George Winston Roddick, (born 2 October 1940 in

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 ...

) is a Welsh

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...

, and the former North Wales Police and Crime Commissioner. At the time he was a member of the Liberal Democrats, but ran as an independent and on election resigned from the Party. Roddick was the first person to hold the post.

Early life

Roddick was born and raised in

, educated at the Royal Naval School Tal-Handaq,

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

and the Sir Hugh Owen Grammar School, Caernarfon. After training and working as a

police officer A police officer (also called policeman or policewoman, cop, officer or constable) is a Warrant (law), warranted law employee of a police, police force. In most countries, ''police officer'' is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, he undertook a law degree at

University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

Career

Legal career

He then trained as a barrister, appointed to the bar in 1968, and then became a

Crown Court The Crown Court is the criminal trial court, court of first instance in England and Wales responsible for hearing all indictable offences, some Hybrid offence, either way offences and appeals of the decisions of magistrates' courts. It is ...

recorder. One of Wales's leading barristers, he

took silk A King's Counsel ( post-nominal initials KC) is a senior lawyer appointed by the monarch (or their viceregal representative) of some Commonwealth realms as a "Counsel learned in the law". When the reigning monarch is a woman, the title is Qu ...

in 1986, and was appointed as the first Counsel General for Wales in 1998, the most senior legal adviser to the

Welsh Assembly 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 ...

, during which time he advised on the creation and legislative passing of the

Welsh Language Act 1993 The Welsh Language Act 1993 (c. 38) () is an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which put the Welsh language on an equal footing with the English language in Wales. Act Background After the S4C, Welsh language c ...

Political career

Roddick has twice stood for the

Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. For example, while the political systems ...

unsuccessfully in Parliamentary elections: in

Anglesey Anglesey ( ; ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms the bulk of the Principal areas of Wales, county known as the Isle of Anglesey, which also includes Holy Island, Anglesey, Holy Island () and some islets and Skerry, sker ...

at the 1970 general election, and in Cardiff South and Penarth in

1983 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to TCP/IP is officially completed (this is considered to be the beginning of the ...

. He also served as Chairman of the Welsh Liberal Party in the early 1980s.

Police and Crime Commissioner

In November 2012, he sought election as the

Police and Crime Commissioner A police and crime commissioner (PCC; ) is an elected official in England and Wales responsible for generally overseeing police services. A police, fire and crime commissioner (PFCC) is an elected official in England responsible for generally ...

for

North Wales Police North Wales Police () is the territorial police force responsible for policing North Wales. Its headquarters are in Colwyn Bay. , the force has 1,510 police officers, 170 special constables, 182 police community support officers (PCSO), 71 p ...

, beating Labour's Tal Michael on the second count. After his election, he was criticised for running as an independent even though he is a member of the Liberal Democrats, with the

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

accusing him of 'hiding' his allegiance for political reasons. Roddick stood down at the 2016 elections and the seat was won by

Arfon Jones Owain Arfon Jones (born March 1955) is a Welsh police officer who was the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales Police from 2016 to 2021. He is a former member of Plaid Cymru. Jones had a long career in the North Wales Police, becoming O ...

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 ...

Other

In 1997, Roddick was appointed a member of the

Independent Television Commission The Independent Television Commission (ITC) licensed and regulated commercial television services in the United Kingdom (except S4C in Wales) between 1 January 1991 and 28 December 2003. History The creation of ITC, by the Broadcasting Act ...

, and between 2004 and 2012 was a member of the

S4C Authority The S4C Authority () is an independent public body appointed by the United Kingdom Government's Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport to oversee the management of the Welsh-language television channel S4C. Although an indepen ...

Personal life

He is a member of the

Gorsedd of Bards Gorsedd Cymru (), or simply the Gorsedd (), is a society of Welsh-language poets, writers, musicians and others who have contributed to the Welsh language and to public life in Wales. Its aim is to honour such individuals and help develop and p ...

, patron of Caernarfon Rugby Club, an Honorary Life Member of Caernarfon Town F.C. Supporters Club, the Honorary President of GISDA (Gwynedd charity for homeless young people), and the Vice President of the Caernarfon Male Voice Choir.

Honours

Roddick was awarded the

Companion of the Order of the Bath Companion may refer to: Relationships Currently * Any of several interpersonal relationships such as friend or acquaintance * A domestic partner, akin to a spouse * Sober companion, an addiction treatment coach * Companion (caregiving), a caregi ...

in 2003, and became an Honorary Fellow of the University of Aberystwyth in 1999.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roddick, Winston Living people category:Liverpool City Police officers People from Caernarfon Welsh police officers Welsh barristers 21st-century Welsh lawyers 20th-century Welsh lawyers Police and crime commissioners in Wales Welsh King's Counsel Alumni of University College London Welsh civil servants 20th-century King's Counsel Companions of the Order of the Bath Bards of the Gorsedd 1940 births Liberal Democrats (UK) people Independent police and crime commissioners Liberal Party (UK) parliamentary candidates