Dafydd Elis-Thomas, the previous chief of Plaid Cymru, has died on the age of 78.
Lord Elis-Thomas additionally served because the Welsh authorities’s tradition, sport and tourism minister from 2017 to 2021.
He served as his get together’s chief between 1984 and 1991 and as MP for Merioneth, later Meirionnydd Nant Conwy, from 1974 to 1992.
He then turned a member of the House of Lords when he was made a life peer the identical yr.
Lord Elis-Thomas was a member of the primary Senedd, then referred to as the Welsh Meeting, in 1999 and performed a key function as its first presiding officer – a job he held till 2011.
He give up Plaid Cymru in 2016 and continued to sit down as an impartial member of the Senedd for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, till he stepped down on the 2021 election.
Lord Elis-Thomas with Queen Elizabeth II on the opening of the Senedd constructing on 1 March 2006. Pic: Senedd Fee
‘Senedd’s founding father’
Plaid’s present chief Rhun ap Iorwerth mentioned Lord Elis-Thomas’s loss of life was “an enormous loss to Welsh politics and the civic lifetime of Wales”.
Mr ap Iorwerth mentioned his predecessor was “unquestionably one of the influential figures of his era”.
Because the inaugural presiding officer, he made “a priceless contribution in laying the agency foundations of devolution”, Mr ap Iorwerth added.
He mentioned the get together’s “sincerest condolences” have been with Lord Elis-Thomas’s household.
Elin Jones, the Senedd’s present presiding officer, referred to as the Llywydd, mentioned it was “exhausting to think about Welsh political life with out [him]”.
She mentioned he was “omnipresent” in Welsh politics, having served within the Home of Commons, Home of Lords and the Senedd.
Ms Jones mentioned he was “eager to ascertain a contemporary democracy from the beginning” in his function as presiding officer and will “rightly be referred to as [the] Senedd’s founding father”.
Wales’s first minister Eluned Morgan mentioned he was “a real large of Welsh politics” and “helped form the Wales we all know as we speak”.
Baroness Morgan added that Wales was “immeasurably richer for his lifetime of service”.
Lord Elis-Thomas’s successor as Senedd member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Mabon ap Gwynfor, mentioned the information had come as an “huge blow”, and that he had made a “priceless contribution to Welsh politics”.
Secretary of State for Wales Jo Stevens additionally paid tribute, saying he had “devoted his life to serving Wales in Westminster, Cardiff Bay, and his constituency”.
Elsewhere, Scotland‘s first minister John Swinney mentioned he was “an incredible good friend to Scotland and a nice servant of Wales”.
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Welsh Conservative chief Darren Millar described Lord Elis-Thomas as “a titan of Welsh politics” and that his loss of life was “an incredible loss”.
In the meantime, former Welsh Conservative chief Andrew RT Davies mentioned he “admired” the previous minister as “a person who was by no means afraid to talk his thoughts”.
