Politics was a family affair, but nobody expected her to be here – Mair Rowlands MS’s journey from the dining table to the Senedd

Education, young people and Welsh language are all things Mair Rowlands wants to work on during her time as an MS

11:33, 04 Oct 2026

Politics was always discussed at the dinner table in the Rowlands household, and the Welsh language is something that is a part of her core, personally, but professionally too. “I’ve had a political upbringing, always been involved in Plaid Cymru,” Mair Rowlands smiles.

One of three Plaid Cymru Senedd members for Bangor Conwy Mon, Mair Rowlands grew up in Cardiff, but her roots were firmly in north Wales, she said. The family hails from Caernarfon and Denbigh, her parents, were both teachers. Her mum taught French, and her dad, geography. They moved to Cardiff for work, and her dad, well known in Plaid circles, held roles with the BBC and Environment Agency.

Both her parents are long-term Plaid supporters. Her dad stood for election in 1999 for Cardiff West and in 2015’s general election, he came within 230 votes of becoming the MP for Ynys Môn.

“I’ve been campaigning for Plaid Cymru from a very young age, from leafleting, but also going to things like protests for Welsh language education. We went as a family, but with a group from Plaid Cymru to the anti-Iraq War protest in London,” she said. “But I don’t think anyone would have thought I’d be a politician,” she adds.

The Welsh language is “something that is part of my identity,” she said. Attending Welsh primary school, secondary school, Bangor university, and with professional roles linked to the language. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here

Now 37, it was while studying Welsh and Theology at Bangor University where she got involved in student politics, something that shaped her career until her election to the Senedd in May. She served as the Welsh Language Students’ Union President in Bangor in 2010, for two years.

In the middle of that was the 2011 devolution referendum, which she was involved in and that’s where she got involved with Plaid formally.

It was in 2012 she was asked to stand on Gwynedd council. “I guess I had that appetite, so when they asked me, I thought ‘Oh, I’ve nothing to lose’. I always like a challenge.

“It was a Lib Dem seat with a husband and wife in the seat and I went into it thinking, ‘I might not win this’ but it was that challenge, and it was a relatively high-student area as well,” she was 23 when first elected to the council.

“I ended up staying in Bangor then, and I’ve never left,” she said. “Naturally, more people move from north Wales to Cardiff to have work and so on, where I’ve gone the other way round but I guess I always had my roots in north Wales,” she said.

A role as a sustainable development officer for the university followed, and from 2014, she was on the council cabinet with the children’s services, young people, leisure portfolio.

“It was a difficult time because of a lot of cuts but I think what’s interesting in now being in this setting in Senedd, I’ve been involved as a very big group. We were over 40 members in Gwynedd Council, and Plaid have run the council for many years.

“So, I’m kind of used to that setting where a lot of people are very new to politics as well and actually governing, which can be very challenging,” she said.

In 2017, she was re-elected representing the Upper Bangor ward and was then appointed deputy leader, taking on responsibility for corporate services, communications, equality and Welsh language.

She served a year as deputy leader, saying she wanted to expand her work experience, and started as director at Bangor University Students’ Union in 2018.

“I went back to my Students’ Union roots,” she said. “But also there is that link in terms of working with young people, working with young people to take part in the democratic process and in politics and influencing decisions and so on.

“I really loved working there and supporting the officers, and it’s very dynamic, and every day is different,” she said.

She had that role for eight years, and life changed a bit when she had her son in 2023. When she stepped away from politics, she says lots of people said, “Oh, you’re not going to leave politics now, are you?”

“And I’ve always said I’m open to see where life takes me, really. That’s, I guess, how my journey has been. It’s never been planned to be a councillor or to be a cabinet member, but I’ve always liked a challenge. I’ve always gone for it and people have always encouraged me.”

She made the decision to put her name forward for the Senedd and family life understandably played into that but the changes in the system gave her hope she could balance the two things. After so many years campaigning for Plaid, and the Welsh language, she wanted to be there at the time it looked the party would have its most influence too.

“It’s so important to get more representation into politics of different areas of society. And just because I was a mother of a young child, I was also working as a chief executive of the Students’ Union where I loved that job, but then I thought, “I can do more.”

“It kind of just made sense and I thought, ‘well, if I don’t go for it now, I might miss the opportunity’.

Download our mobile app for the best reading experience or subscribe to WalesOnline for just £1 to see fewer adverts

“I’ve had that encouragement, and my family’s very supportive, and my partner’s supportive. I think they wouldn’t have ever told me no!”

“But in terms of changing this place, you can only do it, if you’re here.

“Together we can influence that change, and make politics and Senedd more accessible to other people to stand from different backgrounds,” she said.

She is sharing the role as chair of the sport and culture committee and is on the children, young people and education committee and hopes despite an adversarial start to the latest Senedd, there will be cross-party working.

“I think we do have to reach out and work together across all parties. I know that’s probably different in some situations than others and it’d probably been easier maybe in the last Senedd, but we didn’t have as many members either, did we?

“I want to see politics that’s more compassionate and kind,” she said.

“Something I’m really passionate about is encouraging more women into politics. But you have to really kind of show that. by actually, being involved, making an influence, because obviously it is a challenging environment to be in.

“When I was supporting officers in Students’ Union, when we were looking for candidates for council, I was also trying to encourage women, and I’ll be doing the same now. thinking about the next generation of candidates as well.

“We’ve got a good group of female Senedd members to set the pace and set the course for this next Senedd, and into the next one as well”.