49 Facts About Neil McEvoy

Additionally, McEvoy was a Member of the Senedd for the South Wales central region from 2016 to 2021.

Neil McEvoy was elected to the Senedd, then known as the Welsh Assembly, on the Plaid Cymru regional list, under the Additional Member System, and later sat as an independent.

Neil McEvoy's maternal grandfather was a Yemeni who came to Cardiff to work on the docks, and he has spoken about the contribution that Yemenis made to Britain in the Second World War.

Neil McEvoy previously trained and worked as a teacher of modern languages.

Neil McEvoy was elected to Cardiff Council as Welsh Labour Councillor for Riverside in 1999 and later became vice-chair of the Labour council group, he defected to Plaid Cymru in 2003.

Neil McEvoy lost his seat in Riverside in 2004, but was elected in 2008 in the Fairwater ward.

Neil McEvoy then became Deputy Leader of Cardiff Council between 2008 and 2012 under a Liberal Democrat-Plaid Cymru coalition administration.

Neil McEvoy stood as a Plaid Cymru candidate in the 2007 National Assembly for Wales election in Cardiff West.

In 2012, as a councillor, Neil McEvoy presented a petition in the Welsh language, resulting in an argument with representatives of other parties.

In September 2012, despite Plaid's decision not to put forward any candidates for Police and Crime Commissioner elections, Neil McEvoy said that he wanted to stand for the PCC for South Wales Police.

Neil McEvoy did not stand, Plaid did not put forward a candidate, and subsequently former MP Alun Michael won the position for Welsh Labour.

In July 2015, Neil McEvoy was narrowly beaten by Plaid Cymru Party leader Leanne Wood in the contest for first place on the party list for the 2016 Assembly election, but gained second place.

Neil McEvoy was elected for the regional seat of South Wales Central.

Neil McEvoy later commented that there was a complete synergy between the two roles, making him more effective at both, and that he was donating his pay as a councillor to his community.

Neil McEvoy has, contrary to the policy of Plaid Cymru, supported the continuation of the Right to Buy scheme in Wales.

Neil McEvoy opposed the Welsh Government's Children Act 2020 which saw most forms of corporal punishment of children prohibited.

Neil McEvoy responded by accusing the First Minister of discussing the matter with Arbed Am Byth alone, and not investigating contractors directly.

Neil McEvoy stated that he was unable to disclose details of his "whistle-blowers" to the First Minister, but would be contacting the Auditor General for Wales.

Also in August 2019, Neil McEvoy was included in a list of the AMs with the largest budgets for staff and constituency office costs in the Assembly.

Neil McEvoy's budget was the largest of any AMs in the Assembly.

Neil McEvoy contributed to the debate around the Plaid Cymru conference, which was scheduled for 4 and 5 October 2019 in Swansea Grand Theatre.

Neil McEvoy voiced opinions on matters including the election for a Chair.

Neil McEvoy's personality is a problem, but it goes far beyond 'not liking [McEvoy].

In July 2019 Neil McEvoy withdrew his application to rejoin Plaid Cymru.

Neil McEvoy said "we will be known as Propel from now on".

Neil McEvoy was Propel's lead candidate on the regional list, though the party finished seventh, polling 5,552 votes.

Neil McEvoy was reelected councillor in Fairwater in the 2022 Cardiff Council election.

At the 2024 general election, Neil McEvoy was the only Propel candidate to stand.

Neil McEvoy took 1,041 votes, coming seventh in Cardiff West.

In November 2011 in a Facebook post, Neil McEvoy accused the charity Welsh Women's Aid of "publicly funded child abuse" and claimed they supported women in breaking court orders on fathers' access to children.

Neil McEvoy was suspended by Plaid Cymru, and after investigation was allowed to return.

Neil McEvoy apologised for the words he used, but did not withdraw the allegations.

In Council elections in May 2011, Welsh Labour ward opponent Michael Michael distributed leaflets of Only Fools and Horses character Del Boy with Neil McEvoy's face imposed on them.

Neil McEvoy subsequently sued Michael for libel, but withdrew the case in December 2015.

In March 2017 a Cardiff Council tribunal found a comment that Neil McEvoy made to a council officer after a tenant's eviction hearing in 2015 amounted to "bullying behaviour".

Neil McEvoy was suspended from the Plaid Cymru Senedd group on 7 March 2017 and reinstated two weeks later.

In September 2017, Neil McEvoy was suspended again, after a unanimous decision by Plaid's Assembly group, following accusations that he had undermined Plaid Cymru's policy on council housing.

In December 2018 Neil McEvoy was referred to the Assembly Standards Commissioner after he was accused by his former office manager, Michael Deem, of misusing Assembly funds for printing leaflets and recruiting staff for party political, rather than Assembly work.

Deem refused to comment on media reports, and Neil McEvoy responded by stating that he "will continue to ask the difficult questions that some people don't want asked".

Neil McEvoy posted to Twitter in March 2018, and later deleted, a response to an earlier post about former Plaid leader and AM Leanne Wood with an image of himself and Dafydd Elis-Thomas wearing boxing gloves outside the Senedd.

Matthew Ford, a senior advisor to Neil McEvoy, later came forward to state he had posted the image without Neil McEvoy's prior knowledge, to promote a "cross-party boxing event with the minister for sport".

In July 2019, Neil McEvoy was again investigated for allegedly intimidating behaviour towards a care home worker.

Neil McEvoy contended that the case involved a child who had suffered "the worst case I've come across in 30 years".

Neil McEvoy has indicated the Party would likely contact McEvoy through its solicitors regarding his claims.

Neil McEvoy is believed to have withdrawn his application due to party rules which state that if his application had been rejected in 2019, he would have been unable to reapply for a further five years.

Neil McEvoy always stated he was the source of the recordings, which he said were made on his mobile phone in meeting rooms in the Senedd.

Sir Roderick said Neil McEvoy's conduct was "wholly unacceptable", and Jones requested that South Wales Police investigate the recordings.

Neil McEvoy was accused of distributing election leaflets in February 2021, which was prohibited because of coronavirus legislation.

Neil McEvoy's sister Lisa Ford was a Cardiff councillor for Propel, having resigned from Plaid Cymru at the same time as McEvoy.