Who are the top 100 Welsh heroes?
In 2003-2004, the organisation Culturenet Cymru conducted an internet survey to find the top 100 Welsh heroes. They received over 80,000 nominations and votes in their quest to find the greatest Welsh men and women of all time. It is now almost two years exactly since the survey was completed, so maybe its time for a re-run.
Disappointingly for the Society, David Lloyd George was only placed at number six in the survey, which was headed by Aneurin Bevan. Bevan won because he is widely regarded as the father of the National Health Service, although arguably there could have been no NHS without the legacy of social reform, in particular the introduction of national insurance contributions in 1911, resulting from Lloyd George’s People’s Budget.
Lloyd George was also beaten by singer Tom Jones and more frustratingly by Gwynfor Evans, the first ever Plaid Cymru MP. However, apart from Owain Glyndwr, all the people above LLG in the list are more modern figures and this is the usual pattern with polls of this kind as the more recent and familiar push out the historical figures.
Other Liberal (Democrat) figures making it onto the list include Roy Jenkins in 42nd place (at least beating Neil Kinnock who was 58th) and Lady Megan Lloyd George who made it in at number 92.
You can see the whole list and read their biographies at the website of 100 Welsh heroes at http://www.100welshheroes.com/en/homepage
