Joyce Watson | |
---|---|
Member of the Senedd for Mid and West Wales | |
Assumed office 3 May 2007 | |
Preceded by | Lisa Francis |
Personal details | |
Born | 1955 (age 67–68) |
Political party | Welsh Labour |
Spouse | Colin Watson |
Children | 3 |
Residence | Carmarthen,Wales |
Alma mater | Swansea University |
Elizabeth Joyce Watson (born 1955) is a Welsh Labour [1] politician who has been a Member of the Senedd (MS) for Mid and West Wales since 2007.
Watson was educated at Manorbier School,Cosheston School and Cardigan Comprehensive before going on to Pembrokeshire College in 1990. In 1993,she studied politics at Swansea University,later gaining an honours degree at the same time as running Labour's successful parliamentary campaign for Preseli Pembrokeshire. [2]
An active Labour Party member,Watson was elected to Pembrokeshire County Council at the inaugural elections in 1995,capturing a seat in Haverfordwest from the Independents. She retained her seat in 1999 and 2004. She was leader of the Labour group on Pembrokeshire Council for six years.
Watson was elected as an Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales in May 2007. [2] and re-elected in 2011,2016 and 2021.
She is currently a member of the Senedd Commission,the corporate body for the Senedd,with responsibility for equalities and Senedd staff. [3] She sits on the Senedd’s Equality,Local Government &Communities committee and chairs the Cross-Party Groups on Construction and Human Trafficking. [4]
In 2016 she was elected chair of the Commonwealth Women Parliamentarians (CWP) British Islands &Mediterranean region, [5] having previously chaired the Wales branch of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA). She has represented Wales on the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly (BIPA) and the Council of Europe's Congress of Local &Regional Authorities.
She is involved in a number of high-profile campaigns. She champions the White Ribbon cause,enlisting support to End Violence against Women. In 2010 she wrote Bordering on Concern,a report on Human Trafficking in Wales. Following its publication,the Welsh Government appointed the UK's first anti-Trafficking commissioner. In 2009 she launched the Women in Construction network;she continues to work with employers and trade bodies to get more young people and women into the construction industry. [6]
She is married to Colin and has three children,Heather,Fiona and William. [2] and has run several businesses –public houses,restaurants and retail outlets in Ceredigion,Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire. [6]
Watson's father was a prisoner of war during the Second World War,and upon his return to the UK he was suspected of being a German spy. This was because he spoke Welsh as a first language and very little English but had learnt some German while overseas. Following his ordeal he brought up his children only speaking English. [7] Watson is now learning Welsh,and her children were all educated in Welsh medium schools. [2]
The Senedd,officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and Senedd Cymru 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 Government. It is a bilingual institution,with both Welsh and English being the official languages of its business. From its creation in May 1999 until May 2020,the Senedd was known as the National Assembly for Wales.
Ifor Huw Irranca-Davies is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician,who has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Ogmore since 2016. He was previously the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ogmore from 2002 to 2016.
Julie Morgan is a Welsh Labour Party politician,who has been a Member of the Senedd for Cardiff North seat in the Senedd since the 2011 election. She was previously Member of Parliament (MP) for Cardiff North from 1997 until 2010.
Helen Mary Jones is a Welsh Plaid Cymru politician,who was a member of the Senedd from 1999 to 2011 and again from August 2018 until 29 April 2021.
Margaret Ann Jones is a Welsh Labour Co-operative politician. Born in Rhyl,Denbighshire,Jones was the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Vale of Clwyd from 1999 until she retired in 2021. From 11 May 2016 until her retirement,she was the Deputy Presiding Officer for the Senedd.
Mair Eluned Morgan,Baroness Morgan of Ely is a Welsh Labour politician serving as Minister for Health and Social Services in the Welsh Government since 2021. Morgan has served as a Member of the House of Lords since 2011 and as a Member of the Senedd (MS) since 2016. She was previously Minister for the Welsh Language from 2017 to 2021,Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing from 2020 to 2021,and a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) from 1994 to 2009.
Jane Elizabeth HuttMS is a Welsh Labour Party politician serving as Welsh Government Chief Whip since 2023 and Minister for Social Justice since 2021. She has served as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for the Vale of Glamorgan since 1999.
Politics in Wales forms a distinctive polity in the wider politics of the United Kingdom,with Wales as one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (UK).
There are four types of elections in Wales:elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom,elections to the devolved Senedd,local elections to the 22 principal areas,and the Police and Crime Commissioner elections,in addition to by-elections for each aforementioned election. Elections are held on Election Day,which is conventionally a Thursday. Since the passing of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011 for UK general elections,all four types of elections are held after fixed periods,though early elections to the UK parliament can occur in certain situations,with Senedd elections being postponed to avoid elections to the UK parliament and Senedd coinciding with each other.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats 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 December 2019,and MS for Mid and West Wales since May 2021. The party currently has 1 elected member in the Senedd and no Welsh seats in the UK House of Commons,but does have several members of the House of Lords. The party had 69 local councilors serving in principal authorities as of the 2022 local authority elections,up 10 from 2017.
Dame Rosemary Janet Mair Butler is a British politician who served as the Llywydd of the Senedd from 2011 to 2016. A member of Welsh Labour,Butler was the Member of the Senedd (AM) for Newport West from 1999 to 2016.
Paul Windsor Davies is a British politician who currently serves as Member of the Senedd (MS) for Preseli Pembrokeshire,a position he has held since 2007 election. He gained the seat from Labour and was re-elected in May 2011,May 2016 and again in May 2021.
The 2007 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland,as well as the Scottish Parliament election took place. This election was preceded by the previous Assembly election in 2003.
Suzy Davies is a Welsh Conservative Party politician,who served as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales West from 2011 to 2021. She was elected first on the Welsh Conservatives party list for the region in the 2011 election.
Janet Elizabeth Finch-Saunders is a Welsh Conservative Party politician. She is the Member of the Senedd for the Aberconwy constituency.
William "Bill" Powell is a Welsh Liberal Democrat politician. He has been a Powys County Councillor since 2004,and was a member of the Member of the Welsh Assembly (AM) for the Mid and West Wales Region from 2011 to 2016.
Rebecca Mary Evans is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician,serving as Minister for Finance since 2018 and Minister for Local Government since 2021. She has served as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Gower since 2016,and a Member for Mid and West Wales from 2011 to 2016.
Jane Dodds MS is a Welsh politician who has served as Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats since 2017. She was elected as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Brecon and Radnorshire at the seat's 2019 by-election,but was an MP for only three months before being defeated in the general election later the same year. In May 2021,Dodds was elected to the Senedd on the Mid and West Wales list. She is the only Liberal Democrat MS in the Senedd.
Jacqueline Margarete Jones is a Welsh politician,barrister,and academic. She served as the Labour Party Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for Wales from 2019 to 2020. She taught law at Cardiff Law School,Cardiff University,and then at Bristol Law School,University of the West of England,where she was Professor of Feminist Legal Studies.
Sarah Murphy is a Welsh Labour politician. She was elected as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for the Bridgend constituency at the 2021 Senedd election with a majority of 4,064.