Hywel Williams

Hywel Williams (born 14 May 1953) is a Welsh politician and Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament for Arfon. He previously represented Caernarfon.

He was born in Pwllheli in 1953, and received his education at Ysgol Troed yr Allt, Pwllheli Grammar School and then Ysgol Glan y Môr.

He studied Psychology at the University of Wales, Cardiff before qualifying as a social worker at the University of Wales, Bangor in 1977/78. He was a mental health social worker in the Dwyfor area before joining the Centre for Social Work Practice at the University of Wales, Bangor in 1985.

He was a project worker at the Centre, specialising in developing practice through the medium of Welsh, developing a host of short courses available in Welsh for the first time, as well as producing and editing numerous books and training packages with my colleagues, including the first ever social work vocabulary in Welsh.

He's been a member of numerous professional bodies in relation to social work and training, and was also spokesman for the Child Poverty Action Group in Wales. He was appointed Head of the Centre in 1993.

In 1995, he left to work as a freelance lecturer, consultant and writer in the fields of social policy, social work, and social care, working primarily through the medium of Welsh. For the next six years, he worked for a variety of universities and colleges in Wales and abroad, as well as working for public bodies, charities, private companies and local and central government, including spending time as an adviser to the House of Commons Welsh Affairs Committee.

He was elected to represent the Caernarfon constituency in the 2001 General Election, following Dafydd Wigley’s retirement, and again in 2005, with a significantly increased majority. In 2010, he won the new Arfon seat, which, following boundary changes, was at that time considered a Labour seat in Westminster terms. He was re-elected as Plaid Cymru MP for the Arfon constituency in May 2015 with an increased majority.

His main political interests are social policy, work and pensions (in particular securing the rights of his constituents), health, language and the arts. He was a member of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee between 2004 and 2010 and joined the Science and Technology Select Committee and the House Works of Art Committee in 2012.

In 2005 he joined the Speakers Panel of Chairs. This role involves chairing backbench debates, standing committees on legislation, committees on secondary legislation and from time to time, meetings of the whole House as a Committee in the main chamber.

His parliamentary responsibilities within Plaid Cymru are work and pensions, defence, international development and culture.

He is fluent in Welsh and English, learning French, and in his spare time enjoys reading, going to the cinema, cooking and walking. He is married to Dr Myfanwy Davies. He has three daughters by his first marriage, Gwenno, Elin, and Angharad, and a son Owain (born in 2013) and a daughter Enlli (born 2015) from his current marriage. He lives in Caernarfon.