Rhys ab Owen (born 12 January 1987), also sometimes referred to as Rhys ab Owen Thomas is 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 elected to the Senedd in the

South Wales Central South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

region 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 ...

. ab Owen was Plaid Cymru's spokesperson in the Senedd for the constitution and justice. He is a barrister. His, father

Owen John Thomas Owen John Thomas (born 3 October 1939) is a former Plaid Cymru politician who was a Member of the Welsh Assembly (AM) for the South Wales Central region from 1999 to 2007. Early life and education Owen John Thomas was born in Albany Road, Car ...

, represented the same region for the same party.

Background

Rhys ab Owen was born and raised in Cardiff. He is the son of Sian Wyn Thomas, a former headteacher of Ysgol Glan Morfa,

Splott Splott ( cy, Y Sblot) is a district and community in the south of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales, just east of the city centre. It was built up in the late 19th century on the land of two farms of the same name: Upper Splott and Lower Spl ...

, and Owen John Thomas, a former

politician who represented the

region in the

National Assembly for Wales 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 Go ...

from 1999 to 2007. Rhys attended

Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf (''Taff Bank Welsh Language Comprehensive School'') is a Welsh-medium coeducational secondary school in Llandaff North, a district in the north of Cardiff, Wales; it is the largest of its kind in the country. Of the ...

in Llandaff North, before reading law at the

University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...

. ab Owen then undertook the Barrister Training Course at Cardiff University, and has practiced as a barrister since 2010.

Political career

ab Owen stood for Plaid Cymru in the 2017 Cardiff Council election in the Canton ward, where he increased the Plaid Cymru vote from 910 to 2,105, narrowly losing to the winning

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 ...

candidates. Later, ab Owen stood in the

as a Plaid Cymru candidate for Cardiff West, competing against the incumbent MS and

First Minister A first minister is any of a variety of leaders of government cabinets. The term literally has the same meaning as "prime minister" but is typically chosen to distinguish the office-holder from a superior prime minister. Currently the title of ' ...

Mark Drakeford (

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 192 ...

). Drakeford retained his seat in Cardiff West, with ab Owen finishing third behind Drakeford and the

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

candidate, Sean Driscoll. However, ab Owen was elected as a Member of the Senedd for South Wales Central, alongside fellow regional Plaid Cymru candidate

Heledd Fychan Heledd Fychan (born 20 September 1980) is a Welsh people, Welsh politician and is the current director of policy and political education for Plaid Cymru. She was elected to the Senedd for the South Wales Central (Senedd electoral region), South ...

, by virtue of topping the regional list of Plaid Cymru candidates in the region. Upon reaching the Senedd, ab Owen became Plaid Cymru's constitution and justice spokesperson. On 8 November 2022, ab Owen was suspended from Plaid Cymru, pending an investigation by the Senedd's standards watchdog over an alleged breach of the code of conduct.

Personal life

In 2019, ab Owen married Manon Eluned George; the couple have a daughter. He lists his recreations as "Welsh history, choir, family, chapel" and is a member of the Ifor Bach club in Cardiff.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:ab Owen, Rhys Living people Welsh barristers Wales MSs 2021–2026 Welsh-speaking politicians 1987 births