Dawn Alison Louise Bowden (born 14 February 1960) is a British Labour Party politician and

trade unionist A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

serving as Chief Whip of the Welsh Government and Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport since 2021. Bowden has been the

Member of the Senedd A Member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; cy, Aelodau o'r Senedd; , plural:) (AS)., group=la is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd ...

(MS) for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney since 2016.

Early life and education

Bowden was born on 14 February 1960 in

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

, England.'BOWDEN, Dawn', ''

Who's Who 2017 ''Who's Who'' is a reference work. It is a book, and also a CD-ROM and a website, giving information on influential people from around the world. Published annually as a book since 1849, it lists people who influence British life, according to i ...

'', A & C Black, an imprint of Bloomsbury Publishing plc, 2017; online edn, Oxford University Press, 2016; online edn, Nov 201
accessed 30 Sept 2017
/ref> She was educated at

St Bernadette Catholic Secondary School St Bernadette Catholic Secondary School is a coeducational Catholic, voluntary aided secondary school in Whitchurch, a suburb in the south of Bristol, England. It is located next to St Bernadette Catholic Primary School and the local parish chu ...

, a state-funded

Catholic school Catholic schools are pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered under the aegis or in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest religious, non-governmental school syste ...

in Bristol. Then, from 1976 to 1978, she undertook a

secretarial A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

course at Soundwell Technical College.

Career

Early career

Bowden began her working life as a

secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a w ...

. She worked for the

National Health Service The National Health Service (NHS) is the umbrella term for the publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom (UK). Since 1948, they have been funded out of general taxation. There are three systems which are referred to using the " ...

between 1979 and 1982, and for

Bristol City Council Bristol City Council is the local authority of Bristol, England. The council is a unitary authority, and is unusual in the United Kingdom in that its executive function is controlled by a directly elected mayor of Bristol. Bristol has 34 wards ...

from 1982 to 1983. From April 2012 until her election 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, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Gove ...

in May 2016, Bowden was the head of health for UNISON Cymru/Wales (the Welsh division of the national

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

UNISON In music, unison is two or more musical parts that sound either the same pitch or pitches separated by intervals of one or more octaves, usually at the same time. ''Rhythmic unison'' is another term for homorhythm. Definition Unison or per ...

Political career

In February 2016, it was announced that Bowden had been selected from an

all-women shortlist All-women shortlists (AWS) is an affirmative action practice intended to increase the proportion of female Members of Parliament (MPs) in the United Kingdom, allowing only women to stand in particular constituencies for a particular political p ...

to be the

Welsh Labour Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 1922 ...

candidate for the Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency seat in the next

election. The all-women shortlist was controversial; it drew criticism from a number of male councillors, including the leader of

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor bwrdeistref Sirol Merthyr Tudful) is the governing body for Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. History The parish of Merthyr Tydfil was governed by a local boar ...

. On 5 May 2016, she was elected a

Member of the Welsh Assembly A Member of the Senedd (MS; plural: ''MSs''; cy, Aelodau o'r Senedd; , plural:) (AS)., group=la is a representative elected to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ). There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd ...

with 9,763 votes (47.2% of votes cast).

Personal life

Bowden has two children. Sam and Jack. In 2011, she married Martin; he works as a policy officer for

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowden, Dawn 1960 births Living people Welsh Labour members of the Senedd Female members of the Senedd Wales MSs 2016–2021 Wales MSs 2021–2026 Women trade unionists Trade unionists from Bristol