Jane Dodds MS (born 13 September 1963) is a Welsh politician who has served as Leader of the

Welsh Liberal Democrats The Welsh Liberal Democrats ( cy, Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol Cymru) are a branch of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats that operates in Wales. The party is led by Jane Dodds, who served as MP for Brecon and Radnorshire from August to Decemb ...

since

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

. She was elected as the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MP) for Brecon and Radnorshire at the seat's 2019 by-election, but was an MP for only three months before being defeated in the

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

later the same year. In May 2021, Dodds was elected to the

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, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Gove ...

on the

Mid and West Wales Mid and West Wales or Mid and South West Wales refers to an ambiguous region of Wales that is sometimes used, consisting broadly of the preserved counties of Dyfed and Powys, sometimes Swansea and sometimes parts of Gwynedd. It is also used ...

list. This made her the only Welsh Liberal Democrat

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) in the 6th Senedd.

Early and personal life

Dodds was born and raised in a Welsh-speaking family in

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

North Wales , area_land_km2 = 6,172 , postal_code_type = Postcode , postal_code = LL, CH, SY , image_map1 = Wales North Wales locator map.svg , map_caption1 = Six principal areas of Wales common ...

. She attended

Ysgol Morgan Llwyd Ysgol Morgan Llwyd is a Welsh-medium comprehensive school in Wrexham, in north-east Wales, UK. It is the first, and is the only Welsh-medium secondary school in Wrexham County Borough. It is named after the seventeenth century preacher and aut ...

before studying social care at

Cardiff University , latin_name = , image_name = Shield of the University of Cardiff.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of arms of Cardiff University , motto = cy, Gwirionedd, Undod a Chytgord , mottoeng = Truth, Unity and Concord , established = 1 ...

. After university she trained to become a social worker, and worked for the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

in Child Protective Services for 27 years before being elected. During this time she also worked in a number of local authorities and for

Cafcass The Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service (Cafcass) is a non-departmental public body in England set up to promote the welfare of children and families involved in family court. It was formed in April 2001 under the provisions ...

, and also at one stage led the Children's Section of the

Refugee Council The Refugee Council is a UK based organisation which works with refugees and asylum seekers. The organisation provides support and advice to refugees and asylum seekers, as well as support for other refugee and asylum seeker organisations. The R ...

. She currently lives in

Hay-on-Wye Hay-on-Wye ( cy, Y Gelli Gandryll), simply known locally as "Hay" ( cy, Y Gelli), is a market town and community in Powys, Wales; it was historically in the county of Brecknockshire. With over twenty bookshops, it is often described as "the to ...

with her husband Patrick.

Political career

London

Dodds moved to London in early 2000 and was a member of the Labour Party until 2003. Being a strong opponent of military intervention, she left the party following its decision to take part in the

invasion of Iraq The 2003 invasion of Iraq was a United States-led invasion of the Ba'athist Iraq, Republic of Iraq and the first stage of the Iraq War. The invasion phase began on 19 March 2003 (air) and 20 March 2003 (ground) and lasted just over one mont ...

in early 2003. In 2005 she joined the Liberal Democrats following a meeting with Susan Kramer – who was at the time the Liberal Democrat MP for

Richmond Park Richmond Park, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, is the largest of Royal Parks of London, London's Royal Parks, and is of national and international importance for wildlife conservation. It was created by Charles I of England, C ...

– and quickly became active in the local Richmond party. Dodds stood for

Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London, the United Kingdom capital. Richmond upon Thames ...

for the Liberal Democrats in the 2006 local elections, and was elected as one of three councillors in the North Richmond ward. In 2008 she was appointed as Cabinet Member for Performance in the Lib Dem-run administration, where she was responsible for the performance of the authority and ensuring that residents obtained value for money. She narrowly failed to retain her seat in 2010 by a narrow margin of 19 votes, despite obtaining the highest vote among the three Liberal Democrat candidates. She also contested a by-election for the same ward in 2012, following the resignation of one of the sitting Conservative councillors. During the by-election she was the victim of false leaflets produced in her name, which were produced to look like official Liberal Democrat literature. She narrowly missed out on re-election by 146 votes.

Wales

In November 2012, Dodds returned to Wales and moved to

Welshpool Welshpool ( cy, Y Trallwng) is a market town and community in Powys, Wales, historically in the county of Montgomeryshire. The town is from the Wales–England border and low-lying on the River Severn; its Welsh language name ''Y Trallwng'' m ...

to help care for her elderly mother. Early the following year she was selected as the parliamentary candidate for

Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire, also known as ''Maldwyn'' ( cy, Sir Drefaldwyn meaning "the Shire of Baldwin's town"), is one of thirteen historic counties of Wales, historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. It is named after its county tow ...

, which

Alex Carlile Alexander Charles Carlile, Baron Carlile of Berriew, (born 12 February 1948) is a British barrister and crossbench member of the House of Lords. He was the Member of Parliament (MP) for Montgomeryshire from 1983 to 1997. Early life and caree ...

and later

Lembit Öpik Lembit Öpik (, ; born 2 March 1965) is a former British politician. A former member of the Liberal Democrats, he served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for the constituency of Montgomeryshire in Wales from 1997 until he lost his seat at the ...

had held for the Liberal Democrats from 1983 to

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

. Dodds contested the seat in both the 2015 and 2017 general elections, as well as 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 ...

constituency of

in 2016. She came second on all three occasions, the

Welsh Conservatives The Welsh Conservatives ( cy, Ceidwadwyr Cymreig) is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second-large ...

retaining both seats. Dodds was elected as the

Leader in November 2017, defeating

Aberaeron Aberaeron, previously anglicised as Aberayron, is a town, community, and electoral ward between Aberystwyth and Cardigan, in Ceredigion, Wales. Ceredigion County Council offices are in Aberaeron. The name of the town is Welsh for ''mouth of ...

Councillor Elizabeth Evans by 13% in an all-member ballot. In March 2019, Dodds was selected as the party's Westminster candidate for Brecon and Radnorshire. As candidate for the constituency, Dodds attacked then- Conservative leadership candidate

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

's comments about immigrant communities where English is allegedly not spoken as a first language, describing Johnson, in Welsh, as out of touch with communities in Wales. Dodds won the

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

on 1 August 2019. After serving for 97 days, she failed to retain her seat at the general election of 12 December, becoming one of the shortest-serving members at Westminster. The female MPs with the shortest continuous service are Labour's

Ruth Dalton Florence Ruth Dalton, Baroness Dalton (née Hamilton Fox; 9 March 1890 – 15 March 1966 at Leigh Rayment's Peerage Pages) was a British Labour Party politician. A long serving member of the London County Council, she holds the record for being ...

in 1929, at 92 days, and the

Scottish National Party The Scottish National Party (SNP; sco, Scots National Pairty, gd, Pàrtaidh Nàiseanta na h-Alba ) is a Scottish nationalist and social democratic political party in Scotland. The SNP supports and campaigns for Scottish independence from ...

Margo MacDonald Margo Symington MacDonald (''née'' Aitken; 19 April 1943 – 4 April 2014) was a Scottish people, Scottish politician, teacher and Television presenter, broadcaster. She was the Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament (United Kingdo ...

who subsequently equalled that in 1973–74. Dodds led her party into the 2021 Senedd election and gained a seat on the list vote in

, the only seat in the Senedd to be retained by the party. The seat was only held by 714 votes.

Westminster elections

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dodds, Jane 1963 births Living people Alumni of Cardiff University People educated at Ysgol Morgan Llwyd Female members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for Welsh constituencies Female members of the Senedd Labour Party (UK) people Liberal Democrat members of the Senedd Liberal Democrats (UK) councillors Liberal Democrats (UK) MPs for Welsh constituencies People from Wrexham UK MPs 2017–2019 Wales MSs 2021–2026 Welsh-speaking politicians 21st-century British women politicians Councillors in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames