'Father of the welfare state' recognised with town plaque

A NEW plaque has been unveiled to honour Labour politician Jim Griffiths, who was MP for the town for more than three decades and became Wales’ first secretary of state.

- IAN LEWIS

The plaque has been installed at Llanelli Library and there are now calls for a wider memorial in the town and Ammanford, as Griffiths was born in the nearby village of Betws.

He is credited as being the creator of Britain’s social security system, which at the time was seen as the envy of the civilised world.

Griffiths was elected as Llanelli MP in 1936 and held the seat until 1970.

He was a trade union leader and became the first Secretary of State for Wales, serving from 1964 to 1966 under Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

Following his death in 1975, Prime Minister Jim Callaghan, in a memorial address, described him as: “One of the greatest sons of Wales. We honour the memory of Jim Griffiths of Ammanford. I mention his birth place because, despite all his honours and journeyings, it was the place of his birth, deep in the heart of Wales, that essentially shaped his life and actions.”

Speaking at Llanelly House on the 50th anniversary of his death to an audience including Llanelli MP Nia Griffiths, Labour councillors and stalwarts, Wales’ First Minister Eluned Morgan said: “He may be gone, but what he stood for, what he fought for, what he achieved, is as alive today as it ever was.”