Liz Saville Roberts

Liz Saville Roberts is the Westminster leader of Plaid Cymru. Born and raised in London, Saville Roberts moved to Wales aged 18 to attend Aberystwyth University. In 2004, she was elected as a councillor for Morfa Nefyn and Edern on Gwynedd Council — she spent 11 years on the council, and from 2008-2015 was the local authority’s cabinet member for education. In the 2015 general election, Saville Roberts contested Dwyfor Meirionnydd, holding the seat for her party. During the campaign she placed an emphasis on the “importance of connectivity” in disparate rural communities. She entered parliament as one of only three Plaid representatives, and was immediately entrusted with spokesperson responsibilities for an extensive list of issues including health, justice and women and equalities. Appointed as the party’s Westminster leader in 2017, Saville Roberts was also a member of the Welsh Affairs Committee from 2015 to 2019. In the 2019 general election, Saville Robert’s constituency was one of 60 in the country to field just one ‘Unite to Remain’ candidate — meaning that the Liberal Democrats and the Green Party did not field a candidate against her. Saville Roberts has been critical of the government’s covid-19 response. In November 2020, she stated, “we have learned that we are expected to act grateful in Wales; we have learned that the Treasury is only there for us when the home counties of England go into lockdown….the Prime Minister may not have noticed yet, but he and his Chancellor are fronting a membership drive for the independence movement YesCymru, which added 2,000 members in two days this weekend. Would he accept my grateful thanks?”