Dawn Bowden

Dawn Alison Louise Bowden (born 14 February 1960) is a British Labour Party politician and trade unionist serving as Minister for Social Care since 2024. She previously served as Chief Whip of the Welsh Government from 2021 to 2023 and Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport (later also Tourism) from 2021 to 2024. Bowden has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney since 2016.

Early life and education
Bowden was born on 14 February 1960 in Bristol, England. She was educated at St Bernadette Catholic Secondary School, a state-funded Catholic school in Bristol. Then, from 1976 to 1978, she undertook a secretarial course at Soundwell Technical College.

Early career
Bowden began her working life as a secretary. She worked for the National Health Service between 1979 and 1982, and for Bristol City Council from 1982 to 1983.

From April 2012 until her election to the Welsh Assembly in May 2016, Bowden was the head of health for UNISON Cymru/Wales (the Welsh division of the national trade union UNISON).

Political career
In February 2016, it was announced that Bowden had been selected from an all-women shortlist to be the Welsh Labour candidate for the Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency seat in the next Welsh Assembly election. The all-women shortlist was controversial; it drew criticism from a number of male councillors, including the leader of Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. On 5 May 2016, she was elected a Member of the Welsh Assembly with 9,763 votes (47.2% of votes cast). Bowden has sat as a Labour Co-operative member since re-election in 2021.

Personal life
Bowden has two children. Sam and Jack. In 2011, she married Martin; he works as a policy officer for Welsh Labour.