Lady Aya
The Right Honourable The Lady Blaenau Ffestiniog | |
|---|---|
 Lady_Aya in 2020 | |
| MLA | |
| In office 13 October 2021 – 10 January 2022 | |
| In office 4 April 2022 – Present | |
| Leader of SDLP | |
| In office 03 September 2021 – 10 January 2022 | |
| Preceded by | ABrokenHero |
| Leader of Celtic Coalition | |
| In office 8 June 2021 – 02 September 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Position Established |
| Succeeded by | Party Dissolved |
| Leader of LPNI | |
| In office 21 April 2021 – 8 June 2021 | |
| Preceded by | realonewithsergio |
| Succeeded by | ohprkl |
| MLA for South Down | |
| In office 6 June 2020 – 6 June 2021 | |
| Preceded by | thechattyshow |
| Chairperson of Solidarity | |
| In office 20 November 2020 – 20 February 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Position Established |
| Succeeded by | ARichTeaBiscuit |
| Leader of Llaisiau dros Ewrop | |
| In office 28 February 2021 – 14 April 2021 | |
| Preceded by | Position Established |
| Succeeded by | Party Disestablished |
| Shadow Secretary of State for Wales | |
| In office 24 February 2020 – 1 June 2020 | |
| Preceded by | pavanpur04 |
| Succeeded by | Archism_ |
| MP for Wales (List) | |
| In office 28 March 2018 – 15 August 2018 | |
| Preceded by | ViktorHR |
| Succeeded by | theoctor |
| In office 19 November 2018 – 19 December 2018 | |
| Preceded by | hk-laichar |
| Succeeded by | FinePorpoise |
| Deputy Leader of Plaid Cymru | |
| In office 21 January 2018 – 5 August 2018 | |
| Preceded by | Position Established |
| Succeeded by | hk-laichar |
| Aelodau'r Cynulliad Wales (List) | |
| In office 7 July 2019 – 11 November 2019 | |
| Preceded by | enfysclaw |
| Succeeded by | EponaCorcra |
| In office 11 November 2018 – 5 August 2018 | |
| Preceded by | ViktorHR |
| Succeeded by | Archism |
| Aelodau o'r Senedd Ynys Môn | |
| In office 18 January 2021 – 28 February 2021 | |
| In office 20 April 2021 – June 8 2021 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Lady_Aya 22 May 1989 Blaenau Ffestiniog Gwynedd Wales |
| Political party | Plaid Cymru (10 January 2018-January 2020) DRF (January 2020-February 2020) Labour Party (February 2020-June 2020) SDLP/Solidarity (June 2020-February 2021) Voices for Europe (February 2021-April 2021) Labour Party (April 2021-June 8 2021) Celtic Coalition (June 8 2021-03 September 2021) Social Democratic and Labour Party (03 September 2021- 10 January 2022) Liberal Democrats (10 March 2022-Present) |
| Alma mater | University of Aberystwyth |
Dame Lady_Aya LD DCVO PC, commonly known simply as Aya, is a British politician and former deputy First Minister of Northern Ireland. Lady_Aya is left-wing and nationalist, as shown by her many years advocating for Welsh nationalism and Irish reunification.
Lady_Aya entered politics in January 2018 with Plaid Cymru. It was there that she developed her passion for nationalism and the need for a politics that does not neglect rural communities. Growing up in a rural community herself, she saw first hand the way in which rural communities are neglected by those in power. She sought to use her position to advocate for rural communities and human rights. She became Deputy Leader of Plaid Cymru from 21 January 2018 to 5 August 2018 and was elected to a number of positions, including Member of Parliament and Aelodau Senedd.
After the merger of Plaid Cymru into the Democratic Reformist Front, Lady_Aya decided that she did not feel welcome into the party which she found herself in and left for the Labour Party. There, she briefly served as the Shadow Secretary State of Wales before signaling a break from politics. This break however did not last too long before her friend, SoSaturnistic convinced her a return to politics. This time however, it was in Northern Ireland and the SDLP. Although she was a stranger to the concerns of Northern Ireland, she very quickly saw the ways in which Northern Ireland was very similar to her fight in Wales and the ways in which rural and Nationalist communities are neglected in Northern Ireland.
A few months after joining the SDLP, the party voted to merge into a potential new party; one which promised to be a new voice for the Left wing in the United Kingdom. This party was Solidarity and it was there that Lady_Aya continued her fight for the SDLP and Northern Ireland, albeit making small contributions to Wales again. Following the resignation of ka4bi as Solidarity Deputy Leader, an election for Chairperson of Solidarity was opened. This election was one which Lady_Aya won and she served as Chairperson for Solidarity from 20 November 2020 to 20 February 2021.
Shortly after the February 2021 United Kingdom general election, Lady_Aya decided to return to her roots of a smaller, issue focused party and joined Voices for Europe, a single-issue party advocating for rejoining the European Union. Lady_Aya eventually had a fall-out with the leader and rejoined the Labour Party in April 2021. In the Labour Party, she became the leader of the LPNI and deputy First Minister. Lady_Aya led LPNI through the June 2021 Northern Ireland Assembly election, losing seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly but achieving better results than expected.
Following June 2021 Northern Ireland Assembly election and the disappointing results, Lady_Aya decided to resign from her position as leader of the LPNI. From there she made a return to social democratic and nationalist parties with the launch of Celtic Coalition. It was envisioned as a loose coalition of social democratic and nationalist parties that join at the national level to encourage cooperation and solidarity. During the July 2021 United Kingdom general election, Celtic Coalition won two seats and entered into Unofficial Opposition. Celtic Coalition eventually was broken up after the departure of the Scottish branch, Forward, and Lady_Aya's decision to focus on Northern Ireland. She decided to focus entirely on the SDLP.
Under Lady_Aya's leadership, the SDLP was growing in the polls. Citing their lack of political willpower and desire for a solidified social democratic banner, the LPNI merged into the SDLP, elevating the SDLP into the Executive. The SDLP and its leadership very quickly butted heads with the UWP for the rest of the term. Lady_Aya then led the SDLP into the December 2021 Northern Ireland Assembly election. After the election, the SDLP made the decision to exit talks to form the Executive and to enter into Official Opposition. This lasted until the SDLP merged with the UWP to form the ILP, following the national merger of the Progressive Workers Party with the Labour Party. Lady_Aya once again took a small break before rejoining politics with the Liberal Democrats