Mick Bates: Former Welsh Liberal Democrat AM dies aged 74

The former Welsh Liberal Democrat politician Mick Bates has died at 74.

He represented Montgomeryshire for the party in the then Welsh assembly - now the Senedd - from 1999 to 2010. 

He resigned as a Lib Dem in 2010 after being found guilty of attacking paramedics who came to his aid after he drunkenly fell down stairs at a Cardiff restaurant.

Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds called him "one of the most welcoming and kind people I knew".

The party said Mr Bates had died "following a battle with cancer", and he "loved Montgomeryshire and will be remembered for his intelligence and warmth".

Mr Bates became the Assembly Member (AM) for Montgomeryshire in the new institution's first election in 1999.

After he resigned from the Lib Dems, he continued as an independent AM until he stood down from the assembly in 2011.

Before that he was a teacher, farmer and county councillor.

The Lib Dems said he was "well known for being a tireless campaigner for rural communities, but also for being decades ahead of his time on the need to tackle climate change advocating for action to save the environment years before it entered the political mainstream".

The party also said he campaigned for extra funding for rural schools, and for better infrastructure in mid Wales, including being "a major driving force behind getting the Newtown bypass built".

Ms Dodds, a Mid and West Wales Member of the Senedd, said: "When I first arrived in Welshpool nearly 10 years ago, he was so generous with his time with me.

"His knowledge of the issues affecting his beloved Montgomeryshire was endless. He was one of a kind - there will never be another Mick Bates.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Buddug, his children Ruth and Daniel, and his five wonderful grandchildren alongside the rest of his family and friends."

Other Lib Dems paying tribute included William Powell, another former AM, who tweeted that he was "generous, kind and passionate, a man who stuck to his principles and genuinely worked hard to represent his beloved Montgomeryshire".

Another, former Cardiff council leader Rodney Berman, tweeted: "He goes down in history as the first AM ever to table a statement of opinion - campaigning right from the off in 1999 to bring back free school milk for schoolchildren in Wales".

Presiding officer of the Senedd, Elin Jones, said she was very sad to hear Mr Bates had died.

She said: "He was one of the great characters of the first three Assemblies.

"He was a champion of sustainability and rural communities and a passionate advocate for Montgomeryshire."

Mr Bates caused a minor row in the assembly shortly before Christmas 2002 when he appeared in the chamber dressed as Santa Claus to raise money for charity.

A Conservative AM objected that he was "making a mockery of the assembly by clowning around in a Santa suit".

But Mr Bates defended the costume as in a good cause. He was raising money for a community transport project by taking part in a fun run in which participants dressed as Father Christmas.