| Ben Lake | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | MP |
| Office: | Member of Parliament for Ceredigion Preseli |
| Term Start: | 8 June 2017 |
| Predecessor: | Mark Williams |
| Majority: | 14,789 (31.9%) |
| Birth Date: | 1993 1, df=y |
| Birth Place: | Glangwili General Hospital, Carmarthen, Carmarthenshire, Wales |
| Party: | Plaid Cymru |
| Alma Mater: | Trinity College, Oxford |
| Birth Name: | Ben Morgan Lake |
Ben Morgan Lake (born 22 January 1993) is a Plaid Cymru politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ceredigion Preseli, formerly Ceredigion, since 2017.[1]
Lake was born in Carmarthen and brought up in Lampeter. He is the son of a police officer and a council worker.[2] He attended Ffynnonbedr Primary School and Ysgol Bro Pedr.[3] After graduating from Trinity College, Oxford, with an undergraduate degree in History and Politics, and a master's degree in Modern British and European History,[4] he became a Research Officer in the National Assembly for Wales.[5] His first language is Welsh,[6] which was seen as a key factor in his election as MP for one of the strongest Welsh-speaking constituencies in Wales.[7]
In the 2017 general election, Lake won the Ceredigion constituency, gaining the seat from Liberal Democrat Mark Williams with 11,623 votes (29.2% of the overall vote).[8] In the 2019 general election, Lake retained his seat with 15,208 votes (37.9% of the overall vote). He is currently the youngest MP in Wales, and the youngest ever elected for Plaid Cymru.[9] [10]
Lake is currently the Plaid Cymru spokesperson at Westminster for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Education & Skills, Health, Communities & Local Government, Culture, Media & Sport and Constitutional Affairs.[11] Lake was appointed a member of the Welsh Affairs Committee in September 2017.[12] He is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women.[13] He supported Rhun ap Iorwerth in the 2018 Plaid Cymru leadership election.[14]
In December 2017, Lake was awarded the 'Politician to Watch' prize as part of the ITV Welsh Politician of the Year Awards 2017.[15] In August 2019, Lake was nominated for the MP of the Year Award, acknowledging MPs who actively work with under-represented and disadvantaged communities across the UK.[16]
Lake is Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Forestry and Tree Planting, and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Western Sahara.[17] and a Vice-Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Choice at the End of Life.[18]