Brian Hancock (born 8 August 1950 in

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

) is a Welsh politician and member of

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 ...

. He was the Welsh Assembly Member for

Islwyn The Borough of Islwyn was one of five local government districts of Gwent from 1974 to 1996. History The borough was formed in 1974 as a local government district of Gwent. It covered the whole area of three former districts and part of a fou ...

for the Assembly's first term (1999–2003). AMs serving 1999-2003

Background

Born in Cardiff in 1950, Hancock was educated at Lady Mary High School, Cardiff and Llandaff Technical College, also in Cardiff. He went on to earn a BSc in

Chemical Engineering Chemical engineering is an engineering field which deals with the study of the operation and design of chemical plants as well as methods of improving production. Chemical engineers develop economical commercial processes to convert raw materials ...

at the

Polytechnic of Wales The University of Glamorgan () was a public university based in South Wales, that merged with University of Wales, Newport to form the University of South Wales in April 2013. The university was based in Pontypridd, in Rhondda Cynon Taf, with c ...

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

. He rose through the ranks in the world of chemical engineering, starting out at ''Monsanto Ltd'' as an engineer in 1974, eventually becoming Health, Safety and Environment Superintendent for BP Chemicals in 1988. He became a self-employed Health, Safety and Environment Consultant in 1992. He later worked part-time as a Business Development Adviser. Among his interests are

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Tou ...

and

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

, he has been the chair of Newport Harriers Athletic Club for nearly 20 years.

Political career

Hancock was elected Plaid AM for Islwyn in the First Welsh Assembly Elections in 1999 with a majority of 604 votes from the Labour Party. Islwyn was one of the several Labour strongholds in the South Wales Valleys which unpredictably fell to Plaid. Hancock served as Plaid's Deputy Whip and as Spokesman for Small Businesses.

Irene James Irene James (born 1952) is a Welsh Labour politician who represented the constituency of Islwyn in the National Assembly for Wales from 2003 to 2011. Personal life James was educated Newbridge Grammar School and the Cardiff College of Music ...

regained the seat for Labour in the 2003 Elections. More recently, Hancock stood as Plaid's candidate for the Newport West constituency in the 2007 National Assembly Elections, coming fourth with 10.4% of the vote.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hancock, Brian 1950 births Politicians from Cardiff Living people Plaid Cymru members of the Senedd Wales AMs 1999–2003 Alumni of Loughborough University