Rhodri Glyn Thomas (born 11 April 1953) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

politician. He was the

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Go ...

Member for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr from

1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shoot ...

to 2016, when he did not re-stand for election. Following his retirement from the Assembly he was appointed President of the

National Library of Wales The National Library of Wales ( cy, Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru), Aberystwyth, is the national legal deposit library of Wales and is one of the Welsh Government sponsored bodies. It is the biggest library in Wales, holding over 6.5 million ...

Education

Thomas was born in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; cy, Sir Ddinbych; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. Its borders differ from the historic county of the same name. This part of Wales contains the country's oldest known evidence of habitation – Pontnewydd (Bontnewy ...

. He attended Ysgol Bodhyfryd, Wrexham, and then

Ysgol Morgan Llwyd Ysgol Morgan Llwyd is a Welsh-medium comprehensive school in Wrexham, in north-east Wales, UK. It is the first, and is the only Welsh-medium secondary school in Wrexham County Borough. It is named after the seventeenth century preacher and aut ...

, Wrexham before leaving for the

University of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

in 1975 to study for a BA degree in

and Education in 1975. After graduating, he studied for a BD degree in

Theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing th ...

at the

University of Wales, Bangor , former_names = University College of North Wales (1884–1996) University of Wales, Bangor (1996–2007) , image = File:Arms_of_Bangor_University.svg , image_size = 250px , caption = Arms ...

and

Bala-Bangor Theological Seminary Bala-Bangor was a theological seminary belonging to the Welsh Independents (Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg), an association of Welsh congregationalists. It was founded in 1841 at Llanuwchllyn, then moved to a permanent location at Bala, Gwynedd ...

under

R. Tudur Jones Robert Tudur Jones (28 June 1921 – 23 July 1998), better known as R. Tudur Jones, was a Welsh nationalist and one of the country's leading theologians. His nationalistic stance, combined with Calvinist doctrine, created an integrated vision tha ...

. In 1991 he studied for a MTh degree at the

University of Wales, Lampeter University of Wales, Lampeter ( cy, Prifysgol Cymru, Llanbedr Pont Steffan) was a university in Lampeter, Wales. Founded in 1822, and incorporated by royal charter in 1828, it was the oldest degree awarding institution in Wales, with limited ...

, reading American Theology although the final thesis he submitted was on the Union of Welsh Independents (

Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg The Union of Welsh Independents ( cy, Undeb yr Annibynwyr Cymraeg) is a Reformed congregationalist denomination in Wales. History Welsh congregational churches or Independents stand in the Puritan tradition. The first congregational congregati ...

) role in the struggle to revive the Welsh Language in the 20th century.

Professional career

Thomas is a Minister of Religion, the director of a language consultancy, a former Chair of CND Cymru and Welsh spokesperson for the Forum of Private Business.

Political career

In 1992, Thomas fought the old

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

constituency in the

General Election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

for Plaid Cymru - Party of Wales. In the 1997 General Election he stood for Plaid Cymru in Carmarthen East & Dinefwr. In 1999 he fought the same constituency in the

National Assembly In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the r ...

Elections, winning by 6,980 votes. He was reelected in 2007 with an increased majority of over 8,000 making it the Assembly's second safest seat. Plaid Cymru entered into a coalition government with

Welsh Labour Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 192 ...

in July 2007, and Rhodri Glyn Thomas was appointed as Minister for Heritage (19 July 2007), which he resigned from in 2008 after walking into a Cardiff pub with a lit cigar, thus breaking the law. In December 2016 Thomas announced that he would stand as a candidate for election to Carmarthenshire County Council, contesting the St Clears ward. However, he was heavily defeated at the election by the sitting Independent councillor.

Wales Book of the Year error

At the

Academi Blackwater was an American private military company founded on December 26, 1996 by former Navy SEAL officer Erik Prince. It was renamed Xe Services in 2009 and known as Academi since 2011 after it was acquired by a group of private investors ...

2008

Wales Book of the Year The Wales Book of the Year is a Welsh literary award given annually to the best Welsh and English language works in the fields of fiction and literary criticism by Welsh or Welsh interest authors. Established in 1992, the awards are currently ad ...

ceremony, Thomas incorrectly announced that Tom Bullough was the winner. The prize was, in fact, awarded to

Dannie Abse Daniel Abse CBE FRSL (22 September 1923 – 28 September 2014) was a Welsh poet and physician. His poetry won him many awards. As a medic, he worked in a chest clinic for over 30 years. Early years Abse was born in Cardiff, Wales, as the young ...

, Thomas having read the card wrongly.

References

External links

Senedd profileRhodri Glyn Thomas AM websiteRhodri Glyn Thomas AM blogPlaid Cymru - the Party of Wales websiteCigar blunder minister quits job

Offices held

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Rhodri Glyn 1953 births Living people Plaid Cymru politicians Plaid Cymru members of the Senedd Wales AMs 1999–2003 Wales AMs 2003–2007 Wales AMs 2007–2011 Wales AMs 2011–2016 Members of the Welsh Assembly Government Alumni of the University of Wales, Lampeter Alumni of Bangor University Alumni of Aberystwyth University Welsh Protestant ministers and clergy Welsh Congregationalists Welsh-speaking politicians Calvinist pacifists People from Wrexham People educated at Ysgol Morgan Llwyd