Political giant and nation builder who fell out with his own party

Book charts the often turbulent times of former Presiding Officer Lord Elis-Thomas, writes Political editor Ruth Mosalski

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THE reasons Dafydd Elis-Thomas left Plaid Cymru have been laid out in a new book detailing the life of the late politician, described by the book’s author as “one of the most significant Welsh political figures of recent decades”.

Author Aled Eirug was friends with Dafydd Elis-Thomas and had known him for more than 50 years. He said he agreed to his friend’s request to write the book on one condition - that Dafydd El, as he was best known - didn’t see it until it was published.

That transpired to be true, but not for the reason intended, as the book has now been published seven months after Dafydd El’s death in February this year.

Mr Eirug says his friend would have welcomed the frank and often robust criticism some of his contemporaries make of him within the book, being published in the coming days. He would not, he said, have wanted his story sugar coated, or rewritten, the author explained.

The book is based on a series of interviews with Dafydd El himself, conducted in the autumn of 2020, but also interviews with around 70 other figures, including fellow major players in Welsh politics.

The book details his younger days, his election as a young MP right through to his death. It also explains what happened behind closed doors in the lead-up to him leaving the party to which he had given so much.

After spending 11 years as the Senedd’s presiding officer, Dafydd Elis-Thomas put his name forward in the party’s leadership contest in 2012, against Leanne Wood and Elin Jones, but he was knocked out in the first round.

While he said he had only entered the contest to “show that I was still around”, the book describes how he was “bruised and personally disappointed” by his loss and “swiftly became dissatisfied with [eventual winner] Leanne Wood”.

Mr Eirug writes: “He had underestimated Leanne Wood and had not given her due regard as a serious politician.”