Delyth Evans | |
|---|---|
 Official portrait, 2000 | |
| Deputy Minister for Rural Affairs, Culture and Environment[a] | |
| In office 24 July 2000 – 1 May 2003 | |
| First Minister | Rhodri Morgan[b] |
| Preceded by | Carwyn Jones |
| Succeeded by | Office abolished |
| Assembly Member for Mid and West Wales | |
| In office 1 May 2000 – 1 May 2003 | |
| Preceded by | Alun Michael |
| Succeeded by | Lisa Francis |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 March 1958 Cardiff, Wales |
| Political party | Labour |
| Spouse | Ed Richards |
| Children | 2 |
| Alma mater | University College of Wales, Aberystwyth (BA Hons) |
| Signature |  |
Margaret Delyth Evans (born 17 March 1958) is a Welsh former politician who served as Deputy Minister for Rural Affairs, Culture and Environment in the National Assembly for Wales from 2000 to 2003. A member of the Labour Party, she was the Assembly Member (AM) for Mid and West Wales from 2000 until her retirement from the National Assembly in 2003. Since 2019, she has sat on the board of Sport Wales.
Evans was born in Cardiff, Wales. She was educated at Ysgol Gyfun Rhydfelen and the University College of Wales, Aberystwyth. Prior to her career in politics, she was a journalist and a management consultant, working for the BBC, ITN, HTV Wales and Sky News. She joined the Labour Party in 1984 where she later became a policy adviser for the Labour leader John Smith from 1992 to 1994, working on policies for the shadow cabinet. In 1999, she became a special adviser to Alun Michael, the first secretary of Wales, and the Welsh Cabinet.
At the 1999 National Assembly for Wales election, Evans was Labour's second top-up candidate in the party list for the Mid and West Wales region, behind party leader Alun Michael. Michael was elected to represent Labour for the seat, but he resigned from the assembly in 2000. As Labour's second candidate, Evans automatically succeeded him as AM for Mid and West Wales. She was appointed to the interim administration of Rhodri Morgan as Deputy Secretary for Agriculture, Local Government and Environment in July 2000, later becoming Deputy Minister for Rural Affairs, Culture and Environment after the office was reorganised in October 2000 with the formation of Morgan's coalition partnership; she continued to serve in this office until the 2003 assembly election.
Evans stepped down from the assembly at the 2003 assembly election to spend more time with her children. She was shortlisted by the Labour Party to stand as its candidate in the 2006 Blaenau Gwent parliamentary by-election but lost out in the final decision to Owen Smith. She was later selected to stand for Labour at the 2015 general election in the House of Commons constituency of Camarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, where she lost to the incumbent Conservative MP Simon Hart.
Outside of politics, Evans served as the chief executive of the charity Dress For Success London, which was known as Smart Works following a rebrand in 2013, from 2010 to 2014. In November 2009, she was appointed to the board of directors of the Film Agency for Wales. She also served as a trustee at the charity United Response before leaving the organisation sometime before June 2012. She has also worked for the Welsh Government, chairing the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol Task and Finish Group from 2016 to 2017 and serving on the board of Sport Wales since 2019, having been appointed to the organisation by the Welsh Government in August 2019.
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