Rosemary Butler (politician)

Dame Rosemary Janet Mair Butler (née McGrath; born 21 January 1943) is a British politician who served as Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales (now Llywydd of the Senedd) from 2011 to 2016. A member of Welsh Labour, Butler was the Assembly Member (AM; now Member of the Senedd) for Newport West from 1999 to 2016.

Serving briefly as Secretary for Education in the first two years of the Welsh Government, she was elected Deputy Presiding Officer in May 2007. In May 2011, Butler was elected as the Presiding Officer. She did not stand for election to the Assembly in the 2016 elections. She has two children: Alice Butler and Kate Needham (1968-2013). She has four grandchildren: Oscar Needham, Beatrix Needham, Jasmine Butler-Bright and Sorrel Butler-Bright.

Local politics
In 1971 Butler joined the Labour Party. She was elected to Newport Borough Council from Caerleon ward in 1973, and played an important part in Labour administrations on the council as Deputy Leader and Mayor of Newport in 1989–90. She was Chair of the Leisure Services Committee for 12 years.

National Assembly
At the first Assembly election in 1999, Butler was selected as Labour candidate for Newport West which she won. She was appointed Secretary for Education: Minister for Children and Young People (up to 16) by Alun Michael but held office only for a year, leaving in October 2000 when the new First Secretary (First Minister), Rhodri Morgan, formed a coalition government. She was Chair of the Assembly's Culture, Welsh Language and Sport Committee and served on the Panel of Chairs. She led the British Council activities in the Senedd (housing the Assembly) and also represents the Senedd on the European Committee of the Regions (CoR) where she is a member of the Bureau (executive) of the Committee.

Presiding Officer and Deputy Presiding Officer
On 9 May 2007, Butler was picked as the Labour group's nominee for Deputy Presiding Officer, a position vacant by the defeat of the previous holder and which had to be held by a member from a different party to the Presiding Officer. Her election by the whole of the Assembly was not opposed. Butler was appointed the second Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales on 11 May 2011, following Dafydd Elis-Thomas.

Butler was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for political and public services, particularly to women.

Women in Public Life Campaign #POWiPL
In 2012, Rosemary Butler AM launched a campaign to address the need for more women to apply for and take up public roles and appointments. Her Women in Public Life campaign (POWiPL) aims to ensure that women are fairly represented at all levels of public life in Wales.

During the campaign, Rosemary has hosted many high-profile influential speakers at the Senedd, most notably former Prime Minister of Australia, Julia Gillard to talk about gender equality and encourage women to put themselves forward for public appointments. She also launched a website; Women in Public Life Portal to enable women in Wales to search for public appointments.

In October 2014, Rosemary launched a mentoring and development scheme for women who wanted to gain experience in public life and undergo training to help prepare them for decision making roles over a period of 18 months. The scheme is delivered by Chwarae Teg and Cardiff Business School on behalf of the Senedd.

Personal interests

 * Honorary Fellow of the University of Wales, Newport
 * Co-founder and Chair of the Newport International Competition for Young Pianists
 * An Honorary Citizen of Newport's twin town Kutaisi (Republic of Georgia), and founding member of the Newport-Kutaisi Twinning Association
 * President of the Friends of Newport Transporter Bridge
 * President of the Wales Home Safety Council
 * President of Newport Harriers Athletic Club
 * Honorary Life Member of Newport Sports Council
 * Life Member of Newport Cricket Club
 * Founder member of the Friends of Tredegar House
 * Ambassador for Girl Guiding
 * Founder member of Newport Women's Aid
 * Member of Women's International League of Peace and Freedom
 * Patron of Caerleon Arts Festival
 * Chairwoman, Newport Women's Forum
 * Chairwoman, Live Music Now Wales