Rodney Simon Berman OBE is a

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

politician, currently a councillor for the

Penylan Penylan is a district and community in the east of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, known for its Edwardian era period houses and spacious tree lined roads and avenues. Situated to both the north and south of the A48 dual carriageway, it ...

ward of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...

. He was formerly a councillor for

Plasnewydd Plasnewydd (meaning ''New Manor'' or ''New Place'' in English) is an electoral ward (and formerly the name of a community) of Cardiff, Wales. It falls within the parliamentary constituency of Cardiff Central. It is bounded by the electoral wa ...

ward, and was also leader of

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were establishe ...

between 2004 and 2012.

Early life

Born and raised in

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popu ...

, Berman studied at the

University of Glasgow , image = UofG Coat of Arms.png , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms Flag , latin_name = Universitas Glasguensis , motto = la, Via, Veritas, Vita , ...

where he helped run Glasgow University Liberal Democrats, before moving to

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

to study towards a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

Career

Berman stood for election to

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

as Welsh Liberal Democrat candidate for

Rhondda Rhondda , or the Rhondda Valley ( cy, Cwm Rhondda ), is a former coal mining, coalmining area in South Wales, historically in the county of Glamorgan. It takes its name from the River Rhondda, and embraces two valleys – the larger Rhondda Fa ...

and Cardiff South and Penarth in 1997 and 2001, respectively, coming third on each occasion. His agent for the Rhondda seat was Professor Russell Deacon. Berman was the last Liberal Democrat to secure their electoral deposit there until the general election of 2010. In 2006, Berman was the first winner of the Local Politician of the Year award. The local elections of 2008 saw the Liberal Democrats under Berman's leadership increase their representation, winning new seats in the east (

Trowbridge Trowbridge ( ) is the county town of Wiltshire, England, on the River Biss in the west of the county. It is near the border with Somerset and lies southeast of Bath, 31 miles (49 km) southwest of Swindon and 20 miles (32 km) southeas ...

), west (

Llandaff Llandaff (; cy, Llandaf ; from 'church' and ''River Taff, Taf'') is a district, Community (Wales), community and coterminous electoral ward in the north of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It was incorporated into the city in 1922. It is the seat of ...

) and south of the city (

Butetown Butetown (or ''The Docks'', cy, Tre-biwt) is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, the capital of Wales. It was originally a model housing estate built in the early 19th century by the 2nd Marquess of Bute, for whose t ...

). Under Berman's leadership, the Liberal Democrats gained and then lost their largest representation in Cardiff for over a century. In the 2012 council elections, the Liberal Democrats lost control of Cardiff Council to

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 ...

, and Berman also lost his seat after two recounts. Berman was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

(OBE) in the

2013 New Year Honours The New Year Honours 2013 were appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebra ...

for services to local government and the community in Cardiff. He returned as a councillor in May 2017 for the Penylan Ward. At the

2021 Senedd election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length&nb ...

, he was the Lib Dem candidate for Cardiff Central, coming second to

Jenny Rathbone Jenny Ann Rathbone (born 12 February 1950) is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician who has been a Member of the Senedd (MS) since 2011. Career She was Labour candidate for Cardiff Central at the 2010 General Election coming second to ...

. He also stood on the list vote for the South Wales Central region.

Personal life

In August 2006, Berman entered into a

Civil Partnership A civil union (also known as a civil partnership) is a legally recognized arrangement similar to marriage, created primarily as a means to provide recognition in law for same-sex couples. Civil unions grant some or all of the rights of marriage ...

with his partner, former

ITV News ITV News is the branding of news programmes on the British television network ITV. ITV has a long tradition of television news. Independent Television News (ITN) was founded to provide news bulletins for the network in 1955, and has since con ...

journalist Nick Speed.

References

* Balsom, Denis. The Wales Yearbook 2007. Francis Balsom Associates Limited. 2006

External links

"It's just not cricket" - The Western Mail

"‘Cardiff residents should get to vote for a mayor’" - Wales Online

"Directly-elected mayor would have too much power, says Rodney Berman" - Wales Online

"Cardiff council hits back at rubbish collection complaints" - Wales Online

"Concern over city school shake-up" - BBC News

"Cardiff 'behind' in culture city race" - BBC News

"Council to reveal school closures" - BBC News
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berman, Rodney 1969 births Living people Alumni of the University of Glasgow Councillors in Cardiff Gay politicians Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Liberal Democrats (UK) parliamentary candidates Officers of the Order of the British Empire LGBT politicians from Scotland Politicians from Glasgow LGBT politicians from Wales Leaders of local authorities of Wales