Copyright walesonline
A former leading Welsh politician has opened up about why she left politics, saying she couldn't put her family through the abuse they faced while she was in office. Kirsty Williams , who served as education secretary from 2016 to 2021, said she had to leave the profession due to personal abuse which she said has worsened as a result of social media. In October 2020 the then Liberal Democrat MS for Brecon and Radnorshire decided not to stand for the Senedd election in 2021 due to the impact online abuse was having on her and her family. Speaking recently on The Fifth Floor, a podcast series from Labour MS Lee Waters, Ms Williams said she is "fearful" about the state of Welsh politics. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here She said: "Being a politician is no worse or better than many other jobs that people do but I am fearful for my former colleagues and people that will go into that institution. "I think the advent of social media and what people have to put up with and have to tolerate is unforgiveable. "When you think about it, most sane, right-thinking people would run a mile from putting themselves into that environment. "I'm worried that it's baked in now. People who go for that job accept that's how they're going to have to live their lives." Ms Williams, who since she left politics has worked in health and wellbeing, said what was happening began to affect her family and she decided enough was enough. "It's not pleasant, it's really upsetting to you as an individual," she explained. "But worse than that, we have families and for me, that was the end of it. I just couldn't put my family through anymore." Ms Williams said that this atmosphere means that politicians have to "have a certain type of personality" and suggests that this is not good for the public. "I'm not convinced that the people who can put up with that [abuse] and ignore it and have a skin so thick that they don't care about it are the people that you need in the political environment," she said. "I think that the type of people we can recruit and retain in that system is probably the greatest threat to our liberal democracy." Ms Williams recently took up her new post as chair of Cardiff and Vale University Health Board and explained that this moment made her realise how her career in politics had affected her family. "I didn't realise how badly affected my family were until a couple of weeks ago when I said that I was going to take on the Cardiff job and immediately the pack was back out there telling everybody what a terrible person I was and my girls were like: 'Don't do it. We can't go through this again.'" Mr Waters, who has served as the Senedd member for Llanelli , said he took the decision not to seek re-election next May for "similar reasons."
