Elected as a regional Assembly Member for South Wales East in 1999, and re-elected in 2003 and 2007, William is an experienced local politician with a proven track record in campaigning for the Welsh Conservative Party. His chief political interests are the economy, local government and regeneration. As the lead candidate for the Welsh Conservatives on the South Wales East regional list for elections to the National Assembly for Wales in May 2011, William is campaigning hard in each of the eight constituencies that form the region.
Born and raised in Newport before attending the College of Estate Management, William qualified as a Chartered Surveyor becoming Principal of his family firm of surveyors – Graham & Co (Est. 1844). William was a member of Gwent County Council, later becoming leader of the Conservative group at Newport City Council. Since being elected to the National Assembly for Wales, William has held a variety of roles within the Welsh Conservatives Group, including being Chief Whip and Education spokesman and is currently Shadow Minister for Regeneration. He is also a member of the Assembly Commission- the corporate body for the National Assembly for Wales – acting as Commissioner for Resources.
William has taken a number of roles in public life in South Wales East including having been a Justice of the Peace for the County of Monmouth since 1979, an Elder of Newport United Reformed Church, past Chairman of Governors at Rougemont School Trust and former Chairman of Newport Harbour Commissioners. William has been a prominent and effective Member during his time in the National Assembly, bringing a wide range of issues to the Assembly Chamber. In 2005 he introduced a motion against top-up fees in Wales, which attracted cross party across the Opposition and defeated the minority Labour Assembly Government. He has been a vocal to improve South Wales East’s transport infrastructure and support the region’s businesses, campaigning for an M4 relief road for over twenty years. In the course of the current Assembly, William has worked closely with the leaders of Conservative-led councils in Monmouthshire and Newport, often highlighting in the Assembly Chamber their accountability and prudent spending on public services such as Newport’s road maintenance strategy which has been independently assessed as being the best in the UK as an example of good practice to be adopted across Wales. William has been fiercely critical of the Labour-Plaid’s poor handling of the economy in the wake of the recession, and drawing on personal experience of running a business, has urged greater support for indigenous Welsh businesses such as by reducing business rates. Recent campaigns have included highlighting poor ambulance response times in Monmouthshire, a campaign to introduce free travel on public transport for veterans in Wales and urging the Assembly Government to abandon their damaging policy to pursue backdated business rates from businesses operating within port boundaries in Wales.
William Graham's Blog
