Brynle Williams
A few weeks ago I asked a Conservative Assembly Member how Brynle Williams was. He was very, very ill.
Would he have to stand down before the election, I asked?
Brynle was a farmer at heart, he said and would die in the harness. He loved his job and had such pride in it that he would never, ever give it up willingly.
He didn't. Sadly, this morning, came the news that Brynle Williams has died.
I once worked on a programme about the fuel blockades that first brought Brynle to national, even international, prominence. In his shirt sleeves outside Stanlow he took on Tony Blair and as the then Prime Minister's adviser admitted on ´óÏó´«Ã½2 just a few weeks ago, he very nearly won.
Brynle didn't like the programme in fact he hated it. He told me so bluntly, then with a huge smile told me equally bluntly that didn't mean he hated those who'd worked on it. He was kindness itself and is the only AM ever, I think, who used to wink at me if he spotted me in the public gallery.
Sad news, a Labour source texts. "He always made me chuckle with his singing and whistling in the Assembly. Like having a part of North Wales in Cardiff with you".
Nick Bourne has just spoken movingly of Brynle on Radio Wales. I'm sure David Cameron, who's in Wales later today, will want to pay his own tribute.
I'm Betsan Powys, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on .
Comment number 1.
At 1st Apr 2011, John Henry wrote:Very sad a man so young.
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Comment number 2.
At 1st Apr 2011, Harry Hayfield wrote:That is a shame indeed, I think that Brynle was the only AM from North Wales I didn't get to meet at the Royal Welsh in 2005 but got the impression from Mark (Isherwood) that his farm was the priority that year.
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Comment number 3.
At 1st Apr 2011, Christine Gwyther wrote:I saw Brynle last year at the RWS and he was his usual, ebullient self. Though wellies were in evidence the sun had come out and he was talking passionately about his best in show judging role that day. He said he felt extremely honoured. Brynle was a breath of fresh air when he entered the Assembly in 2003 and it will be a sadder place in 2011 without him.
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