Jocelyn Davies, the Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales East, has announced she will be stepping down from the National Assembly at the 2016 elections.
Jocelyn Davies, who was one of the original members of the Assembly in 1999, served as a Deputy Minister for Housing & Regeneration in the Plaid-Labour One Wales Government between 2007 and 2011. She was the party’s business manager for more than 13 years.
Jocelyn Davies is highly respected by all political parties and is acknowledged as a very effective Assembly Member. She currently chairs the Assembly’s Finance Committee.
She was born in 1959 and attended Newbridge Grammar school. Jocelyn Davies is a former Borough Councillor in Caerphilly and was one of the first lay-inspectors of schools in 1993. She read Law at Oxford’s University Harris-Manchester College.
In a message to party members, Jocelyn Davies said: “I have been an Assembly Member since the Assembly began in 1999 and have enjoyed contributing to the continued growth in both the functions and powers of the Assembly and its acceptance by the majority of the people of Wales.
“The next Assembly will lay the foundations for a further increase in the powers of the Assembly, with the powers to increase borrowing being one of the first steps on this path.
“It will be a new and exciting period and I feel that with these new powers and with the increasing prominence that the Assembly will play in the lives of the people of Wales, it is time for a new generation of Plaid Cymru politicians, with a fresh outlook, to take the party and the Assembly forward to the next stage of the devolution journey.”
Leanne Wood, leader of Plaid Cymru, paid tribute to Jocelyn Davies, who announced today that she is standing down at the 2016 National Assembly elections.
Leanne Wood said: “Jocelyn is a highly respected Assembly Member not just within her own party, but across the benches of the Senedd.
“She has been a tenacious campaigner on issues such as zero hours contracts, vital housing issues such as the impact of the bedroom tax and a range of other legislation. Once she takes up an issue, Jocelyn won’t let it go and her forensic and fair approach to all matters means that few want to be on her wrong side.
“Jocelyn will be missed by the Plaid Cymru Assembly group and those within her region who she has represented since 1999. I’m sure she will continue as a valued Party of Wales member beyond her retirement from frontline politics.”
