Eurfyl ap Gwilym (born 14 November 1944) is a Welsh economist, deputy chairman of the
Principality Building Society
The Principality Building Society ( cy, Cymdeithas Adeiladu'r Principality) is a building society based in Cardiff, Wales. With assets of £10bn it is the largest building society in Wales and the sixth largest in the United Kingdom. Principali ...
, and a
Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.
Plaid wa ...
politician.
He was born in
Penparcau
Penparcau is a village and electoral ward in Ceredigion, Wales, situated to the south of Aberystwyth. The village has the largest number of Welsh language speakers (1095) in the Aberystwyth town area, covering an area from the sea to the Rheidol ...
,
Ceredigion
Ceredigion ( , , ) is a county in the west of Wales, corresponding to the historic county of Cardiganshire. During the second half of the first millennium Ceredigion was a minor kingdom. It has been administered as a county since 1282. Cere ...
and was educated at Ardwyn Grammar School followed by a BSc and PhD at
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
.
Professional career
Ap Gwilym is a Deputy Chairman of the
Principality Building Society
The Principality Building Society ( cy, Cymdeithas Adeiladu'r Principality) is a building society based in Cardiff, Wales. With assets of £10bn it is the largest building society in Wales and the sixth largest in the United Kingdom. Principali ...
, which is the largest mutual society in Wales.
He is also a director of Nemo Personal Finance Ltd and Loan Link Ltd and is the chair of the Principality Pension Trustees. His other directorships include director of iSOFT Group plc from 19 May 2000 until 30 October 2007, NCC Group plc and Pure Wafer plc.
Political career
Ap Gwilym has been a member of
Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.
Plaid wa ...
since 1963.
He is an economics adviser to the party and was one of their first prospective candidates for the House of Lords.
Plaid had dropped its opposition to sending members to the
House of Lords
The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the Bicameralism, upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by Life peer, appointment, Hereditary peer, heredity or Lords Spiritual, official function. Like the ...
in response to constitutional changes that give the second chamber the power to veto law-making proposals put forward by the
National Assembly for Wales
The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English language, English and () in Welsh language, Welsh, is the Devolution in the United Kingdom, devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes ...
.
He is a trustee of the Welsh think tank, the
Institute of Welsh Affairs
The Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) () is an independent charity and membership-based think-tank based Cardiff, Wales, which specialises in public policy and debate around the economy, education, environment and health sectors in Wales.
Hist ...
, and frequently writes for their ''ClickOnWales'' website.
He was formerly the party chairman and serves to cost manifesto proposals each year.
He told the BBC in 2017 that the party would not strike a formal deal with the Conservative Party, but controversially has said that the party should consider co-operating with the Tories on particular topics if "we get something in return"
For many years he has advocated a revision of the
Barnett formula
The Barnett formula is a mechanism used by the Treasury in the United Kingdom to automatically adjust the amounts of public expenditure allocated to Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales to reflect changes in spending levels allocated to public se ...
, which determines how much money Wales receives from
HM Treasury
His Majesty's Treasury (HM Treasury), occasionally referred to as the Exchequer, or more informally the Treasury, is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for developing and executing the government's public finance policy and ec ...
. He has proposed alternatives to the current funding settlement and contributes to the
Institute of Welsh Affairs
The Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA) () is an independent charity and membership-based think-tank based Cardiff, Wales, which specialises in public policy and debate around the economy, education, environment and health sectors in Wales.
Hist ...
on such topics, and argues that if a new formula based on need was introduced, Wales would be entitled to hundreds of millions of pounds extra a year.
Ap Gwilym's public profile rose further after an interview with
Jeremy Paxman
Jeremy Dickson Paxman (born 11 May 1950) is an English broadcaster, journalist, author, and television presenter. Born in Leeds, Paxman was educated at Malvern College and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he edited the undergraduate ne ...
on the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
In the interview ap Gwilym challenged Paxman on a variety of economic figures, telling him to "do your homework" when those figures were not readily available. A recording of the interview received over 90,000 hits on YouTube within the first few days of release.