Mick Antoniw ( uk, Мік Антонів; born 1 September 1954) 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 ...
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
and
Co-operative
A cooperative (also known as co-operative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democratically-control ...
politician, serving as
Counsel General for Wales
The Counsel General for Wales is the Welsh Government's Law Officer (akin to the role of Attorney general in other jurisdictions using the Common law), which means the government's chief legal adviser and representative in the courts. In addi ...
since 2021, and previously from 2016 to 2017. He 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
Pontypridd
() (colloquially: Ponty) is a town and a community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales.
Geography
comprises the electoral wards of , Hawthorn, Pontypridd Town, 'Rhondda', Rhydyfelin Central/Ilan ( Rhydfelen), Trallwng (Trallwn) and Treforest (). The ...
since 2011.
Early life
Antoniw comes from a Ukrainian family, with a Danish mother and came to the UK as a result of his father seeking refugee status in the UK following
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
.
Antoniw came to Wales to study law at the
Cardiff Law School
Cardiff School of Law and Politics (also known as Cardiff Law School) () is part of Cardiff University in Cardiff, Wales. It confers LLB and LLM degrees for British and international students.
Background
In 1963, the Law Building (previou ...
in 1973.
He was President of the
National Union of Students Wales
National Union of Students Wales (NUS Wales; cy, Undeb Cenedlaethol y Myfyrwyr Cymru, ) is the Welsh section of the National Union of Students of the United Kingdom. NUS Wales, alongside its constituent students' unions represents students in ...
from 1977 to 1979.
Professional career
He was a practising
solicitor
A solicitor is a legal practitioner who traditionally deals with most of the legal matters in some jurisdictions. A person must have legally-defined qualifications, which vary from one jurisdiction to another, to be described as a solicitor and ...
before his election 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 ...
, specialising in personal injury. Antoniw was a partner in
Thompsons Solicitors
Thompsons Solicitors, formerly Robin Thompson & Partners, is a large firm of solicitors founded in 1921 with longstanding links to the trade union movement. It is 45th on the list of largest United Kingdom-based law firms. It specialises in perso ...
, the specialist trade union solicitors, with whom he began his training in 1980.
He is a trustee of the
Welsh Refugee Council
The Welsh Refugee Council is a sister organisation to the Refugee Council and Scottish Refugee Council, and works to help asylum seekers and refugees in Wales.
About
The Welsh Refugee Council (WRC) is a Wales-based charity committed to pr ...
.
Personal life
Antoniw fostered dozens of other people's children in the 15 years prior to his election, saying "When you are fostering, it brings immense quality. It is very challenging – and can be dependent on the nature of the fostering, whether the child is disabled or older children where there are difficulties. But my experience in the mixture of fostering that we did, was that it does add value to your life. Seeing children developing and beginning to blossom to some extent during the fostering process is very rewarding."
Political career
Antoniw was a leading member of the Wales Anti-apartheid Movement (WAAM) during the 1980s. In
1981
Events January
* January 1
** Greece enters the European Economic Community, predecessor of the European Union.
** Palau becomes a self-governing territory.
* January 10 – Salvadoran Civil War: The FMLN launches its first major offensiv ...
he was elected as a
Labour
Labour or labor may refer to:
* Childbirth, the delivery of a baby
* Labour (human activity), or work
** Manual labour, physical work
** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer
** Organized labour and the labour ...
councilor to the
South Glamorgan County Council
South Glamorgan County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir De Morgannwg) was the local government authority that administered the county of South Glamorgan, Wales from its creation in 1974 until its abolition in 1996.
History
Local government in England and ...
for the Court ward, gaining the seat from the Conservatives. He was re-elected in
1985
The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations.
Events January
* January 1
** The Internet's Domain Name System is created.
** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...
but did not seek re-election in
1989.
At
the 2011 Welsh Assembly election, Antoniw increased the Labour vote with a swing of 18.8%. His 11,864 votes amounted to over 50% of the poll; his majority over the second-placed
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 Decembe ...
candidate, Mike Powell, was 7,694. At the
2016 Welsh Assembly election Antoniw's vote fell to 9,986 and his majority was reduced.
He was appointed as
Counsel General for Wales
The Counsel General for Wales is the Welsh Government's Law Officer (akin to the role of Attorney general in other jurisdictions using the Common law), which means the government's chief legal adviser and representative in the courts. In addi ...
in June 2016. However, he departed from this role in November 2017 as part of a Government reshuffle, being replaced by
Jeremy Miles
Jeremy Miles MS is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative Party politician, serving as Minister for Education and Minister for the Welsh Language in the Welsh Government since 2021. Miles has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Neath since 2016. H ...
.
Antoniw is a fluent Ukrainian speaker and has used his knowledge of the language when meeting with Ukrainian officials including deputy prime minister
Volodymyr Groysman
Volodymyr Borysovych Groysman, sometimes transliterated as Volodymyr Borysovych Hroisman ( uk, Володи́мир Бори́сович Гро́йсман; born 20 January 1978), is a Ukrainian politician who was the Prime Minister of Ukrain ...
at international summits, such as the European Union Committee of the Regions. He has stated that he is a supporter of Ukrainian accession to the European Union, a supporter of the country joining NATO, and does not support Ukrainian federalism.
Antoniw visited Ukraine just prior to the
2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
On 24 February 2022, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, which began in 2014. The invasion has resulted in tens of thousands of deaths on both sides. It has caused Europe's largest refugee crisis since World War II. An ...
alongside
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 ...
leader
Adam Price
Adam Robert Price (born 23 September 1968) is a Welsh politician serving as the Leader of Plaid Cymru since 2018. , he has sat in the Senedd for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, having previously been a Member of Parliament (MP) for the Carmart ...
in order to "show solidarity with workers and minorities" as they met workers, LGBTQ+ people, ethnic minorities and human rights defenders
A self-described socialist, Antoniw endorsed
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party from 2015 to 2020. On the political left of the Labour Party, Corbyn describes himself as a socialist ...
's
2015 campaign for
the leadership of the Labour Party,
Mark Drakeford
Mark Drakeford (born 19 September 1954) is a Welsh politician serving as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour since 2018. He previously served in the Welsh Government as Cabinet Secretary for Finance from 2016 to 2018 and Minist ...
's
2018 Welsh Labour leadership bid, and
Keir Starmer
Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (; born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and barrister who has served as Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He has been Member of Parliament (MP) for Holborn and St Pancras ...
's
candidacy in the 2020 Labour leadership election. In January 2019 Drakeford appointed Antoniw as Welsh representative on
the party's National Executive Committee:
however, Antoniw and Drakeford subsequently successfully campaigned for the position to be democratically elected by the Welsh Labour membership. Antoniw ran in the first election for the post in 2020, receiving endorsements from several trade unions including
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 ...
, as well as
Momentum
In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass an ...
, the
Labour Representation Committee and the
Campaign for Labour Party Democracy: however, he was defeated by former
First Minister of Wales
, insignia = First Minister of Wales logo.png
, insigniasize = 120px
, insigniacaption = Logo
, flag = Flag of Wales.svg
, flagsize = 120px
, flagborder = yes
, flagcaption = Flag of Wales
, image = File:Mark Drakeford (cropped).jpg
, ...
Carwyn Jones
Carwyn Howell Jones (born 21 March 1967) is a Welsh politician who served as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour from 2009 to 2018. He served as Counsel General for Wales from 2007 to 2009. Jones served as the Member of the S ...
, who won 5,195 votes to Antoniw's 4,933.
Honours and awards
* :
** 2019: Third Class of the
Order of Merit
The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...
of Ukraine
References
External links
*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Antoniw, Mick
1954 births
Living people
Labour Co-operative members of the Senedd
Wales AMs 2011–2016
Wales MSs 2016–2021
Wales MSs 2021–2026
Alumni of the University of Wales
Welsh solicitors
People from Llantrisant
British people of Ukrainian descent
Welsh humanists
Welsh Christians
Members of South Glamorgan County Council
Recipients of the Order of Merit (Ukraine), 3rd class