Hywel Williams: Plaid Cymru Arfon MP to stand down at next election
- Published
Hywel Williams held the most marginal seat in Wales in 2017
The Plaid Cymru MP for Arfon, Hywel Williams, has announced he is standing down at the next general election.
He entered Parliament in 2001, taking over the Caernarfon seat from Dafydd Wigley, and represented Arfon from 2010, after boundary changes.
He told local party members it had been an "honour and a privilege" to serve the areas for more than two decades.
Plaid leader Adam Price called him a "tireless campaigner for social justice" held in high regard by all.
At the 2017 general election Mr Williams held Arfon with a majority of just 92 votes, making it the most marginal seat in Wales.
In the following election, in 2019, he extended Plaid's majority to 2,781.
However the constituency will disappear under proposals to cut the number of Welsh MPs from 40 to 32.
Mr Williams said that "after much thought and discussion with my family I have decided not to offer myself as a candidate to stand again".
'Serving as MP for Caernarfon from 2001 onwards, following in the footsteps of [former party leader] Dafydd Wigley, one of the political giants of Wales, and then standing and winning the new seat of Arfon in 2010 was a huge privilege," he said.
'I would like to give special thanks to my family for their support and patience over 21 years.
"I am much indebted to my dedicated team of parliamentary staff in Caernarfon and London, and to party staff in Caernarfon and Cardiff."
"Thank you also to my fellow members of Parliament and the three who were members of the assembly and then the Senedd during my time in office, Dafydd Wigley, Alun Ffred Jones and Sian Gwenllian.
"Finally, I sincerely thank the people of Dwyfor and Arfon for their support over the years and hope that I have fully repaid their faith in me."
'Wisdom, patience and kindness'
Mr Price said he had been a "tireless campaigner for social justice, giving voice to vulnerable and disabled people, and leading the fight against cruel Westminster welfare policies".
"His extensive knowledge of welfare issues and background in social work has made him a formidable ally in the campaign against injustice and inequality.
"He has been a conscientious constituency MP and is held in high regard across the political spectrum."
The party's Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts, said: "Hywel Williams has played a huge role in both the national politics of Wales and the politics of Gwynedd, and many of us - in Plaid Cymru and beyond - are in his debt."
"Hywel has brought a thoughtful approach of peaceful humanitarianism to all his work, and we will miss his wisdom, patience and kindness.
'I am personally grateful to him for his constant encouragement for women to enter into politics."