30 Facts About Lee Waters

Lee Waters was born on 12 February 1976 and is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician who served as Deputy Minister for Climate Change from 2021 to 2024.

Lee Waters has served as the Member of the Senedd for Llanelli since 2016.

Lee Waters's father was a coal miner who was made redundant and his mother was a hairdresser.

Lee Waters has stated he did not grow up in a political or "militant" family but remembered his father, who was supportive of a ballot rather than industrial action at the time, going on strike.

Lee Waters studied at Amman Valley Comprehensive School and while at school wrote a piece for Wales on Sunday about his fellow students, asking whether they were planning on staying in their community.

Lee Waters has criticised those who told him at 15 that "if you want to get on, you have to get out".

Lee Waters was in a class of three studying politics in school, and later was the only student in the class.

Lee Waters went to study at University of Wales, Aberystwyth.

Lee Waters joined the Labour Party in 1994 upon starting his studies and went on to the university's Parliamentary Placement Scheme where he worked in Westminster.

Lee Waters went on to work as the Political Secretary to Davies in August 1998 as part of the leadership campaign between him and Rhodri Morgan.

Lee Waters then joined BBC Wales news as a researcher and then radio producer on Good Morning Wales.

In 2001 Lee Waters joined the ITV Wales political unit where he reported as a lobby correspondent and presented the weekly politics programme Waterfront, becoming chief political correspondent.

Lee Waters stated he moved out of the industry after he lost interest in learning shorthand and did not see it as a job "for a grown up".

Lee Waters chaired the Governing body of the highly regarded Barry Island Primary School for over seven years.

Lee Waters joined sustainable cycling charity Sustrans Cymru in January 2007.

Lee Waters led a campaign involving his organisation Sustrans Cymru, the BMA, and the NAHT, who wrote a joint letter arguing for an independent commission to review whether the National Assembly for Wales was underfunded.

Lee Waters was vice-chair of the successful 2011 Yes for Wales campaign, leading on communications for the campaign after being appointed to the cross-party steering committee by the First Minister.

Lee Waters edited the magazine, the Welsh Agenda, and contributed to the pioneering of crowdsourcing in policy development.

Lee Waters left the role in 2016 in order to campaign to become the Senedd Member for Llanelli, a race which he won with a majority of 382.

In 2023, as a Welsh Government minister, Lee Waters accidentally voted against the government, with Lee Waters describing it as "embarrassing and frustrating".

In March 2024, Lee Waters announced his intention to resign from his position as Deputy Minister for Climate Change following the conclusion of the 2024 Welsh Labour leadership election, as well as announcing he would be deleting his Twitter account due to unpleasant comments.

On 24 October 2024, Lee Waters announced his retirement at the next Senedd election.

Lee Waters was the Minister responsible for Transportation across various ministerial jobs from 2018 to 2024.

In place of the Relief Road, Lee Waters instead advocated for in Government projects including the South Wales Metro and improving bus services which make up the majority of public transport ridership in Wales.

Lee Waters worked towards overhauling bus transport in Wales through integrating services and focusing on passengers.

Lee Waters was a central figure in the introduction of a 20mph limit across most previously 30mph zones on Welsh roads.

Lee Waters has been a proponent of the concept of the foundational economy.

Lee Waters's speech stated that "all the orthodox tools we can think of at growing the economy in the conventional way" have only produced static GDP over 20 years across the UK.

Lee Waters opposes Welsh independence, but has said that his party has dismissed independence supporters as "separatists" for too long.

Lee Waters has two children and resides in the Penarth area, with a house in Llanelli.