Peer of the Week: Lord Elis-Thomas
Author: Jack Maizels
Published on Jul 24, 2012
Our Peer of the Week series aims to shed some light on the members of the House of Lords who contribute to making laws in the UK. Each week, we’ll look at the chosen Peer’s background, voting and attendance records as well as any controversy associated with their actions, and question whether these really are the best people to be involved in the legislative process.
Who he is:
- A Welsh politician who served as an MP in north Wales between 1974 and 1992, representing the Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru
- After stepping down as an MP for the 1992 election, he was given the life peerage of Baron Elis-Thomas of Nant Conwy, becoming the first Plaid Cymru member of the House of Lords
- Since 2000, he has been the President of Bangor University, where he was both a student and a lecturer
Political Involvement:
- Other than his time as an MP and a Member of the Lords, he has also been a Member of the National Assembly for Wales since inception in 1999 and was also the Presiding Officer until 2011
- Between 1984 and 1991, he served as President of Plaid Cyrmu, having previously been Vice-President between 1979 and 1981
- He contested the 2012 Plaid leadership election, but finished last in the first round of voting, after a campaign in which he argued the Party should seek to continue in coalition with Labour following their narrow victory in the 2011 Assembly election
Expenses, Voting and Attendance Records:
- In 2011, he attended Parliament on 43 days, spoke in one debate, submitted no written questions and voted only once
- Despite this, Lord Elis-Thomas still claimed £15,488.70 in expenses
- His cost per vote, 15,488.70, was the highest of all the peers who voted in 2011
Controversy:
- In July 2012, Elis-Thomas missed a vote of no-confidence in the Labour Health Minister, Lesley Griffiths, so he could preside over a graduation ceremony at Bangor University, where he is President
- He also described the vote as “contrived” and “led by the Welsh Conservatives on what I think is a trivial motion”
- This led to him being heavily criticised, with a Plaid spokesperson stating that there was ‘no satisfactory reason’ for his absence, and he was suspended from the Plaid Cymru assembly group, pending a party investigation
- However, Plaid leader, Leanne Wood, restored the Party Whip to Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas 2 days later, cancelling any disciplinary proceedings against him
- Elis Thomas later said in interview with the BBC that he had considered defecting to the Labour Party, before ruling a move out, despite suggestions from Welsh First Minister Carwyn Jones that he would welcome him into the Labour Party