Llais Gwynedd
Llais Gwynedd, meaning Voice of Gwynedd, is a small regional political party based in Gwynedd, North Wales. It was founded in 2008 after Plaid Cymru proposed closing many rural primary schools. Many members were former Plaid Cymru members. The group started as Llais y Bobl, but changed its name because another party with that name existed in Blaenau Gwent. The party’s aim was to oppose the closure of rural schools.
In the 2008 Gwynedd Council elections, Llais Gwynedd won 12 seats and ended Plaid Cymru’s control of the council. They won seven seats in Dwyfor, three in Meirionnydd and two in Arfon. A by-election in Blaenau Ffestiniog in June 2008 gave them a 13th seat. They did not form a coalition with Plaid Cymru.
They tried to become chair of the Children and Young Persons Committee, but Labour councillors voted with Plaid Cymru.
A Llais Gwynedd councillor, Gwilym Euros Roberts, was due to stand against the Assembly presiding officer in 2011 in Dwyfor Meirionnydd, but in 2010 he was jailed for four and a half years for wounding his wife and stood down in May 2010. Llais Gwynedd won the Diffwys and Maenofferen ward in a by-election on 15 July 2010, with Richard Owen Lloyd Jones defeating Plaid by a small margin. The party gained another seat in the Seiont ward in the by-election on 7 October 2010.
In the 2011 Welsh Assembly election, Louise Hughes stood for Llais Gwynedd in Dwyfor Meirionnydd and received 3,225 votes (about 15.5%), drawing much support away from Plaid Cymru. That year they did not field a candidate in Arfon, and they also lost the second Diffwys and Maenofferen by-election to Plaid. This allowed Plaid to regain some power on Gwynedd Council.
In February 2012, Councillor Chris Hughes left Llais Gwynedd to join Plaid Cymru. In the May 2012 council elections, Llais Gwynedd again won 13 councillors and held the balance of power on the council. In May 2015, three Llais Gwynedd councillors defected to Plaid Cymru, letting Plaid regain overall control of the council.
Their policies were outlined in their online manifesto, focusing on issues important to Gwynedd.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 12:48 (CET).