Chris Butler is the Brexit Party candidate for Cardiff North.

Biography

(written by candidate)

Chris Butler was born in Cardiff in 1950. He is the son of a local GP, Dr John Butler, and lived in Llanishen where his father practised in Ty-Glas Road. His father always saw every patient on the day they came to the surgery without having to make an appointment (times have clearly changed – and not for the better!). When he was 11, the family moved to Station Road in Llanishen. He attended Ton-yr-ywen primary school in Heath, Cardiff then Cardiff High School for Boys in Newport Road. After obtaining an Open Exhibition in modern languages he studied archaeology and anthropology at Emmanuel College, Cambridge, specialising later in physical anthropology.

After university, he worked in Cardiff in market research (for Research & Marketing Wales and the West), then in political research for the Conservative Party based in their HQ in Penlline Road, Whitchurch where he wrote “Cymraeg: Iaith Ein Plant?” as a contribution to policies designed to foster the Welsh language. It was destined to form the basis of the Conservative Party’s positive pivot towards promoting Welsh adopted under Nick Edwards as Secretary of State for Wales in his key speech in Llanrwst in 1980. In 1980, Chris began work under the Conservative Research Department in the Political Office in Number Ten when Mrs Thatcher was Prime Minister. In 1983 he was made Special Adviser to the Secretary of State for Wales, Nicholas Edwards. In 1984, he took his A level in Welsh in London, has sadly since become rusty, since he lived outside Wales for most of the time, but would love to become “rhugl” again.

He stood in the Brecon & Radnor by-election for the Conservatives in 1985. He later served as Conservative MP for Warrington South from 1987-1992. After leaving Parliament he worked as a public affairs consultant. In 1998, he set up his own cross-Party public affairs company which traded successfully in Westminster until it went into voluntary liquidation in 2015. As Director of this company he worked intensively on behalf of S4C on the Broadcasting Act 1996 which delivered double the intended digital capacity for S4C, an ability for S4C to run a multiplex, and full commercial freedom. The original draft of the Bill contained none of this. Chris very much regrets that the Conservative Party has put S4C back under the boot of the BBC and wants to see it a proud, independent organisation once again.

In 1999, he stood as number two on the Party list for the Conservative Party in Wales in the Euro-elections. In 2016, he stood as a candidate for the Conservatives for the Welsh Assembly in SE Wales This year, Amazon published his book,”Cardiff Mysteries Remastered” (his second book about Cardiff) which sets and solves a series of fascinating problems illustrated by Edwardian postcards of Cardiff. Chris is a keen deltiologist and cruciverbalist, and enjoys a good pub quiz and a pint of cider.

He is married to Jacqui, and has one son, David, who is a commercial airline captain. His sister lives in Gwaelod-y-Garth.