Plaid Cymru peer accused of breaking promise to be full-time member of the House of Lords

Martin Shipton

The former Plaid Cymru chief of staff who became the youngest member of the House of Lords has been accused of breaking her promise to be a full-time working peer.

Carmen Smith was 28 when in March 2024 she was made Baroness Smith of Llanfaes, the village in Anglesey where she was brought up.

A political source contacted Nation.Cymru to say: “When Baroness Smith was elevated, she and Plaid said clearly said that the Lords would be her full time job. I don't know about you but for most of us that would mean only doing the Lords work.

“However, a look at her declaration of interests show she has two other areas of remunerated employment:

Adviser on diversity and inclusion matters to Plaid Cymru; and

Adviser on youth governance to Windward Global Limited (renewable energy).

“Windward is the parent company of Bute Energy and Green Gen Wales. Of course, you will remember that the Baroness worked for Bute Energy at the time of her elevation. She only seems to have gone off the payroll for a few months before going back on. When prominent Plaid politicians attack Green Gen, another is receiving money from them!

“Can you please find out what on earth is an adviser on youth governance? Why is Windward interested in this? How many days a month does she spend on these other jobs? How much is she paid? One might come to the conclusion that Windward is not interested in youth governance and more interested in having an insider within Plaid Cymru.

“It is clear from her attendance that many members attend the Lords more frequently than her and that she does not attend every day. This is surprising considering she was supposed to be a strong voice for Wales at the Lords and this is her full time job.

“How do you reconcile the comments made in March 2024 that the Lords would be her full time job when she doesn’t attend every sitting and also has two other paid jobs?”

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Allowance

Members of the House of Lords can claim an allowance of £361 for every day they attend debates.

The record shows that during the 2023-24 parliamentary session, covering the period from November 7 2023 [before she became a peer] until May 24 2024 - the most recent for which such details have been published - Baroness Smith voted on 23 out of a possible 34 occasions.

A spokesperson for Plaid Cymru in Westminster said: “Upon her appointment to the House of Lords, Carmen Smith left her full-time role to focus on her parliamentary duties, which take precedence over all other commitments.

“Unlike most peers, Carmen Smith does not have a pension or an outside salary to supplement the daily attendance allowance. She has been remunerated for her contribution to a youth governance project with Windward, helping to embed young people’s perspectives in decision-making processes and to strengthen long-term organisational resilience.

“As her entry in the register of interests states, Carmen’s involvement is limited solely to this area. She holds no role in any other aspect of Windward’s work.

“Carmen is one of the House of Lords' most active Members. Since taking up her role, she has spoken 38 times in the Chamber, tabled 63 written parliamentary questions, and engaged extensively with schools and colleges across Wales to communicate her work in Parliament on behalf of Plaid Cymru – efforts that have directly reached over 1,000 young people.

“When comparing peers’ voting records, it is important to take into account that Plaid Cymru peers, like Plaid Cymru MPs, do not vote on England-only matters, in line with a long-held principle.”

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'Workhorse'

Tortoise Media, in its analysis of the contributions made by individual peers to the House of Lords, describes Baroness Smith as a “workhorse” - among the most active peers in terms of doing the work to scrutinise, amend and move government legislation through the chamber.

Baroness Smith was nominated to be a peer by Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth following an internal election within the election. The party’s former Westminster leader Elfyn Llwyd got significantly more votes than Carmen Smith, but in line with a decision taken by the party’s national executive committee, the leading nomination had to go to a woman. Plaid also submitted Mr Llwyd’s name, but the party was only allowed one seat.

Former party president Lord Dafydd Wigley, now 82, had announced his intention to retire as an active peer when he became 80, but stayed on to help Baroness Smith settle in.