Cabinet
Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning
Siân Gwenllian represents the Gwynedd Maldwyn constituency
in the Senedd, having represented Arfon between 2016 and 2026. She was first
elected to the Senedd in 2016 and re-elected in 2021 with a higher percentage
of the vote than any other candidate in Wales, doubling her majority with 63.3%
of the vote. In the 2026 Senedd election, she returned as one of six Members of
the Senedd for the new Gwynedd Maldwyn constituency under a proportional
electoral system.
She is proud to have successfully campaigned for a new
medical school for north Wales, located in Bangor within her former
constituency of Arfon.
Following the 2026 Senedd election, a Welsh Government was
formed under the leadership of Plaid Cymru for the first time, and Siân was
appointed Cabinet Minister for Local Government, Housing and Planning. She had
previously held Plaid Cymru's Housing and Planning portfolio (2024–2026),
following her role as the Lead Designated Member in the Co-operation Agreement
between Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Government (2021–2024).
She worked on 46 policy areas, ensuring major changes such
as free school meals for all primary pupils, expanding free childcare, radical
measures to tackle the housing crisis as well as contributing to the creation
of a more effective and representative Parliament.
She grew up in the village of Felinheli where she still
lives, and received her secondary education in Bangor. She attended university
in Aberystwyth and Cardiff, and worked as a journalist with the BBC, HTV, Golwg
as well as presenting and producing documentaries in her own capacity. She was
also press officer for Gwynedd Council (1997-2004.)
In 2008 Siân was elected county councillor for Felinheli,
serving for 8 years before being elected to the Senedd. She held the finance
portfolio (2010-12) before becoming Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet
Member for Education, Children and Young People. She was also the county's
Small Business Champion.
Siân's political interest spans several decades. During her
time at Aberystwyth University she was Deputy President of the Guild of
Students. She has also been a primary and secondary school governor,
chairperson of her local community council and a volunteer with many local
organisations. She has been a passionate campaigner for women's equality and
the Welsh language for over 50 years.
Siân had four children with her husband, Dafydd but in 1999,
when their youngest son was only three years old, Dafydd died of cancer. Siân
raised the four children as a single parent.
