Carolyn Thomas (born 1965) is a

Welsh Labour Welsh Labour (), formerly known as the Labour Party in Wales (), is an autonomous section of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK), Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears have won a p ...

and

Co-operative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

politician who has been a

Member of the Senedd A member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; ; , plural: ) is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd constituency, Senedd constituencies, a ...

(MS) for

North Wales North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...

since the

2021 Senedd election The 2021 Senedd election took place on Thursday 6 May 2021 to elect 60 members to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). It was the sixth Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved general election since the Senedd (formerly the National Assembly for ...

Early career and election

Before being elected to the

Senedd The Senedd ( ; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

, Thomas worked as a postal worker until 2020 and was a member of the Communication Workers Union (CWU). In 2008, she was elected to

Flintshire County Council Flintshire County Council is the unitary local authority for the county of Flintshire, one of the principal areas of Wales. It is based at Tŷ Dewi Sant, Ewloe since 2025. It was previously based at County Hall in Mold. Elections take place ...

as an independent representing Treuddyn before joining Labour in 2015. In 2019, Thomas became Deputy Leader of the council. Whilst Deputy Leader, Thomas delivered a petition to the

, calling for buses to be run 'for people, not profit'. The petition asked the Welsh Government to regulate commercial bus companies and allow local authorities to run their own bus services. Thomas was selected to lead the

regional list for Labour in the

and was elected as Labour's first ever Member of the Senedd for the North Wales region.

Parliamentary career

In February 2022, Thomas was one of three Labour MSs to support introducing rent controls in Wales. Thomas is a supporter of public ownership. In August 2022, she called for energy companies to be nationalised in response to increased bills. Since being elected, Thomas has spoken of her experience of working as a postal worker in the Royal Mail following its privatisation in 2013. She has called for Royal Mail to be returned to public ownership, saying that privatisation had 'wrecked' the business because of an 'unhinged profit-obsessed mantra'. Amidst the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

, Thomas supported an opposition motion from Plaid Cymru calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, triggering a debate and vote in the Senedd, which subsequently backed calls for a ceasefire. Thomas has been an outspoken critic of

carbon capture Carbon capture may refer to: * Carbon capture and storage Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is a process by which carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial installations is separated before it is released into the atmosphere, then transported to a l ...

and storage, and opposed plans for an underground carbon capture pipeline being built through North Wales, describing it as an 'exhaust pipe' which will 'serve to entrench fossil fuel reliance'.

Personal life

Thomas is married and has three children.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Carolyn 1965 births Living people Labour Co-operative members of the Senedd Female members of the Senedd 21st-century Welsh women politicians Wales MSs 2021–2026 British postal officials