“Exceptional contributions to public life” – Presiding Officer receives Honorary Doctorate
10 September 2013
The National Assembly for Wales’s Presiding Officer, Rosemary Butler AM, has received an Honorary Doctorate from the University of South Wales.
The doctorate was conferred on the Presiding Officer, at a ceremony at the university’s Caerleon campus on 7 September, for her “exceptional contributions to public life”.
“It is a great honour to receive such an award from the University of South Wales,” Mrs Butler said.
“I have been involved in public life for many years and hope that during that time I have managed to effect the kind of change that has improved the lives of many people in Newport and wider Wales.
“But I wouldn’t have been able to have made such a commitment without the support of my husband Derek, and my daughters Kate and Alice - so a very special thank you to them.”
The Presiding Officer first entered public life in 1973 when she was elected councillor for Caerleon on Newport Borough Council, a position she held until 1999.
While on the council, she chaired the Leisure Services Committee for 12 years, and served as Deputy Leader and Mayor of Newport (1989/1990).
She was elected as Newport West’s first Assembly Member in May 1999 and has been re-elected in each subsequent Assembly election.
Mrs Butler was appointed to the first National Assembly cabinet as Minister for pre-16 Education and Children, she chaired the Culture, Welsh Language and Sport Committee and she was the Assembly’s representative on the European Union’s Committee of the Regions.
She has also been Deputy Presiding Officer and in May 2011, she was elected to the position of Presiding Officer of the National Assembly by a unanimous vote of Assembly Members.
“We are conscious and appreciative of the Presiding Officer’s exceptional contributions to public life, as a local councillor, Assembly Member and now in your role as the Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales,” said Professor Julie Lydon, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Wales.
“We recognise the importance she places on the people of Wales being aware of the work of the Assembly and the influence they can have on it.
“We are also appreciative of your interest in equality and in particular gender equality.”
