Darren Millar

Darren David Millar (born 1976) is a Welsh Conservative politician who has served as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Clwyd West since 2007.

Political career
From 2000 to 2001, Millar was mayor of the township of Towyn and Kinmel Bay. He was also a member of Conwy County Borough Council, the North Wales Police Authority and the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service. In 2006, while a member of Conwy Council, Millar was referred to the standards watchdog, after complaints from the Unite, Unison and GMB trade unions about comments he made alleging that staff were abusing or misusing the sick pay system.

In the 2003 Senedd election, he stood unsuccessfully as the Conservative candidate for the Vale of Clwyd.

In the 2007 election, Millar was elected to the Clwyd West seat, unseating the incumbent Labour MS, Alun Pugh. Pugh was the only Cabinet Minister to be defeated in the election.

Millar was re-elected in the 2011, 2016 and 2021 elections.

He is a former Shadow Minister for the Environment and Planning, for Communities and Local Government and for Economy and Transport. He is a former member of the Senedd's Sustainability Committee, and a former Chair of the Senedd's Health, Well-being and Local Government Committee. In November 2010 Millar was elected as Chair of the Senedd's Public Accounts Committee. Millar also Chairs the Cross Party Group on Faith, and the Cross Party Group on the Armed Forces and Cadets, both of which he is a founder member.

He was one of four Conservative MSs (along with Andrew RT Davies, Janet Finch-Saunders and Mark Isherwood) to vote for Brexit in the 2016 Brexit referendum.

Millar has been drawn to table a Members' Bill on three occasions.

In January 2021 the Senedd Commission investigated Millar for an alleged breach of COVID-19 regulations. He resigned from his frontbench role as chief whip on 23 January 2021 after the leader Paul Davies resigned on the same day. Both Millar and Davies were later cleared of any wrongdoing by South Wales Police, Cardiff City Council, the Senedd Commission and the Senedd Standards of Conduct Committee. In April 2022 a report published by the Senedd Standards Committee found that no laws or standards of conduct had been breached.

In 2024, Millar tabled a non-binding motion of no confidence in First Minister Vaughan Gething, over donations made during the 2024 Welsh Labour leadership election and the sacking of former Social Partnership Minister Hannah Blythyn. The motion passed 29-27. Gething described the motion as a 'gimmick' and said he would remain as First Minister.

In November 2023, he had been selected as the Conservative Party prospective parliamentary candidate for the new constituency of Clwyd North at the 2024 general election. He came second, losing to the Labour candidate by 1,196 votes.

Personal life
Millar lives in the Kinmel Bay area with his wife and two children. He enjoys reading and history, and attends Festival Church.

Millar has been a citizen of both the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland for decades.