Rodney Berman



Rodney Simon Berman OBE is a Liberal Democrat politician, currently a councillor for the Penylan ward of Cardiff. He was formerly a councillor for Plasnewydd ward, and was also leader of Cardiff Council between 2004 and 2012.

Early life
Born and raised in Glasgow, Berman studied at the University of Glasgow where he helped run Glasgow University Liberal Democrats, before moving to Wales to study towards a PhD.

Political career
Berman stood for election to Parliament as Welsh Liberal Democrat candidate for Rhondda and Cardiff South and Penarth in 1997 and 2001, respectively, coming third on each occasion. His agent for the Rhondda seat was Professor Russell Deacon.

In 2004 Berman became leader of a minority administration on Cardiff Council. In 2006, Berman was the first winner of the Local Politician of the Year award.

The local elections of 2008 saw the Liberal Democrats increase their representation, winning new seats in the east (Trowbridge), west (Llandaff) and south of the city (Butetown). They were still in a minority on the council so they made a deal to run the Cardiff Council jointly with Plaid Cymru, under Berman's leadership.

In the 2012 council elections, the Liberal Democrats lost control of Cardiff Council to Welsh Labour, and Berman also lost his seat after two recounts.

Berman was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2013 New Year Honours for services to local government and the community in Cardiff.

After spending several years working as a policy executive for BMA Cymru Wales, he returned to local politics to fight the 2017 Cardiff Council election. He returned as a councillor in May 2017 for the Penylan Ward.

At the 2021 Senedd election, he was the Lib Dem candidate for Cardiff Central, coming second to Jenny Rathbone. He also stood on the list vote for the South Wales Central region. He stood for election in the Cardiff East constituency for the 2024 UK general election, coming second with 17.2% of the vote.

Personal life
In August 2006, Berman entered into a Civil Partnership with his partner, former ITV News journalist Nick Speed.