Janet Elizabeth Finch-Saunders (born 1958) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

politician. She is 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 ...

for the Aberconwy constituency.

Political career

Cyfrif Etholiad y Cynulliad West Clwyd and Aberconwy Count National Assembly Election 2016 26

Janet previously represented the

Craig-Y-Don Craig-y-Don is a suburb of Llandudno, a coastal seaside resort in Conwy county borough, north Wales. It is also an electoral ward to Conwy County Borough Council and Llandudno Town Council. It is also part of the parish of Llanrhos. History L ...

ward on

Llandudno Llandudno (, ) is a seaside resort, town and community in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located on the Creuddyn peninsula, which protrudes into the Irish Sea. In the 2011 UK census, the community – which includes Gogarth, Penrhyn Bay, Craigsi ...

Town Council, and

Conwy County Borough Council Conwy County Borough Council ( cy, Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Conwy) is the local authority for Conwy County Borough, one of the principal areas of Wales. History Conwy County Borough was created in 1996 under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 ...

. In the 2003 Senedd election, Janet stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate for

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 ...

and was third on the regional party list. Elected in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, she was appointed to the Cabinet with overall responsibility for Community Safety and Public Protection matters. During her time as a

Councillor A councillor is an elected representative for a local government council in some countries. Canada Due to the control that the provinces have over their municipal governments, terms that councillors serve vary from province to province. Unl ...

, Janet was Chair of the Principal Scrutiny Committee and Leader of the

Welsh Conservative 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 ...

Group. In 2004, Janet was elected as the

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...

of Llandudno, following in the footsteps of her parents. In July 2010, following the first open primary selection to be held in the target seat of Aberconwy, Janet was selected as the Conservative Senedd candidate. In January 2011, she was appointed Policy Adviser by leader of 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 ...

. In this role she advised

Nick Bourne Nicholas Henry Bourne, Baron Bourne of Aberystwyth (born 1 January 1952) is a Conservative Party politician who served as Leader of the Welsh Conservative Party and Member of the Senedd for Mid and West Wales from August 1999 until May 2011. ...

AM on policy involving local government. She was subsequently elected as the Assembly Member for Aberconwy in the

2011 National Assembly for Wales election Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *'' ...

. She initiated the Cross-Party Group on Small Shops during the Fourth Assembly. In the 2016 Senedd election, she retained her seat, becoming the first person to be re-elected consecutively since the

constituency An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, or (election) precinct is a subdivision of a larger State (polity), state (a country, administrative region, ...

's inception. Janet served as Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Local Government from 2011 to 2018, before becoming the party's Shadow Minister for Social Care, Children, Young People, and Older People. During the fifth Senedd, she was the Chair of the

Group in 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 ...

. From July 2018 until January 2019, Finch-Saunders employed her husband as office manager. In 2019, Janet was elected Chair of the Petitions Committee. In 2020, Janet was made the Shadow Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs. In the

2021 Senedd election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, Janet held the seat with an increased majority of 3,336 and securing 41.69% of the vote. In May 2021, she was appointed as the Shadow Minister for Climate Change. In 2022, reports emerged that she had allegedly been mistreating her office staff.

Personal life

Finch-Sanders lives in Llandudno and is married with two children. An

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values th ...

, Janet has founded a number of local businesses. A keen sailor, she is also passionate about animals and

marine conservation Marine conservation, also known as ocean conservation, is the protection and preservation of ecosystems in oceans and seas through planned management in order to prevent the over-exploitation of these marine resources. Marine conservation is in ...

. Finch-Saunders owns 7 residential and 4 retail properties and is a trustee of a further two residential properties in

References

External links

Janet Finch-Saunders
''Official website''

Offices held

{{DEFAULTSORT:Finch-Saunders, Janet 1958 births Living people Conservative Party members of the Senedd Female members of the Senedd Councillors in Wales Wales AMs 2011–2016 Wales MSs 2016–2021 Wales MSs 2021–2026 School governors People from Llandudno Welsh sailors Welsh environmentalists Women councillors in Wales