Darren David Millar (born 1976) is a British politician who has served as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Clwyd West since 2007. He is a member 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-larg ...

Political career

From 2000 to 2001, Millar was mayor of the township of

Towyn Towyn ( cy, Tywyn) is a seaside resort in the Conwy County Borough, Wales. It is also an electoral ward to the town and county councils. Location It is located between Rhyl, in Denbighshire, and Abergele in Conwy. Demography According to th ...

and

Kinmel Bay Kinmel Bay ( cy, Bae Cinmel) is a seaside village in Conwy County Borough, north-east Wales. It is also an electoral ward to the county council and town council. The resort town of Rhyl lies just across the River Clwyd in the neighbouring coun ...

. He was also a member of

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 199 ...

, the North Wales

Police Authority A police authority in the United Kingdom is a public authority that is responsible for overseeing the operations of a police force. The nature and composition of police authorities has varied over time, and there are now just four dedicated "police ...

and the

North Wales Fire and Rescue Service The North Wales Fire and Rescue Service (NWFRS; cy, Gwasanaeth Tân ac Achub Gogledd Cymru) is the fire and rescue service covering the principal areas of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham in the north of Wales. ...

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

Vale of Clwyd The Vale of Clwyd ( cy, Dyffryn Clwyd) is a tract of low-lying ground in the county of Denbighshire in north-east Wales. The Vale extends south-southwestwards from the coast of the Irish Sea for some 20 miles (about 30 km) forming a triangl ...

. In the 2007 election, Millar was elected to the Clwyd West seat, unseating the incumbent Labour MS,

Alun Pugh Alun John Pugh (born 9 June 1955) is a Welsh politician who served as the Member of the National Assembly for Wales (AM) for Clwyd West from 1999 to 2007. A member of Welsh Labour, he is a former Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Culture, ...

. Pugh was the only Cabinet Minister to be defeated in the election. Millar was re-elected in the 2011,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

and

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

elections. He is a former Shadow Minister for the Environment and Planning, a former Shadow Minister for Communities and Local Government and also a former Shadow Minister for Economy and Transport. He is a former member of the Senedd's Sustainability Committee, and a former Chair of the Senedd's Health, Well-being and Local Government Committee. In November 2010 Millar was elected as Chair of the Senedd's Public Accounts Committee. Millar also Chairs the Cross Party Group on Faith, and the Cross Party Group on the Armed Forces and Cadets, both of which he is a founder member. He was one of four Conservative MSs (along with

Andrew RT Davies Andrew Robert Tudor Davies CBE (born 1968) is a British politician serving as Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the Senedd since 2021, previously holding the position from 2011 to 2018. He has been a Member of the Senedd (MS) since 2 ...

, Janet Finch-Saunders and Mark Isherwood) to vote for

Brexit Brexit (; a portmanteau of "British exit") was the withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February 2020 CET).The UK also left the European Atomic Energy Community (EAEC ...

in the 2016 Brexit referendum. Millar has been drawn to table a Members Bill on three occasions. In January 2021 the Senedd Commission was investigating Millar for an alleged breach of

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...

regulations. He resigned from his frontbench role as chief whip on 23 January 2021 after the leader

Paul Davies Paul Charles William Davies (born 22 April 1946) is an English physicist, writer and broadcaster, a professor in Arizona State University and Director of BEYOND: Center for Fundamental Concepts in Science. He is affiliated with the Institute ...

resigned on the same day. Both Millar and Davies were later cleared of any wrongdoing by South Wales Police, Cardiff City Council, the Senedd Commission and the Senedd Standards of Conduct Committee. In April 2022 a report published by the Senedd Standards Committee found that no laws or standards of conduct had been breached.

Personal life

Millar lives in the

area with his wife and two children. He enjoys reading and history, and attends Festival Church. Millar is a citizen of both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland and has held dual citizenship for decades.

References

External links

Darren Millar MS
(Darren Millar official website – English language)
Darren Millar AS
(Darren Millar official website – Welsh language)
Senedd Cymru: Members Profile

Welsh Conservatives: Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Millar, Darren 1976 births Living people Conservative Party members of the Senedd Mayors of places in Wales Wales AMs 2007–2011 Wales AMs 2011–2016 Wales MSs 2016–2021 Wales MSs 2021–2026 Welsh Conservative councillors