Jane Who?

Killer  Pub Quiz question?

Who is the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats?

Answer: Jane Dodds 

 How many if it was asked in the hundred such contest  held throughout Wales will get it right?

 Jane Dodds.She beat her only rival for the job Elizabeth Evans, taking 53.1% of the vote, after five weeks of campaigning. has just become the new leader of the Liberal Democrats in Wales

Ms Dodds replaces Mark Williams, who stepped down after losing his Ceredigion seat in June's general election.
She said: "It's an absolute honour to be elected as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats."
The party currently has no MPs in Wales; its only AM is Kirsty Williams, education secretary in the Welsh Government.
"Wales needs the Welsh Liberal Democrats more than ever," added Ms Dodds.
Ms Dodds received 587 votes, with Ms Evans getting 519. Turnout was 35.3%.

Ms Dodds has become leader with the Party having no Welsh MPs and their singular  Assembly member is locked into the Welsh Labour Government where she is unable as I wrote Yesterday to make the sort of impression that she made  on the opposition benches.

The situation means that the Liberal Democrats here in Wales had to change their rule book as previously the welsh leader had to be either a MP or AM.

According to her LibDem profile

Jane Dodds is a Welsh speaker, having been born and raised in Wrexham, North Wales and studied at Cardiff University. She then trained to be a social worker in child protection and has continued to work in that area for the last 20 years.
She has worked in local authorities and has also headed up the Children’s Section at the Refugee Council, supporting children from war torn countries who arrive in the United Kingdom on their own without family.
Jane has been a local councillor, with a Cabinet portfolio on affordable housing, and is a trustee of a Family Centre in Welshpool. She lives in Welshpool with her husband Patrick and is committed to fighting for Montgomeryshire.

I urge  the Welsh Liberal Democrats to create a Wikipedia page ASP, it a sign of the times that a Politician without one is a sign they are a loser

Min y to date Ms Dodds has faled in her attempts to get elected to either Westminster or Cardiff Bay

Elections in the 2010s

General election 2017: Montgomeryshire^[7][8]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Glyn Davies	18,075	51.8	6.8
	Liberal Democrat	Jane Dodds	8,790	25.2	4.1
	Labour	Iwan Wyn Jones	5,542	15.9	10.3
	Plaid Cymru	Aled Hughes	1,960	5.6	0.4
	Green	Richard Chaloner	524	1.5	2.2
Majority			9,285	26.6	10.8
Turnout			34,891	70.1	0.8
	Conservative hold		Swing	5.5

General election 2015: Montgomeryshire^[9][10]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Glyn Davies	15,204	45.0	+3.7
	Liberal Democrat	Jane Dodds[11]	9,879	29.3	−8.6
	UKIP	Des Parkinson[12]	3,769	11.2	+7.8
	Labour	Martyn Singleton[13]	1,900	5.6	−1.5
	Plaid Cymru	Ann Griffith[14]	1,745	5.2	−3.1
	Green	Richard Chaloner	1,260	3.7	N/A
Majority			5,325	15.8	+12.3
Turnout			33,757	69.3	−0.1
	Conservative hold		Swing	+6.2

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Russell George	9,875	41.8	-1.9
	Liberal Democrats	Jane Dodds	6,536	27.7	-5.9
	UKIP	Des Parkinson	2,458	10.4	+10.4
	Plaid Cymru	Aled Hughes	2,410	10.2	-1.1
	Labour	Martyn Singelton	1,389	5.9	-5.5
	Green	Richard Chaloner	932	3.9	+3.9
Majority			3,339	14.1	+4.0
Turnout			23,600	48.5	+1.3

Ms Dodds is in a Catch 22 situation at the moment she needs to win a Parliamentary seat or more importantly an Assembly seat to raise her profile, but she needs a higher profile in order to to so,

Currently her chances in either  even on the Assembly lists look remote though events at Westminster are changing fast.

Four years ago Kirsty Williams  was 23rd  among the "Top 50 most influential Liberal Democrats:" according to the Telegraph,

I doubt Jane Dodds would make the top 100 now and one wonders apart from the 1000 plus Welsh LibDems (I am surprised there's that many)   who voted in the leadership election and political wonks like my self how many people will have heard of her.

The tasks she faces his huge and I wish her well. I would much prefer  7 Welsh LibDems (as part of a protest vote) in the assembly than 7 a Ukip clowns.

But if Ms Dodds fails to win either a Parliamentary seat or join Kirsty Williams in the Assembly she may well become remembered for being a Pub Quiz question that stumps the participants.