In 1974 he was one of three Welsh nationalists elected to the House of Commons with Gwynfor Evans and Dafydd Wigley.
At 27, he was the youngest member of that parliament – the “baby of the house”.
The other Dafydd beat him in a contest to lead Plaid when Mr Evans, a giant in the party, stood down in 1981.
The battle for the succession was a battle to decide whether Plaid tacked to the left under Dafydd El or held a more moderate course under Dafydd Wigley.
Following Mr Wigley’s resignation, he was elected party president in October 1984, beating Dafydd Iwan, the candidate from the party’s traditionalist wing.
Under Lord Elis-Thomas’s leadership, Plaid gave strong support to the miners in their strike of 1984 and won a third seat in parliament at the 1987 election.
He stood down as an MP in 1992 and was ennobled as a cross-bench peer in the same year, despite his party’s opposition to the Lords at the time.
He served as chairman of the Welsh language board from 1994-99 before his election as Plaid Cymru Assembly member for Meirionydd Nant Conwy.
Source:
www.bbc.com
Source link
