Nia Griffith was first elected as the Labour MP for Llanelli in 2005, being reelected in 2019 with a majority of 4,670.
She was appointed Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office in September 2023, having been Shadow Minister for International Trade for two years. Before that, she was in the Shadow Cabinet as Shadow Secretary of State for Wales, Northern Ireland and Defence. Â She was removed from the Shadow Cabinet in November 2021.
The constituency of Llanelli is a compact constituency found on the South Wales coast to the west of Swansea. It is predominately centred on the town of Llanelli, but also includes the neighbouring smaller coastal town of Burry Port. A former mining area, which was also once heavily dominated by the steel industry, Llanelli has been held by Labour at every General Election since 1922. Some 57% of the electorate here backed Brexit in the 2016 EU referendum.
Griffith was appointed a Dame in the June 2022 honours list.
Dame Nia Griffith previously served as Shadow Secretary of State for Defence under Jeremy Corbyn between 2016 and 2020. During this time she had some high profile disagreements with Mr Corbyn about both NATO and nuclear disarmament.
Griffith supported Owen Smith in his 2016 challenge to then Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn. She backed Emily Thornberry in the 2020 leadership content.
Born in 1956, Dame Nia was educated at Oxford University, and then completed a PGCE at the University of Bangor. She worked as a language teacher, and then as a schools inspector before being elected to Parliament. Nia Griffith is Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Modern Languages.
Dame Nia Griffith joined the Labour Party in 1981 and was the former Secretary of the Carmarthenshire County Labour Party. She was elected as a councillor to the Carmarthen Town Council in 1987, serving as the sheriff in 1997 and deputy mayor in 1998.
Griffith is divorced and came out as a Lesbian in a 2016 photoshoot with the Independent.
Email: griffithn@parliament.uk
Personal Website: niagriffith.org.uk/
Twitter: twitter.com/NiaGriffithMP
Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/NiaGriffithMP
