Sam Rowlands

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sam Rowlands
MS
Rowlands in 2021
Member of the Senedd
for North Wales
Assumed office
8 May 2021
Personal details
Political partyConservative
SpouseNatasha Rowlands
Children3
CommitteesLocal Government and Housing Committee

Sam Rowlands is a Welsh Conservative politician serving as Member of the Senedd (MS) for the North Wales electoral region since 2021,[1] and Shadow Minister for Local Government.[2] He also formerly served as Leader of Conwy County Borough Council from 2019 to 2021.

Personal Life and Career[edit]

Rowlands worked for HSBC from 2009 to 2019 as a credit risk manager.[3]

Rowlands is married, and has three daughters.[3]

Political Career[edit]

Rowlands began his career as a member of Conwy County Borough Council[4] and Abergele Town Council,[5] being first elected in the 2008 Welsh Local Government Elections.[6] He represented the Pentre Mawr electoral ward. He served as the mayor of Abergele from 2015 to 2016.[7] Rowlands also stood in the Vale of Clwyd in the 2016 Welsh Assembly Election.[8] He was not elected.

After the 2017 Conwy County Borough Council elections, Rowlands formed part of the minority Conservative-Independent administration run by Gareth Jones,[9] serving as the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources between June 2017 and June 2019. In June 2019, Rowlands was removed from this role by Jones, after holding talks to take control of the council.[10][11] Rowlands then tabled a no-confidence motion in Jones' leadership, and took control of the council,[11][12] which he led until 2021, when he resigned as leader upon being elected as Member of the Senedd for the North Wales electoral region.[13][14] He served the remainder of his term as a Councillor, leaving the role at the 2022 elections, which he did not contest.[13]

Following his election to the Senedd, Rowlands re-established the Cross Party Group on Tourism, championing the role of the sector in the North Wales economy.[15] Rowlands led a campaign working with Conwy County Borough Council to re-establish the Conwy County Borough School's Football Association in 2021.[16] Rowlands has spoken on the importance of sport to keep people fit and healthy as well as a driver for economic development in the Welsh Parliament. In 2022 he also became the Chairman of Welsh Parliament Cross Party Group on the Outdoor Activity Sector.

During July 2022 Rowlands's proposed Outdoor Education (Wales) Bill was drawn in the Welsh Parliament's ballot of proposed member's bills.[17] On 26 October 2022 the Welsh Parliament voted to allow time and resources to be committed to developing this legislation further, with Conservative, Plaid Cymru and Liberal Democrat MSs supporting the decision and the Labour Party attempting to block the bill from being developed.[18]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "Election results for North Wales". Flintshire County Council. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  2. ^ "Sam Rowlands MS". Welsh Parliament. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Sam Rowlands MS". North West Wales. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Local Democracy". Election results for Pentre Mawr. Conwy County Borough Council. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  5. ^ "Local Democracy". Election results for Abergele - Pentre Mawr. Conwy County Borough Council. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  6. ^ "Local Elections Archive Project - 2012 - Conwy". www.andrewteale.me.uk. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  7. ^ "Attend meetings - mayor. - Free Online Library". Attend meetings - mayor. The Free Library by Farlex. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Election results for Vale of Clwyd". Denbighshire County Council. April 2013. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  9. ^ "Plaid Cymru Conwy leader defies party on Tory coalition". BBC News. 19 June 2017. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  10. ^ "Conwy council leader faces leadership contest". BBC News. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  11. ^ a b "Threat to Conwy council's leadership result of naked political ambition". Rhyl Journal. 28 May 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  12. ^ "Conwy council leader replaced by sacked councillor". BBC News. 3 June 2019. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  13. ^ a b "Conwy council's leader to resign after winning MS seat at Senedd Cymru election". North Wales Pioneer. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  14. ^ "Welsh election: Fresh faces in new Conservative Senedd team". BBC News. 27 May 2021. Retrieved 21 May 2024.
  15. ^ "Minutes of 8 July 2021" (PDF). business.senedd.wales. Welsh Parliament. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  16. ^ "Colwyn Bay footballer selected for full Welsh under-14s squad". Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  17. ^ "Development of the Outdoor Education (Wales) Bill". senedd.wales. Welsh Parliament. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  18. ^ "Vote Outcomes Plenary 26/10/2022". record.assembly.wales. Welsh Parliament. Retrieved 16 January 2023.


Flag of WalesPolitician icon

This article about a Member of the Senedd is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sam_Rowlands&oldid=1224982593"