Cynog Glyndwr Dafis (born 1 April 1938) 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 ...

politician and 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 ...

. Born Cynog Glyndwr Davies at

Treboeth Treboeth is a suburb and historical village in the Mynydd-Bach ward of Swansea, Wales. Gwyrosydd Primary School and Welsh language primary school Ysgol Gynradd Gymraeg Tirdeunaw are located in Treboeth. Gwyrosydd was the Bardic name of Treboet ...

in Swansea,

Glamorganshire , HQ = Cardiff , Government = Glamorgan County Council (1889–1974) , Origin= , Code = GLA , CodeName = Chapman code , Replace = * West Glamorgan * Mid Glamorgan * South Glamorgan , Motto ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

, he was initially a school teacher and researcher before entering politics.

Education

Dafis was educated at the

University College of Wales, Aberystwyth , mottoeng = A world without knowledge is no world at all , established = 1872 (as ''The University College of Wales'') , former_names = University of Wales, Aberystwyth , type = Public , endowment = ...

. During his teaching career he worked in a number of secondary schools at

Pontardawe Pontardawe () is a town and a community in the Swansea Valley (Welsh: ''Cwmtawe'') in Wales. With a population of 6,832, it comprises the electoral wards of Pontardawe and Trebanos. A town council is elected. Pontardawe forms part of the county ...

Newcastle Emlyn Newcastle Emlyn ( cy, Castellnewydd Emlyn) is a town on the River Teifi, straddling the counties of Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire in West Wales. It is also a community entirely within Carmarthenshire, bordered by those of Llangeler and Cenar ...

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 ...

and

Llandysul Llandysul is a small town and community in the county of Ceredigion, Wales. As a community it consists of the townships of Capel Dewi, Horeb, Pontsian, Pren-gwyn, Tregroes, Rhydowen and the village of Llandysul itself. Llandysul lies in sout ...

Political career

Member of Parliament

Cynog Dafis first contested Ceredigion and Pembroke North in 1983 and finished in fourth place, a result repeated in 1987. His victory in 1992 was a notable one as he more than doubled his vote. Dafis was a

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 o ...

for

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. Cer ...

from 1992 until 2000, having been supported by a coalition of local

and

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as social justice, environmentalism and nonviolence. Greens believe that these issues are inherently related to one another as a foundation f ...

activists, the latter of which had worked with him on a number of environmental initiatives. During this eight-year period as an MP, Dafis voted for homosexual law reform, against greater autonomy for schools, and for removing hereditary peers from the House of Lords.

Assembly Member

In 2000 he resigned as an MP to devote more time as a member of 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 ...

, to which he had been elected in 1999. In a speech at the 2000 National Eisteddfod at

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

, Dafis called for a new

Welsh language Welsh ( or ) is a Celtic language of the Brittonic subgroup that is native to the Welsh people. Welsh is spoken natively in Wales, by some in England, and in Y Wladfa (the Welsh colony in Chubut Province, Argentina). Historically, it has ...

movement with greater powers to lobby for the Welsh language at the Assembly, UK, and EU levels. Dafis felt the needs of the language were ignored during the first year of the Assembly, and that in order to ensure a dynamic growth of the Welsh language a properly resourced strategy was needed. In his speech Dafis encouraged other Welsh language advocacy groups to work closer together creating a more favourable climate in which using Welsh was "attractive, exciting, a source of pride and a sign of strength". Dafis pointed towards efforts in areas such as

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a '' nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the nort ...

and the Basque country as successful examples to emulate. Lord Elis-Thomas, former Plaid Cymru president, disagreed with Dafis' assessment, however. At the

Urdd Urdd Gobaith Cymru () (known as the Urdd) is a national voluntary youth organisation, which claimed over 56,000 members in 2019 aged between 8 and 25 years old. It provides opportunities for children and young people across Wales to take part ...

Eisteddfod, Lord Elis-Thomas said that there was no need for another Welsh language act, claiming that there was "enough goodwill to safeguard the language's future". His controversial comments prompted ''

Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg The Welsh Language Society ( cy, Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, often abbreviated to Cymdeithas yr Iaith or just Cymdeithas) is a direct action pressure group in Wales campaigning for the right of Welsh people to use the Welsh language in every as ...

'' to join a chorus calling for his resignation as the Assembly's presiding officer. In 2002, Dafis announced he would step down from the Assembly at the 2003 elections, despite party leader

Ieuan Wyn Jones Ieuan Wyn Jones (born 22 May 1949) is a Welsh politician who was the Deputy First Minister in the Welsh Government from 2007 to 2011. He was the Member of the Senedd for the Ynys Môn constituency from 1999 to 2013, and he was also leader of P ...

having asked him not to do so. Soon after the elections in 2003, he announced his candidacy for Presidency of the party, but lost to Dafydd Iwan.

Personal life

He married Llinos Iorwerth Jones in 1964, with whom he had two sons and one daughter. For many years he and his family lived in Talgarreg, before moving to Llandre. He was made an Honorary Fellow of Aberystwyth University on 15 July 2010.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dafis, Cynog 1938 births Living people Plaid Cymru members of the Senedd Wales AMs 1999–2003 Plaid Cymru MPs UK MPs 1992–1997 UK MPs 1997–2001 Bards of the Gorsedd People educated at Neath Grammar School for Boys Welsh-speaking politicians