Winston Roddick

Who is Winston Roddick?

George Winston Roddick CB QC, is a Welsh barrister, and the Police and Crime Commissioner for North Wales Police. A member of the Liberal Democrats, although he ran as an independent, Roddick is the first person to hold the post.

Roddick was born and raised in Caernarfon, educated at the Royal Naval School Tal-Handaq, Malta and the Sir Hugh Owen Grammar School, Caernarfon. After training and working as a police officer in Liverpool, he undertook a law degree at University College, London. He then trained as a barrister, appointed to the bar in 1968, and then became a Crown Court recorder. One of Wales's leading barristers, he took silk in 1986, and was appointed as the first Counsel General for Wales in 1998, the most senior legal adviser to the Welsh Assembly, during which time he advised on the creation and legislative passing of the Welsh Language Act 1993.

In 1997, Roddick was appointed a member of the Independent Television Commission, and between 2004 and 2012 was a member of the S4C Authority.

Roddick has twice stood for the Liberal Party unsuccessfully in Parliamentary elections: in Anglesey at the 1970 UK general election, and in Cardiff South and Penarth in 1983. He also served as Chairman of the Welsh Liberal Party in the early 1980s.