The most important contribution to Welsh nationalism made by Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Lord Elis-Thomas, who has died aged 78, was his understanding of the need to work within the existing institutions of government in order to secure political progress towards the cause that was his lifetime’s ambition.
The former leader of Plaid Cymru had been a Westminster MP and a member of the House of Lords before becoming in 1999 the first presiding officer of the Welsh assembly. In this post during the 12 years of the first three terms after devolution, he used his own sensitive political antennae to powerful effect, guiding its members towards the development of an effective national parliament, which is today the Senedd Cymru.
