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Mark Williams | |
|---|---|
 Williams in 2009 | |
| Leader of theWelsh Liberal Democrats | |
| In office 8 May 2016 – 16 June 2017 | |
| Leader | Tim Farron |
| Preceded by | Kirsty Williams |
| Succeeded by | Kirsty Williams (Acting) Jane Dodds |
| Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Wales | |
| In office 8 May 2016 – 16 June 2017 | |
| Leader | Tim Farron |
| Preceded by | Kirsty Williams |
| Succeeded by | The Baroness Humphreys |
| Member of Parliament forCeredigion | |
| In office 5 May 2005 – 3 May 2017 | |
| Preceded by | Simon Thomas |
| Succeeded by | Ben Lake |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Mark Fraser Williams (1966-03-24)24 March 1966 (age 59) Hertfordshire, England |
| Political party | Liberal Democrats |
| Alma mater | Aberystwyth University Plymouth University |
| Website | Official website |
Mark Fraser Williams (born 24 March 1966) is a British politician who served as leader of theWelsh Liberal Democrats from 2016 to 2017.He was theMember of Parliament (MP) for theCeredigion constituency, between2005 and2017. He sat on theWelsh Affairs Select Committee, and in 2006 he became a Shadow Minister for Wales underMenzies Campbell.
Williams is a graduate of theUniversity of Wales, Aberystwyth and theUniversity of Plymouth, and is now deputy head of a school in Llangorse nearBrecon.
Mark Williams was born inHertfordshire on 24 March 1966.[citation needed] His mother worked as aclassroom assistant, and his father ran aprinting business; he has two older sisters.[citation needed] He attended the local village primary school and thenRichard Hale Secondary School,Hertford,[1] from where he moved on to theUniversity of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1984 to study politics. It was at school during the days of theSDP-Liberal Alliance that he become involved inLiberal politics, later saying:
Within a week of arriving inAberystwyth, Williams became secretary of the student group and had met local Liberal MPGeraint Howells. After graduating, he became a part-time researcher to the Liberal peers in theHouse of Lords,[1] but was determined to stay inCeredigion and spent half the week and all of the Parliamentary holidays as assistant to Howells in Ceredigion, until he lost the seat at the1992 general election.
Williams then returned to student life at the teacher training college inExmouth, part of theUniversity of Plymouth. After securing this qualification, he taught in primary schools inPenzance andBarnstaple, before becoming a deputy headteacher in Llangors School,Powys in 2000.[1] During this period, Williams foughtMonmouth at the1997 general election, finishing third.
In February 2000, after a spell as President of CeredigionLiberal Democrats, Williams was selected to fight the Ceredigion seat in theby-election caused by the resignation ofCynog Dafis. In that by-election, the Liberal Democrats rose back into second place, and in thegeneral election of 2001 consolidated that by coming second, being just 3,944 votes behindPlaid Cymru. In May 2005, 13 years after Howells had been defeated, the Liberal Democrats regained Ceredigion, with Williams as their candidate, by a very narrow majority of 219 votes.[2] Williams described his victory as an "amazing result", while the then Welsh Liberal Democrat leader,Lembit Öpik, said that "Mark Williams has pulled off the result of the night in Ceredigion".[3] Williams was the first non-Welsh-speaking Member of Parliament to represent the constituency since the widening of the electoral franchise in 1867. In 2010, he substantially increased his majority, winning just over 50% of the vote; this was the first time any candidate had won more than 50% of the vote in Ceredigion since 1959.
Williams sat on the Welsh Affairs Select Committee between 2005 and 2017,[4] and held various shadow ministerial roles in the 2005–2010 Parliament. He called forSaint David's Day to be made apublic holiday in Wales.[5] He proposed a private member's bill with the backing of a leading charity to update child protection legislation. It would amend the Children and Young Persons Act 1933, because this only covers physical harm, and not psychological neglect.[6] The bill is backed byAction for Children.[7]
Williams was defeated in the2017 general election byBen Lake ofPlaid Cymru, whose majority of 104 made the seat one of the most marginal in the country. The result left the Liberal Democrat Party without an MP in Wales, a situation which had not existed since the founding of the Liberal Party in 1859.[8] He resigned as leader of theWelsh Liberal Democrats shortly after his defeat.
Williams unsuccessfully re-contested Ceredigion in thenext general election, falling to third place behind Plaid Cymru and the Conservatives. Following this, he paid tribute to Lake, and then subsequently announced that he would not stand for parliament again.[9]
In December 2022 Williams was among 32 individuals and entities banned from enteringIran by the Iranian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for views which the Iranian regime claim “promote terrorism and violence”. Responding to this Williams said: “I have always been steadfast in my support for a free and democratic Iran...The campaign for justice in Iran will go on regardless of any sanctions by the Iranian regime."[10]
In May 2023, he was reselected to stand inCeredigion Preseli at the2024 general election.[11]
Westminster Parliament elections
| Date of election | Constituency | Party | Votes | % of votes | Result | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 election | Monmouth | Liberal Democrats | 4,689 | 9.6 | Not elected | |
| February 2000 by-election | Ceredigion | Liberal Democrats | 5,768 | 23.0 | Not elected | |
| 2001 election | Ceredigion | Liberal Democrats | 9,297 | 26.9 | Not elected | |
| 2005 election | Ceredigion | Liberal Democrats | 13,130 | 36.5 | Elected | |
| 2010 election | Ceredigion | Liberal Democrats | 19,139 | 50.0 | Elected | |
| 2015 election | Ceredigion | Liberal Democrats | 13,414 | 35.9 | Elected | |
| 2017 election | Ceredigion | Liberal Democrats | 11,519 | 29.0 | Defeated | |
| 2019 election | Ceredigion | Liberal Democrats | 6,975 | 17.4 | Not elected | |
| 2024 election | Ceredigion Preseli | Liberal Democrats | 6,949 | 15.0 | Not elected |
Mark Williams and his wife Helen have four children, Eleanor, Anna, and twins Eliza and Oliver.[12]
| Parliament of the United Kingdom | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Member of Parliament forCeredigion 2005–2017 | Succeeded by |
| Party political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Leader of theWelsh Liberal Democrats 2016–2017 | Succeeded by |
