Dafydd Wynne Wigley, Baron Wigley, is a Welsh politician. He served as Plaid CymruMember of Parliament for Caernarfon from 1974 until 2001 and as Member of the Senedd for Caernarfon from 1999 until 2003. He was the leader of Plaid Cymru from 1981 to 1984 and again from 1991 to 2000. On 19 November 2010 it was announced that he had been granted a life peerage by the Queen, and took his seat in the House of Lords as Baron Wigley, of Caernarfon on 24 January 2011.
After coming second at Merioneth in the 1970 General Election, in 1974 Wigley became one of Plaid Cymru's first three MPs to be elected to the UK Parliament. He beat Dafydd Elis Thomas to be elected party president in 1981 following the retirnment of Gwynfor Evans, who had led Plaid Cymru since 1945. The election for president was seen as instrumental in deciding the future direction of the Plaid Cymru. Wigley represented a moderate, pragmatic social-democracy, in sharp contrast with rival candidate Dafydd Elis Thomas's left-wing socialism. Wigley's triumph in 1981 was largely a pyrrhic victory - he won the presidency, but Elis Thomas would have a greater influence over the party's ideology throughout the 1980s. In 1984 Wigley resigned from the presidency because of his children's health, but returned to the job in 1991 for a second term after the resignation of Dafydd Elis Thomas. Wigley would go on to lead Plaid until 2000. He stood down as an MP at the 2001 General Election to concentrate on his role in the Assembly.
In the 1999 National Assembly for Wales election Wigley became a member of the National Assembly for Wales, and led the Plaid Cymru opposition to Labour, before his resignation from the leadership, officially on medical advice but amid rumours of an internal plot against him in 2000. and in 2003 as an AM. In 2006 he sought and secured nomination to Plaid Cymru's North Walesparty list as the secondary candidate for the 2007 National Assembly for Wales election but, because in part of constituency seat gains, Plaid Cymru failed to gain a second regional seat.
He secured a Plaid Cymru nomination for a peerage alongside Eurfyl ap Gwilym and Janet Davies. He initially withdrew his candidature after complaining how long the process was taking but eventually received a peerage. On 19 November 2010 it was announced that he had been granted a life peerage by the Queen, and took his seat in the House of Lords as Baron Wigley, of Caernarfon in the County of Gwynedd on 24 January 2011, supported by fellow Plaid Peer Lord Elis-Thomas and Richard Faulkner, Baron Faulkner of Worcester. He made his maiden speech on 27 January during a debate on tourism.
Personal life
He married the international harpist Elinor Bennett. The couple had four children, son Hywel Wigley and daughter Eluned Wigley and two sons, Alun & Geraint, who died of a genetic illness. His sons' condition influenced the direction of his career, and he took a strong interest in the affairs of disabled people, being vice-chairman of the Parliamentary all-party disablement group, vice-president of Disability Wales, vice-president of Mencap, former president of the Spastics' Society of Wales and sponsor of the Disabled Persons Act in 1981. In 2003 Wigley became Pro-Chancellor of the University of Wales.
Awards
In 2008, Wigley was awarded an Honorary Chair in Business at Bangor University.
