Edward Christopher Rees (5 January 1931 – 1 December 2001), known as Chris Rees, was a Welsh

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

. Rees grew up in

Swansea Swansea ( ; ) is a coastal City status in the United Kingdom, city and the List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, second-largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of ...

and joined

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

at an early age. In 1951, he refused to do

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

, on the grounds that he was Welsh, and was sentenced to a year in prison. While imprisoned again later, he stood for the party in Gower at the 1955 general election, taking just over 10% of the vote. He later stood at the 1963 Swansea East by-election, and again in the seat in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

and

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

, then in

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil () is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydfil, daughter of K ...

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

, but was never elected.Knut Diekmann, ''Die Nationalistische Bewegung in Wales'', p.640 In 1964, Rees was elected as Vice President of Plaid, unexpectedly beating Elystan Morgan, who was seen as the more conservative candidate. In 1966, Rees instead became the first Chairman of the party, serving until 1970. Although Rees grew up in an English-speaking family, he learned Welsh as an adult, and it became his main language. He became a college lecturer, and by 1970 was Director of Policy for Plaid. In this role, he produced a detailed language policy which was adopted by the party. In 1973, Rees adapted the Ulpan system of language learning for Welsh learners, renaming it Wlpan, and from 1975, he focused on running the Centre for Teaching the Welsh Language to Adults, based at what became

Cardiff University Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...

. He died in Cardiff in December 2001 at the age of 70.Ancestry: Mr Edward Christopher Rees in the England and Wales, Death Index, 1989-2018
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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rees, Chris 1931 births 2001 deaths 20th-century Welsh criminals Academics of Cardiff University Plaid Cymru parliamentary candidates Politicians from Swansea Welsh conscientious objectors Welsh politicians convicted of crimes Welsh-speaking politicians