Lloyd George Society commitee member Cllr Bill Powell has been selected as Liberal Democrat candidate for the Brecon and Radnorshire constituency at next year’s Senedd elections. The current AM, Kirsty Williams is stepping down after serving since 1999 and after her sucessful spell as Minister for Education in the Welsh Government.
Cllr Powell, who grew up and lives in the constituency, has served as the Welsh Liberal Democrat County Councillor for Talgarth since 2004 and was Assembly Member for the Mid and West Wales region from 2011-2016. During this period, he was the Welsh Liberal Democrat Spokesperson on the Environment, Sustainable Development and Rural Affairs and chaired the Assembly Petitions Committee.
Before entering politics, he was a secondary modern languages teacher and has been a partner in the family farm in the Black Mountains for over 30 years, where he still lives with his wife and sons today.
His selection as Senedd candidate marks a remarkable end to a year which he may not have survived, having spent several weeks unconscious and on a ventilator in Nevill Hall Hospital, Abergavenny, with severe COVID-19. All Bill’s friends in the Society are delighted that he has made such a full recovery.
Bill was formerly President of the Welsh Liberal Democrats and has been a constant fixture at the panel session of Lloyd George Society weekend schools in recent years. In the picture, Bill and former Lib Dem MP for Brecon and Radnorshire Roger Williams are holding the walking stick belonging to David Lloyd George which is on display at every Society school.