Candidate for top Plaid Cymru post only joined a trade union two weeks ago

Martin Shipton

A candidate to become national Chair of Plaid Cymru has revealed that despite being a leading figure in the party’s trade union section, she only joined a union herself about two weeks ago.

Nominations close on August 21 for the influential role that entails chairing Plaid’s national executive committee and being a link between the party’s hierarchy and grassroots members.

Cllr Elin Hywel of Gwynedd council announced last week that she was standing for the post, having been nominated by Plaid’s trade union section Undeb. A press release issued to announce her candidacy said she had been actively involved with Undeb for many years and was its deputy Chair.

However, a Plaid Cymru source contacted Nation.Cymru to say that Cllr Hywel had stated in her entry on Gwynedd council’s register of members’ interests that she wasn’t a member of a trade union.

The source said: “This seems very odd – it doesn’t add up. She’s either a trade union member or she isn’t. If she is a trade union member, she’s misled the council by declaring that she isn’t – and that’s a serious matter.”

We asked Cllr Hywel, who is the daughter of former Arfon MP Hywel Williams, to explain why, if she was a union member, she hadn’t declared that to Gwynedd council.

She sent us a statement saying: “It was a total oversight on my part, unfortunately.

“Although I have been active with Undeb for many years and fervent in my support for unionisation of the workforce, I haven’t been a member of Unison for long. Being mostly self-employed and a county councillor over the past few years, I didn’t feel that there was an ideal match union for me. After taking some advice, I decided that Unison would be the best match.

“It’s unfortunate that there is no easy answer for county councillors. I have been chatting to other councillors regarding the lack of a union and what this means for us as the work of county councillors continues to change; it’s something I would like to develop over the next year (that is, before the 2027 election).

“Unionisation in general is a really interesting topic for me. I’ve done some work in the past looking at how unions might work in community settings or for renters, and it has great potential to enable positive change in our communities.”

‘Very transparent’

We then spoke with her and asked her how long precisely she had been a member of Unison. She said: “About two weeks. I’ll be contacting the council to ensure my membership of Unison is recorded.

“I haven’t been trying to hide anything – I’m a very transparent person and would have nothing to gain by concealing my membership of the union.

“The fact is that I’ve been self-employed for years, but have been working with community enterprises. I’m very much in favour of trade unions and have always considered my values to be the same as theirs.”

It is understood that John Rowlands, a longstanding member of Plaid Cymru with a varied career as a teacher, BBC Radio Cymru producer and communications professional, is thought likely to be a candidate for the party Chair’s role too. In the 2015 general election, he was just 229 votes behind Ynys Môn Labour MP Albert Owen. Mr Rowlands’ daughter Mair Rowlands was elected as an MS for Bangor Conwy Môn in May’s Senedd election..

The winner of the internal election for party Chair will be announced at Plaid Cymru’s annual conference in Llandudno in October.

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