Ceredigion Preseli / data
Ben Lake · Plaid Cymru · sitting since 08 Jun 2017 · every division, speech and committee appearance.
Since election
3242days
from 08 Jun 2017
Divisions
303
of 504 possible
Attendance
60%
201 absent / paired
Whip alignment
99%
vs party majority
Speeches
143
73 debates
Written Qs
274
264 answered
Committees
1
memberships
Expenses
£251k paid
FY 2024–2025 · 114 claims
Interests
0
Register
A · Overview
Issue volume
Top issues by total divisions voted — engagement only, not direction.
| Issue | Volume | Votes |
|---|---|---|
| Economy | 68 | |
| Taxation | 67 | |
| Employment | 43 | |
| Crime & Policing | 37 | |
| Welfare and Benefits | 29 | |
| Constitution and Democracy | 24 | |
| Pensions | 23 | |
| Energy | 13 |
Speech topics
Words spoken, by topic. Source: Hansard.
| Topic | Debates | Words |
|---|---|---|
| Economy Jobs | 29 | 7,333 |
| Defence | 22 | 3,379 |
| Crime | 3 | 2,376 |
| Local Government | 8 | 2,325 |
| Environment | 6 | 2,122 |
| Cost Of Living | 13 | 1,985 |
| Agriculture | 5 | 1,899 |
| Culture Community | 7 | 1,850 |
B · Notable divisions
Free votes, rebellions and high-salience whipped votes — the moments that distinguish this MP from the party machine. The full division-by-division record will follow once the per-MP archive is wired.
| Date | Division | Whip | MP voted |
|---|---|---|---|
| 28 Jan 2025 | Women’s State Pension age (Ombudsman report and compensation scheme): Ten Minute Rule MotionMPs voted on whether to allow a Bill to be introduced that would require the government to respond to the Ombudsman's findings on injustice … | Free vote | No |
C · Speeches
| Date | Contribution | Words |
|---|---|---|
| 22 Apr 2026 | Welsh Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (2026-04-22)My final question on this: when a referral has been made for a specialist treatment elsewhere, what is the experience of those who have been in touch with Llias regarding how they … | 106 |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Welsh Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (2026-04-22)To stick to the individual patient funding requests topic, Ms Thomas, what are patients in Wales telling Llias about the way the commissioning process works through the IPFR? | 28 |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Welsh Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (2026-04-22)Thank you. That is very interesting and useful. | 8 |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Welsh Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (2026-04-22)Briefly, do you think that at present the experience of a patient from Wales accessing specialist care or treatment in one of the hospitals in England is in any way comparable to t… | 37 |
| 22 Apr 2026 | Welsh Affairs Committee — Oral Evidence (2026-04-22)In terms of the broad range of specialist care that patients in Wales have to go to England to receive, would you say that at present Welsh patients are getting a fair crack of the… | 49 |
| 14 Apr 2026 | Infected Blood Compensation SchemeI join others in paying tribute to the Minister for his work on this matter and on the Government’s response to Sir Brian Langstaff’s recommendations. I also thank him for his inte… HealthSocial CareFiscal Policy | 109 |
| 13 Apr 2026 | Middle EastThe Prime Minister was right to mention the untold economic damage that this crisis has already wrought on households and businesses across the country owing to increased fuel cost… DefenceEnergyCost Of Living | 81 |
| 25 Mar 2026 | Foreign Financial Influence and Interference: UK PoliticsI, too, welcome Sir Philip Rycroft’s work and the Secretary of State’s announcement today. I strongly support the idea of applying the donations cap and the moratorium on cryptocur… Fiscal PolicyDefenceTechnology | 86 |
| 24 Mar 2026 | Middle East: Economic UpdateWhat contingency planning is taking place to support non-domestic energy bills, especially in rural areas such as mine where a great number of small businesses and community organi… EnergyCost Of LivingEconomy Jobs | 34 |
| 19 Mar 2026 | UK Steel StrategyI welcome today’s statement on the introduction of a strategy for such a critical industry, and particularly commend the Government for the emphasis they place on the importance of… Economy JobsEnergyDefence | 73 |
| 18 Mar 2026 | Fuel DutyThe hon. Member makes an important point about the impact on rural areas. Does he also agree that we should bear in mind the consequences of this price spike on businesses? Many of… Cost Of LivingTransportFiscal Policy | 86 |
| 16 Mar 2026 | Heating Oil SupportI welcome today’s announcement and the proposals. They potentially offer a relief of 20% or so to the households in Wales that are off-grid, including 72% of households in my const… Cost Of LivingUtilitiesEconomy Jobs | 94 |
| 10 Mar 2026 | Technology SovereigntyThe Minister knows that the Computer Misuse Act 1990 criminalises a lot of legitimate cyber-resilience and vulnerability research. I think that the Government are minded to introdu… DefenceEconomy JobsOther | 49 |
| 09 Mar 2026 | Middle East: Economic UpdateSome 72% of households in my constituency have no connection to the mains gas grid. For those who filled their tanks over the weekend, the consequences of the Iran crisis have beco… Cost Of LivingEconomy JobsDefence | 59 |
| 04 Mar 2026 | UK-EU Sanitary and Phytosanitary AgreementDr Amanda Gibson and her team of scientists at Aberystwyth University are leading research into how the BCG vaccine might be used to help control tuberculosis in cattle. I know the… AgricultureEconomy JobsEnvironment | 74 |
D · Written questions
Top departments
| Department | Questions | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Treasury | 102 | 37.2% |
| Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | 46 | 16.8% |
| Department for Science, Innovation and Technology | 23 | 8.4% |
| Department of Health and Social Care | 17 | 6.2% |
| Ministry of Justice | 14 | 5.1% |
| Home Office | 12 | 4.4% |
| Department for Transport | 11 | 4.0% |
| Department for Work and Pensions | 10 | 3.6% |
Most recent
| Date | Department | Question | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 23 Apr 2026 | Treasury | To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the value is of overdue VAT owed by non-established taxable persons registered for VAT under Schedule 1A to the VAT Act 1994. | Pending |
| 23 Apr 2026 | Treasury | To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Customs Declaration Service and its Bulk Import Reduced Data Set, how many entries were logged under Customs Procedure Code 0020 21V in each year since 2022. | Pending |
| 23 Apr 2026 | Treasury | To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many non-established taxable persons liable to be registered for VAT under Schedule 1A to the VAT Act 1994 have an overdue VAT bill. | Pending |
| 23 Apr 2026 | Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether she has had discussions with her Moroccan counterpart on the UN Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council calling for the Royal Moroccan Army… | Pending |
| 23 Apr 2026 | Treasury | To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate she has made of the revenue raised from fuel duty between January and April (a) 2026 and (b) 2025; and if she will consider offering targeted support to the road haulage sector. | Pending |
| 20 Apr 2026 | Treasury | To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate her Department has made of the level of loss to public finances of VAT non-compliance by overseas retailers through online marketplaces. | Pending |
| 20 Apr 2026 | Department for Science, Innovation and Technology | To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the answer of 20 April 2026 to question 125033, what is her Department's estimate of the number of premises in (a) Ceredigion Preseli constituency, (b) Wales… | Pending |
| 16 Apr 2026 | Treasury | To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of co-locating community banking representatives within post offices. | Pending |
| 15 Apr 2026 | Treasury | To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if she will introduce a time-limited rebate on fuel duty for public transport providers and essential users in the road haulage sector. | Pending |
| 15 Apr 2026 | Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office | To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment she has made of the potential implications for her policies of the upcoming trial of Said Mansour Rezk Abdelrazek; and what representations she… | Pending |
| 10 Apr 2026 | Department for Science, Innovation and Technology | To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what discussions she has had with the Competition and Markets Authority on the potential impact of software licensing practices on (a) Small to Medium Enterprises in Wale… | Answered |
| 10 Apr 2026 | Department of Health and Social Care | To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much public funding is allocated to support UK-based research into methods to treat and cure long Covid. | Answered |
| 10 Apr 2026 | Department of Health and Social Care | To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of progress made by UK-based researchers funded by his Department on finding methods to treat the symptoms of long Covid. | Answered |
| 10 Apr 2026 | Department of Health and Social Care | To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) drug prices, (b) appliance prices and (c) fees paid to pharmacy contractors in the NHS Drug Tariff. | Answered |
| 10 Apr 2026 | Treasury | To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what is the total number of import declarations made by express operators for consignments with a value of a) £135 or less and b) greater than £135 in each year since 2021. | Answered |
E · Committees
| Committee | Role | House | Start | End |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Welsh Affairs CommitteeSelect | Member | Commons | 04 Nov 2024 | present |
F · Expenses
Every business-cost claim reimbursed by IPSA in the current financial year, grouped by category. “Aggregated” rows are IPSA’s own year-end totals for cost types like payroll and rent that aren’t itemised claim-by-claim.
Category breakdown
| Category | Claims | Paid (£) | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Office Costs | 105 | 19,005 | 7.6% |
| MP Travel | 0 | 4,001 | 1.6% |
| Staff Travel | 0 | 4,283 | 1.7% |
| Staffing | 0 | 223,507 | 89.1% |
Top itemised cost types
| Cost type | Category | Claims | Paid (£) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stationery & printing | Office Costs | 37 | 3,111 |
| Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Office Costs | 41 | 2,772 |
| Landline phone & internet - rental & usage | Office Costs | 12 | 2,107 |
| Software & applications | Office Costs | 5 | 907 |
| Training - staff | Office Costs | 2 | 754 |
| Equipment - hire | Office Costs | 1 | 412 |
| Waste disposal, confidential waste & rubbish collection | Office Costs | 2 | 328 |
| Insurance - contents | Office Costs | 1 | 314 |
| Advertising and contact cards | Office Costs | 1 | 240 |
| Newspapers, journals, magazines | Office Costs | 2 | 150 |
| Parking | Office Costs | 1 | 6 |
Most recent
| Date | Category | Description | Paid (£) | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Landline phone & internet - rental & usage | Landline & internet package | 2 | Paid |
| 28 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | 38 | Paid |
| 28 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Photocopying March 2025 [200011797-118] | 15 | Paid |
| 27 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | 60 | Paid |
| 24 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | 19 | Paid |
| 03 Mar 2025 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | 48 | Paid |
| 28 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Landline phone & internet - rental & usage | Landline & internet package | 220 | Paid |
| 28 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | 192 | Paid |
| 28 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Photocopying February 2025 203159 | 39 | Paid |
| 27 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner March 2025 | 87 | Paid |
| 27 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner March 2025 | 10 | Paid |
| 19 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | 50 | Paid |
| 19 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | [200011798-304] | 15 | Paid |
| 14 Feb 2025 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | 50 | Paid |
| 31 Jan 2025 | Office Costs Landline phone & internet - rental & usage | Landline & internet package | 216 | Paid |
| 31 Jan 2025 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | 192 | Paid |
| 28 Jan 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Photopier Printing Charge Jan 2025 | 18 | Paid |
| 22 Jan 2025 | Office Costs Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | Venue hire, meetings & surgeries | 80 | Paid |
| 17 Jan 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner February 2025 | 41 | Paid |
| 17 Jan 2025 | Office Costs Stationery & printing | Banner February 2025 | 38 | Paid |
G · Register of interests
No financial interests declared by this MP.
H · Ward results
Most recent winning councillor in each ward — 41 wards, 44 councillor seats.
| Ward | Councillor | Party | Votes | Election |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aberaeron Aberarth | Elizabeth Evans | Liberal Democrats | 702 | 05 May 2022 |
| Aberporth Y Ferwig | Clive Davies | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 824 | 05 May 2022 |
| Aberporth Y Ferwig | Gethin Davies | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 793 | 05 May 2022 |
| Aberteificardigan Mwldan | Myfanwy Sian Maehrlein | Liberal Democrats | 441 | 05 May 2022 |
| Aberteificardigan Teifi | Anne Elaine Evans | Liberal Democrats | 330 | 05 May 2022 |
| Aberystwyth Canolcentral | Shelley Childs | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 201 | 16 Nov 2023 |
| Aberystwyth Morfa A Glais | Alun John Williams | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 720 | 05 May 2022 |
| Aberystwyth Morfa A Glais | Mark Antony Strong | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 581 | 05 May 2022 |
| Aberystwyth Rheidol | Mark Endaf Edwards | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 228 | 05 May 2022 |
| Beulah Llangoedmor | Amanda Edwards | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 804 | 05 May 2022 |
| Beulah Llangoedmor | Chris James | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 759 | 05 May 2022 |
| Boncath Clydau | Iwan Stuart Ward | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 464 | 05 May 2022 |
| Borth | Hugh Richard Michael Hughes | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 378 | 05 May 2022 |
| Bro Gwaun | Delme Harries | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 340 | 05 May 2022 |
| Ceulanamaesmawr | Catrin M. S. Davies | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 512 | 05 May 2022 |
| Ciliau Aeron | Marc Davies | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 606 | 05 May 2022 |
| Crymych Mynachlog Ddu | Shon Midway Rees | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 561 | 05 May 2022 |
| Faenor | John Roberts | Liberal Democrats | 381 | 05 May 2022 |
| Goodwick | Nicola Gwynn | Labour Party | 354 | 05 May 2022 |
| Lampeter | Ann Bowen Morgan | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 291 | 06 Oct 2022 |
| Llanbadarn Fawr | Gareth Davies | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 518 | 05 May 2022 |
| Llandyfriog | James Wyn Reynolds Thomas | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | — | 04 May 2017 |
| Llandysul North Troedyraur | Thomas Maldwyn Benjamin Lewis | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 431 | 05 May 2022 |
| Llandysul South | Evan John Keith Evans | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 478 | 05 May 2022 |
| Llanfarian | David Raymond Evans | Liberal Democrats | 298 | 20 Jul 2023 |
| Llanfihangel Ystrad | Ceris Jones | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 434 | 05 May 2022 |
| Llangeitho | David Rhodri Wyn Evans | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 534 | 04 May 2017 |
| Llangybi | Eryl Evans | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 309 | 05 May 2022 |
| Llannarth | Bryan Gareth Davies | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 373 | 05 May 2022 |
| Llanrhian | Neil David Prior | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 670 | 05 May 2022 |
| Llanrhystyd | Gwyn Wigley Evans | Gwlad | 290 | 05 May 2022 |
| Llansanffraid | Keith Henson | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 446 | 05 May 2022 |
| Llanwenog | Euros Davies | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 503 | 05 May 2022 |
| Lledrod | Wyn Evans | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 257 | 05 May 2022 |
| Maenclochog | Simon Mark Wright | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 505 | 05 May 2022 |
| Melindwr | Rhodri Davies | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 674 | 05 May 2022 |
| New Quay Llanllwchaearn | Matthew Vaux | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 482 | 05 May 2022 |
| Newport Dinas | Huw Thomas Murphy | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 325 | 05 May 2022 |
| Penbryn | Emyr Gwyn James | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 478 | 05 May 2022 |
| St Dogmaels | Mike James | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 694 | 04 May 2017 |
| Tirymynach | Paul Hinge | Liberal Democrats | 468 | 04 May 2017 |
| Trefeurig | Caryl Roberts | Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales | 428 | 05 May 2022 |
| Tregaron Ystrad Fflur | Ifan Lloyd Davies | Independent Berwick Hills Resident | 691 | 05 May 2022 |
| Ystwyth | Meirion Davies | Liberal Democrats | 500 | 05 May 2022 |
I · Demographics
| Indicator | Value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Population (2021 Census) | 89,344 | Electorate 75,690 (2024) |
| Median age | 48 | years |
| Degree-educated | 35.0% | level 4 or above |
| Ethnicity (White) | 96.6% | 2021 Census ethnic group |
| Owner-occupied | 69.8% | households |
| Private-rented | 19.7% | households |
| Social-rented | 10.5% | households |
| Employment rate | 49.5% | 16-64 in work |
J · Public spending
HMT publishes headline spending identifiable by region in PESA. Constituency-level capital allocations (Levelling-Up Fund, Towns Fund, UKSPF, transport capital, BEIS R&D) are published as separate departmental datasets. We are evaluating the cleanest reconciliation for a per-constituency view.