| Rhianon Passmore | |
| Honorific-Suffix: | MS |
| Office: | Member of the Senedd for Islwyn |
| Term Start: | 6 May 2016 |
| Majority: | 5,239 (21.4%) |
| Predecessor: | Gwyn R Price |
| Office2: | Caerphilly County Borough Councillor for Risca East |
| Termstart2: | 10 June 2004 |
| Termend2: | 16 October 2016[1] |
| Predecessor2: | Harry Styles |
| Successor2: | Arianna Passmore |
| Party: | Labour Co-operative |
Rhianon Passmore is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician. Since May 2016, she has been the Member of the Senedd for Islwyn.[2]
Passmore was elected to represent Risca east on Caerphilly County Borough Council in 2004, defeating incumbent Plaid Cymru councillor Harry Styles.[3] [4] [5] She was re-elected at elections in 2008 and 2012, before standing down in 2016 after her election to the Senedd. Her daughter, Arianna Passmore, successfully contested the by-election on her resignation.[6]
Passmore stood unsuccessfully on Labour party lists for Mid and West Wales at the 2003 Welsh Assembly elections[7] and for South Wales East in the 2007 elections. In July 2015, Passmore was selected as the Welsh Labour and Co-operative Party candidate for the Islwyn constituency of the Senedd.[8] On 5 May 2016, she was elected with 10,050 votes (45.0% of votes cast). She was re-elected in 2021 with a majority of 5,239 votes.[9]
Passmore is a member of the Finance Committee, Petitions Committee and Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee. She chairs the cross-party group on Music, and a member of groups on Armed Forces and Cadets and Lung Health.[10]
Passmore was briefly suspended from the Labour group in the Senedd on 26 June 2024 after she was alleged to have used several number plates on her car, which is a criminal offence. The suspension was lifted in under 24 hours after a police investigation ruled that there was no evidence for this claim and that no offence had been committed.[11]
In October 2017 she was arrested by South Wales Police after failing to provide a breath test; as a result she was banned from driving for 20 months, fined £1,000, £100 victim surcharge and £620 in costs.[12] Passmore alleged she was not unwilling to provide a sample, but physically unable due to her asthma, and a lack of access to her asthma medication.[13] She was also suspended from the National Assembly for a fortnight and was suspended by the Labour Group from 10 July 2018 until 1 October 2018.[14] [15]