Rhodri Mabon ap Gwynfor is a Welsh

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 ...

politician who has been

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 Dwyfor Meirionnydd since

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

. He has served as Plaid Cymru's Health, Social Care and Housing Spokesperson and Chief Whip since June 2023.

Career

Mabon was elected as a town councillor in

Aberystwyth Town Council Aberystwyth Town Council () is the community council that governs the ancient borough, town and community of Aberystwyth. For electoral purposes, it is divided into five electoral divisions (often known as wards). Background The council appoint ...

in 2004. He stood for election to the

British Parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of ...

and

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 ...

unsuccessfully on several occasions between 2005 and 2016. He contested the Brecon and Radnorshire seat at the 2005 general election. He attempted to be selected as Plaid Cymru candidate for

Ceredigion Ceredigion (), historically Cardiganshire (, ), is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the West Wales, west of Wales. It borders Gwynedd across the River Dyfi, Dyfi estuary to the north, Powys to the east, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire t ...

in 2010, but was not successful. He stood for the Clwyd South Senedd constituency in the 2011 and 2016 elections, and for the identically named Clwyd South constituency at the 2015 general election. He was later elected as a Denbighshire County Councillor for Llandrillo in 2017. In 2019 it was announced he would be the Plaid Cymru candidate for the Dwyfor Meirionnydd Senedd constituency in the 2021 Senedd elections, in a selection process involving five other candidates. He was elected, with a majority of 7,096 votes. Shortly after he was elected, in August 2021, he resigned as councillor for Llandrillo. He said it was impossible to "effectively" fulfil roles as a councillor and Senedd Member. He had previously said he would remain in place until elections to be held in May 2022. He is a member of the Senedd Health and Social Care committee. He chairs cross-party groups on

Fisheries Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life or, more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a., fishing grounds). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farm ...

and

Aquaculture Aquaculture (less commonly spelled aquiculture), also known as aquafarming, is the controlled cultivation ("farming") of aquatic organisms such as fish, crustaceans, mollusks, algae and other organisms of value such as aquatic plants (e.g. Nelu ...

Housing Housing refers to a property containing one or more Shelter (building), shelter as a living space. Housing spaces are inhabited either by individuals or a collective group of people. Housing is also referred to as a human need and right to ...

, and Peace and Reconciliation, and is vice-chair of the

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 ...

group. He is a member of cross-party groups on

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 ...

and

palliative care Palliative care (from Latin root "to cloak") is an interdisciplinary medical care-giving approach aimed at optimizing quality of life and mitigating or reducing suffering among people with serious, complex, and often terminal illnesses. Man ...

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

long COVID Long may refer to: Measurement * Long, characteristic of something of great duration * Long, characteristic of something of great length * Longitude (abbreviation: long.), a geographic coordinate * Longa (music), note value in early music mens ...

poverty Poverty is a state or condition in which an individual lacks the financial resources and essentials for a basic standard of living. Poverty can have diverse Biophysical environmen ...

, renewable and low carbon energy, rural growth,

stroke Stroke is a medical condition in which poor cerebral circulation, blood flow to a part of the brain causes cell death. There are two main types of stroke: brain ischemia, ischemic, due to lack of blood flow, and intracranial hemorrhage, hemor ...

and Welsh wool. In 2023 he was elected as national chair of CND Cymru He will contest the new Gwynedd Maldwyn constituency at the

Next Senedd election The next Senedd election is due to be held by 7 May 2026 to elect 96 members to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). It will be the seventh devolved general election since the Senedd (formerly the National Assembly for Wales) was established in 1 ...

, in second place on Plaid Cymru's list, behind

Siân Gwenllian Siân Gwenllian is a Welsh Plaid Cymru politician who has represented the constituency of Arfon in the Senedd since 2016. She currently holds the seat with a majority of 8,642 votes. Early life and career Gwenllian was educated at Friars S ...

Personal life

He is the grandson of Plaid Cymru's first Member of Parliament and former president,

Gwynfor Evans Gwynfor Richard Evans (1 September 1912 – 21 April 2005) was a Welsh politician, lawyer and author. He was President of the Welsh political party Plaid Cymru for thirty-six years and was the first member of Parliament to represent it at West ...

. He is married, and has four children. Mabon graduated from the

University of Wales, Bangor Bangor University () is a public research university in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales. It was established by Royal Charter in 1885 as the University College of North Wales (UCNW; ), and in 1893 became one of the founding institutions of the federal ...

, with a BA in

History History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

. In 2023, he self-published a book, ''Going Nuclear''. He was accepted to the Gorsedd of the Bards in the National Eisteddfod at Boduan in 2023.

Selected Works

References

Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Plaid Cymru members of the Senedd Wales MSs 2021–2026 Plaid Cymru councillors Welsh-speaking politicians {{Wales-MS-stub