Rhys ab Owen
Rhys ab Owen, also sometimes referred to as Rhys ab Owen Thomas is a Plaid Cymru politician. He was elected to the Senedd in the South Wales Central region in the 2021 Senedd election. Rhys is currently Plaid Cymru's spokesperson in the Senedd for the constitution and justice. He is a barrister. His father Owen John Thomas represented the same region for the same party. Background. Rhys ab Owen was born and raised in Cardiff and is the son of Sian Wyn Thomas a former headteacher of Ysgol Glan Morfa, Splott and Owen John Thomas, a  former Plaid Cymru politician who represented the South Wales Central region in the National Assembly for Wales from 1999 to 2007. He attended Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf in Llandaff North before reading law at the University of Oxford. ab Owen then undertook the Barrister Training Course at Cardiff University and has practiced as a barrister since 2010. Political career. Rhys stood for Plaid Cymru in the 2017 Cardiff Council election in the Canton ward, where he increased the Plaid Cymru vote from 910 to 2,105, narrowly losing to the victorious Labour candidates. Later, ab Owen stood in the 2021 Senedd  election, standing for Plaid Cymru in Cardiff West, standing against the incumbent MS and First Minister Mark Drakeford for Welsh Labour. Drakeford retained his seat in Cardiff West, with ab Owen finishing third behind the victorious Drakeford and Conservative candidate, Sean Driscoll. ab Owen however was elected as a Member of the Senedd for South Wales Central alongside fellow regional Plaid Cymru candidate Heledd Fychan by virtue of topping the regional list of Plaid Cymru candidates in the region On reaching the Senedd, ab Owen became Plaid Cymru's constitution and justice spokesperson