Gareth Jones

OBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(born 14 May 1939) is a Welsh politician. He was a member of the

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, Its role is to scrutinise the Welsh Government and legislate on devolve ...

for

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy ...

from 1999 until 2003 when he lost by 72 votes. He sought a successful re-election to the newly created Aberconwy constituency in 2007 before retiring in 2011. He was also Leader of

Conwy County Borough Council Conwy County Borough Council () is the local authority for Conwy County Borough, one of the principal areas of Wales. History Conwy County Borough was created in 1996 under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, which replaced the previous two ...

, from 2017 to 2019, and a

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community (Wales), community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 UK census, the community � ...

town council A town council, city council or municipal council is a form of local government for small municipalities. Usage of the term varies under different jurisdictions. Republic of Ireland In 2002, 49 urban district councils and 26 town commissi ...

lor representing the

Craig-y-Don Craig-y-Don is a suburb of Llandudno, a coastal seaside resort in Conwy county borough, north Wales. It is also an electoral ward to Conwy County Borough Council and Llandudno Town Council. It is also part of the parish of Llanrhos. History ...

ward. He was formerly a 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 ...

, but left in 2017 after attempting to form a council administration in Conwy containing

Welsh Conservatives The Welsh Conservatives (), also known as the Welsh Conservative Party (), is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At United Kingdom general elections, Westminster elections, it is ...

, which the national party would not allow. He ran an independent administration of the council until 2019, when the Conservatives took control of the council. In July 2007 he was elected Chair of the Assembly's new Enterprise and Learning Committee. Prior to winning the Aberconwy constituency he was the cabinet member for finance and resources and the leader of the

party group on

Personal

Gareth Jones was born in

Blaenau Ffestiniog Blaenau Ffestiniog () is a town in Gwynedd, Wales. Once a slate mining centre in historic Merionethshire, it now relies much on tourists, drawn for instance to the Ffestiniog Railway and Llechwedd Slate Caverns. It reached a population of 12,0 ...

but now lives in

, a suburb of

. A former headmaster of

Ysgol John Bright Ysgol John Bright is a secondary school on Maesdu Road, Llandudno in Conwy County Borough, Wales. It was founded with money and support from the social reformer John Bright, whose son died in Llandudno in 1864. Until 1969 the school was a select ...

, Llandudno's secondary school, he graduated with a BA from the

University of Wales, Swansea Swansea University () is a public university, public research university located in Swansea, Wales, United Kingdom. It was chartered as University College of Swansea in 1920, as the fourth college of the University of Wales. In 1996, it chang ...

. Gareth Jones' political interests include

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

, 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 ...

and education. His hobbies include reading and walking. His wife formerly owned a local bookshop.

Political career

Between 1999 and 2003, Jones was a member of the

for the then constituency of

and was Shadow Minister for Education and later chairman of the Education Committee. In the 2003 Assembly election, he lost his seat by the narrow margin of 72 votes to Labour's Denise Idris Jones amid allegations of

electoral fraud Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share o ...

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(after they failed to deliver some 11,000 of his electoral leaflets to parts of

and surrounding areas). In 2007, in the new constituency of Aberconwy that was created following boundary changes, Jones defeated the Conservative candidate,

Dylan Jones-Evans use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinate ...

by a margin of 1,700 votes, as well as Denise Idris Jones who came in third place. Jones mainly campaigned in the run up to the election against potential downgrading of services at Ysbyty Llandudno hospital (as well as against the proposed Gwynt-y-Môr off-shore

windfarm A wind farm, also called a wind park or wind power plant, is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electricity. Wind farms vary in size from a small number of turbines to several hundred wind turbines covering an exten ...

and for affordable housing). He stood with the ballot paper description ''Plaid Cymru - Save Llandudno Hospital''. Following Jones's victory, the local Labour Party spokesperson described this as dishonest "scaremongering", claiming that the hospital was not under threat of closure under the incumbent Labour

Welsh Assembly Government Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, of or about Wales * Welsh language, spoken in Wales * Welsh people, an ethnic group native to Wales Places * Welsh, Arkansas, U.S. * Welsh, Louisiana, U.S. * Welsh, Ohio, U.S. * Welsh Basin, during t ...

. Prior to winning the Aberconwy constituency he was the cabinet member for finance and resources and the leader of the

party group on

. He has also held several posts within his political party,

– the Party of Wales, including being a member of the National Executive Committee. Prior to his re-election he was an active member of the Llandudno Hospital Action Group, and a

Trustee Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, refers to anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility for the ...

of Llandudno's St David's

Hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

. He remains a board member of Aberconwy

Women's Aid Women's Aid Federation of England, commonly called Women's Aid within England, is one of a group of charities across the United Kingdom. There are four main Women's Aid Federations, 3 for each of the countries of the United Kingdom, and one for t ...

and of the National Welsh Language and Heritage Centre at

Nant Gwrtheyrn Nant Gwrtheyrn is a Welsh Language and Heritage Centre, located near the village of Llithfaen on the northern coast of the Llŷn Peninsula, Gwynedd, in northwest Wales. The centre takes its name from the valley in which it is located, Nant Gwr ...

, Chair of Deganwy Chapel, and Patron of Tyddyn Bach, a respite centre for HIV patients and families in

Penmaenmawr Penmaenmawr (, ) is a town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, which was formerly in the parish of Dwygyfylchi and the traditional county of Caernarfonshire. It is on the North Wales coast between Conwy and Llanfairfechan and was an ...

. On 26 September 2010 Gareth Jones announced that he would not be standing for election in the 2011 National Assembly for Wales elections. Jones was re-elected to

in 2012, representing

ward. In 2017, Jones was appointed

Leader Leadership, is defined as the ability of an individual, group, or organization to "", influence, or guide other individuals, teams, or organizations. "Leadership" is a contested term. Specialist literature debates various viewpoints on the co ...

, after the previous leader resigned, allegedly over failures to pay council tax. The 2017 Conwy County Borough Council elections were held shortly after, and no party was granted an overall majority on the council. Jones attempted to form an administration comprising all parties, due to the highly divided nature of the vote. Labour refused to participate, and Plaid Cymru's national party also refused the idea of the party working in co-operation with the Welsh Conservatives. Jones therefore left Plaid Cymru, and ran a

minority administration A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

of independents and

Welsh Conservative The Welsh Conservatives (), also known as the Welsh Conservative Party (), is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second-most popular political party in Wales by vote ...

councillors, with informal confidence and supply from the local Liberal Democrats. This lasted until 2019, when Jones was removed in a vote of no-confidence, and replaced by then councillor and later MS

Sam Rowlands Sam Rowlands is a Welsh Conservative politician serving as Member of the Senedd (MS) for the North Wales electoral region since 2021, and Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Finance since December 2024. He has also formerly served as Shadow Health Min ...

. Jones had sacked Rowlands from the council administration, for holding talks with other councillors and members of the administration about taking over the leadership of the council. Jones did not contest the 2022 Conwy County Borough Council elections.

References

External links

Plaid Cymru Website BBC NewsNational Assembly for Wales Register of Members Interests

Offices held

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jones, Gareth People from Blaenau Ffestiniog Councillors in Wales Plaid Cymru members of the Senedd Wales AMs 1999–2003 Wales AMs 2007–2011 Officers of the Order of the British Empire Plaid Cymru councillors Alumni of Swansea University 1939 births Living people Welsh-speaking politicians Leaders of local authorities of Wales