Dafydd Wynne Wigley, Baron Wigley, (born David Wigley; 1 April 1943) is a Welsh politician who served as the leader 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 ...

from 1981 to 1984 and again from 1991 to 2000. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for

Caernarfon Caernarfon (; ) is a List of place names with royal patronage in the United Kingdom, royal town, Community (Wales), community and port in Gwynedd, Wales. It has a population of 9,852 (with Caeathro). It lies along the A487 road, on the easter ...

from 1974 to 2001 and as the

Member of the Welsh Assembly 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 constituencies, and twenty to represe ...

for

from 1999 to 2003. In 2010, Wigley was granted life peerage, taking his seat in the

House of Lords The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the lower house, the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster in London, England. One of the oldest ext ...

in 2011.

Early life

Wigley was born in

Derby, England Derby ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent in Derbyshire, England. Derbyshire is named after Derby, which was its original co ...

, the only child of Welsh parents Elfyn Edward Wigley and Myfanwy Batterbee. He attended Caernarfon

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

and Rydal School before going on to the

Victoria University of Manchester The Victoria University of Manchester, usually referred to as simply the University of Manchester, was a university in Manchester, England. It was founded in 1851 as Owens College. In 1880, the college joined the federal Victoria University. A ...

. Before becoming a Plaid Cymru MP for Caernarfon, Wigley worked for Ford Motor Company, Mars and Hoover.

Political career

In May 1972 Wigley became a councillor on the pre-1974

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 ...

County Borough Council, winning in the Park, Merthyr Tydfil ward, with the sitting Labour councillor in third place.

UK Parliament

Wigley was elected as a Plaid Cymru councillor for Merthyr Tydfil in 1972 and was then the MP for Caernarfon from 1974 until 2001, first elected at the February 1974 general election. The election for president was seen as instrumental in deciding the future direction of Plaid Cymru. Wigley represented a moderate, pragmatic social democracy, in sharp contrast with rival candidate Dafydd Elis-Thomas's socialism. In 1981 Wigley won the presidency, but Elis Thomas had greater influence over the party's ideology throughout the 1980s. In 1984 Wigley resigned from the presidency because of his children's health, but he returned in

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

for a second term after the resignation of Elis Thomas. Wigley led Plaid until

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

. He stood down as a Member of Parliament at the 2001 General Election to concentrate on his role in the Assembly.McAllister, L, ''Plaid Cymru: The Emergence of a Political Party'', (2001), Seren Having served 27 years as an MP, Wigley is the longest-ever serving post-war MP from a nationalist party.

National Assembly for Wales

Wigley was the Assembly member for Caernarfon from 1999 to 2003.

House of Lords

He secured a Plaid Cymru nomination for a peerage alongside Eurfyl ap Gwilym and Janet Davies. He initially withdrew his candidature after complaining about how long the process was taking. On 19 November 2010 it was announced that he had been granted a life peerage by the Queen, and he took his seat in the

as Baron Wigley, ''of

in the County of Gwynedd'' on 24 January 2011, supported by fellow Plaid peer Lord Elis-Thomas and by Lord Faulkner of Worcester. He made his maiden speech on 27 January during a debate on tourism. Having been one of the first MPs to take the House of Commons oath of allegiance in the

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic languages, Celtic language of the Brittonic languages, Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales by about 18% of the population, by some in England, and in (the Welsh c ...

in 1974, he took the oath of allegiance in Welsh on entering the Lords. In 2024, Wigley criticised the Senedd Reform Bill due to the introduction of a closed list PR system for elections 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 ...

Personal life

He married the Welsh harpist

Elinor Bennett Elinor Bennett, Baroness Wigley, OBE (born 17 April 1943) is a Welsh harpist who has an international reputation as a soloist, master instructor, and founded the Harp College of Wales. Biography Bennett was born in 1943 in Llanidloes, Wales. ...

. The couple had four children, son Hywel Wigley and daughter Eluned Wigley as well as two sons, Alun and Geraint, who died of a genetic illness. His sons' condition influenced the direction of his career, and he took a strong interest in the affairs of disabled people, being vice-chairman of the Parliamentary all-party disablement group, vice-president of Disability Wales, vice-president of Mencap (Wales), former president of the Spastics' Society of Wales and sponsor of the Disabled Persons Act in 1981. In 2003 Wigley became Pro-Chancellor of the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

Awards

In 2008, Wigley was awarded an Honorary Chair in Business at

Bangor University Bangor University () is a Public university, public Research university, research university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It was established by Royal charter, Royal Charter in 1885 as the University College of North Wales (UCNW; ), and in 1893 ...

Notes

References

External links

UK Parliament Profile
*
The Right Honourable Dafydd Wigley
– University of Wales
BBC News CV on Dafydd Wigley
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wigley, Dafydd 1943 births Alumni of the Victoria University of Manchester Leaders of Plaid Cymru Leaders of political parties in Wales Living people Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Caernarfon Members of the Privy Council of the United Kingdom People associated with the University of Wales Politicians from Derby Plaid Cymru members of the Senedd Plaid Cymru MPs UK MPs 1974 UK MPs 1974–1979 UK MPs 1979–1983 UK MPs 1983–1987 UK MPs 1987–1992 UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 Wales AMs 1999–2003 Welsh-speaking politicians Plaid Cymru life peers Life peers created by Elizabeth II