cardiff University
from 2000, until her election to the National Assembly for Wales in 2003.
Wood has been a Member of the National Assembly for Wales (AM) since the election of 1 May 2003, representing the South Wales Central region for Plaid Cymru
. She was the party's Shadow Social Justice Minister between 2003 and 2007. Wood became Plaid Cymru's sustainability spokesperson from the formation of the One Wales
government, a coalition between Labour
and Plaid Cymru
in July 2007, remaining in the role until the end of Assembly's term
in 2011. While in the role, Wood campaigned on 'green' issues, including calling for more land to be made available for growing food.
During the 2011 referendum on extending the National Assembly for Wales' law-making powers, Wood was Plaid Cymru's representative on the all-party Yes for Wales
steering group, which campaigned successfully for a 'Yes' vote. She is Chair of the PCS
Cross-Party Group in the Welsh Assembly. According to the BBC, Wood's particular areas of interest are: poverty; women's issues; social services; criminal justice; social exclusion; mental health; anti-privatisation; and anti-war. Her Plaid Cymru profile includes her commitment to working "for Wales to become a self-governing decentralist socialist republic."
, while under the control of Jeremy Colman
, Auditor General for Wales
. Through the Freedom of Information Act
, she uncovered a severance package of £750,000, personally authorised by Colman, to the former chief operating officer Anthony Snow. Further scrutiny uncovered more self-authorised expenses, including training costs for Colman and Snow and the £464 cost of hiring a chauffeur-driven Mercedes for Snow to attend a meeting on how to save public money. Colman resigned in February 2010 following an internal investigation, subsequently pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.
Figures obtained by Wood under the Freedom of information Act revealed the level of pay among university vice-chancellors in Wales. Over 270 people were paid over £100,000 per annum by Welsh universities in 2009. It was noted that all Welsh university vice-chancellors received more pay than the £134,723 salary of Carwyn Jones
, Wales' First Minister, and some were paid more than the £197,000 entitlement of David Cameron
, the UK Prime Minister.
Information obtained by Wood showed thousands of workers in Wales to have been paid below the Minimum Wage
since 2002-03. The underpayments involved over 1000 employers in Wales. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
subsequently asked HM Revenue and Customs to "press for prosecution where there is clear evidence that the employer has committed an offence.", in 2010. No prosecutions had begun by June 2011.
A Greenprint for the Valleys was published in 2011, in which Wood argued for a job creation programme aimed at regenerating the former coalfield areas of the valleys. It contains initiatives including: a Green Construction Skills College; implementing an integrated transport plan for the valleys; creating a land bank for renewable energy and food production; and a programme to renovate heritage buildings. It also suggests providing financial support for home energy efficiency measures and for setting up of green co-operatives.
as "Mrs Windsor" during a debate. Lord Elis-Thomas
asked Ms Wood to withdraw the remark on the grounds of discourtesy. When she refused, she was ordered to leave. She later said: "I don't think I was treated fairly, I don't think it was necessary.", "I don't recognise the Queen, I called her that because that's her name."
.
On 23 January 2006 Leanne was the first Welsh politician to start weekly podcasts from her website.
Welsh people
The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...
politician, born in the Rhondda
Rhondda
Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley , is a former coal mining valley in Wales, formerly a local government district, consisting of 16 communities built around the River Rhondda. The valley is made up of two valleys, the larger Rhondda Fawr valley and the smaller Rhondda Fach valley...
, Wales, who has represented the South Wales Central
South Wales Central (National Assembly for Wales constituency)
South Wales Central is an electoral region of the National Assembly for Wales, consisting of eight constituencies. The region elects 12 members, eight directly elected constituency members and four additional members...
region for 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...
as a Member of the National Assembly for Wales since 2003. Wood is known as a republican
Republicanism in the United Kingdom
Republicanism in the United Kingdom is the movement which seeks to remove the British monarchy and replace it with a republic that has a non-hereditary head of state...
and socialist
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
.
Early Years
Leanne Wood was born in LlwynypiaLlwynypia
Llwynypia , is a village in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, near Tonypandy in the Rhondda Fawr Valley. Before 1850 a lightly populated rural farming area, Llwynypia experienced a population boom between 1860 and 1920 with the sinking of several coal mines after the discovery of large coal deposits...
on 13 December 1971. She grew up in the nearby Rhondda village of Penygraig
Penygraig
Penygraig is a village and community in the Rhondda Valley in the county borough of Rhondda Cynon Taf, within the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan, Wales...
, south Wales, where she attended Tonypandy Comprehensive School (now Tonypandy Community College).
From 1997 to 2000, Wood worked with the Mid Glamorgan Probation Service as a probation officer. From 1998 to 2000 she was co-Chair of the National Association of Probation Officers
National Association of Probation Officers
The National Association of Probation Officers is the trade union that represents probation officers and Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service reporters in the United Kingdom.NAPO was formed in 1912...
. Wood worked as a support worker for Cwm Cynon Women's Aid from 2001 to 2002, where she has been Chair since 2001. Wood lectured in social work at Cardiff University
Cardiff University
Cardiff University is a leading research university located in the Cathays Park area of Cardiff, Wales, United Kingdom. It received its Royal charter in 1883 and is a member of the Russell Group of Universities. The university is consistently recognised as providing high quality research-based...
from 2000, until her election to the National Assembly for Wales in 2003.
Political career
Wood was a councillor on Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council from 1995 to 1999. After leaving the probation service in 2000, she was Jill Evans MEP's political researcher until 2001. Wood was Chair of Cardiff Stop the War Coalition from 2003 to 2004.Wood has been a Member of the National Assembly for Wales (AM) since the election of 1 May 2003, representing the South Wales Central region for 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...
. She was the party's Shadow Social Justice Minister between 2003 and 2007. Wood became Plaid Cymru's sustainability spokesperson from the formation of the One Wales
One Wales
One Wales is the coalition agreement for the National Assembly for Wales between Labour and Plaid Cymru agreed to by Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of Wales and leader of Welsh Labour, and Ieuan Wyn Jones, leader of Plaid Cymru, on 27 June 2007. It was negotiated in the wake of the preceding...
government, a coalition between Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
and 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...
in July 2007, remaining in the role until the end of Assembly's term
Government of the 3rd National Assembly for Wales
The 3rd National Assembly for Wales convened after the 2007 election. The Assembly first met on 9 May when Dafydd Elis-Thomas was appointed as the Presiding Officer.- Third Morgan government :...
in 2011. While in the role, Wood campaigned on 'green' issues, including calling for more land to be made available for growing food.
During the 2011 referendum on extending the National Assembly for Wales' law-making powers, Wood was Plaid Cymru's representative on the all-party Yes for Wales
Yes for Wales
Yes for Wales! is the name of a cross-party pro-devolution group launched on 4 January 2011 which co-ordinated the successful campaign for a 'Yes' vote in the Welsh devolution referendum, 2011 to extend the law-making powers of the National Assembly for Wales.The group was chaired by Roger Lewis,...
steering group, which campaigned successfully for a 'Yes' vote. She is Chair of the PCS
Public and Commercial Services Union
The Public and Commercial Services Union is the sixth largest trade union in the United Kingdom. Most of its members work in government departments and other public bodies although some work for private companies.- Membership and organisation :...
Cross-Party Group in the Welsh Assembly. According to the BBC, Wood's particular areas of interest are: poverty; women's issues; social services; criminal justice; social exclusion; mental health; anti-privatisation; and anti-war. Her Plaid Cymru profile includes her commitment to working "for Wales to become a self-governing decentralist socialist republic."
Scrutiny
Between 2009 and 2011, Wood led the exposure of excesses at the Wales Audit OfficeWales Audit Office
The Wales Audit Office is an independent public body which was established by the National Assembly for Wales on 1 April 2005. It has overall responsibility for auditing on behalf of the Auditor General for Wales, across all sectors of government in Wales, except those reserved to the UK...
, while under the control of Jeremy Colman
Jeremy Colman
Jeremy Colman was the Auditor General for Wales.He was born in London in April 1948 and educated at The John Lyon School, Peterhouse, Cambridge, where he read Mathematics, and Imperial College, London....
, Auditor General for Wales
Auditor General for Wales
The Auditor General for Wales is the public official in charge of the Wales Audit Office, the body responsible for auditing the Welsh Assembly Government, its public bodies, National Health Service bodies and local government in Wales...
. Through the Freedom of Information Act
Freedom of Information Act 2000
The Freedom of Information Act 2000 is an Act of Parliament of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that creates a public "right of access" to information held by public authorities. It is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United Kingdom on a national level...
, she uncovered a severance package of £750,000, personally authorised by Colman, to the former chief operating officer Anthony Snow. Further scrutiny uncovered more self-authorised expenses, including training costs for Colman and Snow and the £464 cost of hiring a chauffeur-driven Mercedes for Snow to attend a meeting on how to save public money. Colman resigned in February 2010 following an internal investigation, subsequently pleading guilty to possession of child pornography.
Figures obtained by Wood under the Freedom of information Act revealed the level of pay among university vice-chancellors in Wales. Over 270 people were paid over £100,000 per annum by Welsh universities in 2009. It was noted that all Welsh university vice-chancellors received more pay than the £134,723 salary of Carwyn Jones
Carwyn Jones
Carwyn Howell Jones is a Welsh politician and the First Minister of Wales. The third official to lead the Welsh Government, Jones has been Assembly Member for Bridgend since 1999. In the coalition government of Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru, he was appointed Counsel General for Wales and Leader of...
, Wales' First Minister, and some were paid more than the £197,000 entitlement of David Cameron
David Cameron
David William Donald Cameron is the current Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, First Lord of the Treasury, Minister for the Civil Service and Leader of the Conservative Party. Cameron represents Witney as its Member of Parliament ....
, the UK Prime Minister.
Information obtained by Wood showed thousands of workers in Wales to have been paid below the Minimum Wage
National Minimum Wage Act 1998
The National Minimum Wage Act 1998 creates a minimum wage across the United Kingdom, currently £6.08 per hour for workers aged 21 years and older, £4.98 per hour for workers aged 18–20...
since 2002-03. The underpayments involved over 1000 employers in Wales. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is a ministerial department of the United Kingdom Government created on 5 June 2009 by the merger of the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform .-Ministers:The BIS...
subsequently asked HM Revenue and Customs to "press for prosecution where there is clear evidence that the employer has committed an offence.", in 2010. No prosecutions had begun by June 2011.
Policy development
Wood has produced two major policy documents. In 2008, she published Making Our Communities Safer. Drawing on her four years’ previous experience as Plaid Cymru’s Social Justice and Regeneration spokesperson and committee member, as well as her previous work as a Probation Officer, it argued for the criminal justice system in Wales to be devolved.A Greenprint for the Valleys was published in 2011, in which Wood argued for a job creation programme aimed at regenerating the former coalfield areas of the valleys. It contains initiatives including: a Green Construction Skills College; implementing an integrated transport plan for the valleys; creating a land bank for renewable energy and food production; and a programme to renovate heritage buildings. It also suggests providing financial support for home energy efficiency measures and for setting up of green co-operatives.
Mrs Windsor incident
In December 2004 she was the first assembly member to be ordered out of the chamber for referring to the QueenElizabeth II of the United Kingdom
Elizabeth II is the constitutional monarch of 16 sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize,...
as "Mrs Windsor" during a debate. Lord Elis-Thomas
Dafydd Elis-Thomas
Dafydd Elis Elis-Thomas, Baron Elis-Thomas, PC, AM, is a Welsh politician and was the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales until 2011...
asked Ms Wood to withdraw the remark on the grounds of discourtesy. When she refused, she was ordered to leave. She later said: "I don't think I was treated fairly, I don't think it was necessary.", "I don't recognise the Queen, I called her that because that's her name."
Protest against Trident nuclear deterrent
Wood was arrested on 8 January 2007 for protesting against Britain's Trident nuclear deterrent at Faslane, ScotlandScotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
.
On 23 January 2006 Leanne was the first Welsh politician to start weekly podcasts from her website.
External links
- Leanne Wood AM National Assembly for Wales profile page
- Leanne Wood AM Plaid Cymru profile page
- Leanne Wood AM Website
- Leanne Wood AM blog
- Faslane protest