Peter Hughes Griffiths will become deputy chair of the council at the AGM this month, and he made his final contributions as leader at last week's meeting of the full council. Whether you agree with him or not, Peter is a man of integrity who never minces his words, and he has a long and distinguished record of public service.
Emlyn Dole is from a different generation, and will bring his own style to the job. Those who have seen him in action know that he has a powerful intellect and is tenacious in standing up for ordinary people. He also has a great sense of humour.
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Cllr.
Emlyn Dole, 57, has represented the Llannon area on the council since
2008. He is married to popular singer Gwenda Owen and is part-time
minister of three Independent churches in the Gwendraeth Valley. He
lived in many parts of the world in his youth, before returning to Wales
as a student at University College Bangor. During his career, he has been
a BBC producer and director and has worked in the fields of translation
and public relations. Emlyn Dole is a member of the Planning Committee
and has chaired the Social Care and Health Scrutiny Committee for the
past two years.
He takes over from Cllr. Peter Hughes Griffiths, who led the Plaid group on the council for eight years. During
that period, the number of Plaid councillors rose from 16 to 28. Upon
retiring as group leader, Peter is taking on a new role as vice-chairman
of the County Council. Cllr. David Jenkins, Glanaman, has been elected
as deputy leader of the Plaid group, as Cllr. Tyssul Evans retires from
the post.
“It
is with a sense of great pride that I take over the duties and
responsibilities as Leader of the Plaid Cymru group on Carmarthenshire
County Council,” said Cllr Emlyn Dole. “Although we are the largest
political group on the Council, it is controlled by a Labour/Independent
coalition which means that I take over from Cllr Peter Hughes Griffiths
as Leader of the Opposition. As I assume this responsibility, I would
like to pay tribute to Peter’s leadership over the past eight years.
During his tenure, the number of Plaid members has almost doubled,
thanks in no small part to his strong leadership and total commitment. I
intend to maintain that momentum and build on that foundation, by
representing the views of the people of Carmarthenshire and their wish
to hold the present council administration to account. It is a delight
to lead such a talented team with its wealth of experience, all of which
will be brought to to bear as we look towards a challenging future in
local government.”
"It
has been a privilege and a pleasure to lead the Plaid Cymru group
through a period of growth on Carmarthenshire County Council,” said Cllr
Peter Hughes Griffiths. “We have developed to be a very effective
Opposition, which gives voice to public concerns about the attitudes and
controversial decisions made by the coalition Labour/Independent regime
in County Hall.
"I extend by best wishes to Cllr Emlyn Dole and the energetic, experienced and capable team which Plaid has on the Council. The future is in safe hands."
7 comments:
Perhaps with a change of leadership there could be an opportunity for Plaid and Labour to come to an arrangement in terms of governance of the county.
It really isn't good enough to include independents in a administration. They are not open and transparent about what they want to achieve as they deny that they are a party. (If it looks like a duck etc)
I think following the unlawful payments scandals we need a change and fresh start. Emlyn appears to be the sort of person who could hold a senior position. He is intelligent and his speeches are well thought out and delivered well.
It really is a bloody nonsense that the Labour party is in bed with the Indies (Conservatives) when a perfectly respectable socialist party holds the most seats.
Lets have a bit of politics going on. Do some deals, compromise is the word.
Lets send the likes of Meryl and Pam packing, they have had a good innings but it is time for a change !!!
To be fair, the Indies are probably not Tories. They are almost certainly (a) people who thought they would lose their seats if they said what they really were and/or (b) Blairite Labour who dare not speak their name and/or (c) a ruse on the part of Labour to call some of their ilk "independent" so that when committees have to have proportionate (not proportional) representation (such as Overview and Scrutiny) the so-called Independents actually mean that Labour has total control of these committees too.
Not for one minute are most if not all of them Independent. Check their voting records.
As Plaid is the larger group, Labour would normally have to give up the leadership of the Council if a Plaid/Labour coalition was in charge. As the illusion of power is everything [we all know who really runs the council] Labour unlikely to leave their Tory pals.
Redhead - the Indies have been in coalition with Labour for donkeys years, and they habitually vote as a block with Labour. Despite that quite a few of them are Tories (landowners, big farmers, businessmen, etc), but there are also some Labour people nestling in their midst, representing places where Labour would never stand a chance if it stood under its own colours.
If there is a common thread it is that they stand as Independents because if they stood under their real party banners, they would not get elected.
OK what we are saying then is that in Carmarthen and probably the rest of Wales Labour isn't really Labour, Tory isn't really Tory and Independent isn't Independent but Plaid IS Plaid. Simples!
Thank you - being English this stuff is way too complicated for me: here Labour, Lib Dem, Tory and UKIP are what they say they are and they all stink which just leaves the Greens, some of whom are Greener than others. Just as simples but different!
Good luck to Emlyn - Plaid needs a change of leadership like the other parties and some radical new blood to take over from the old stalwarts. Although a Pleidiwr sometimes PHG snobbish attitudes re language leave me cold.
You were wrong on this one Cneifiwr.
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