Samantha Dixon MBE MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Building Safety, Fire and Democracy has announced the reappointment of Sam Hartley and Huw Vaughan Thomas as Members of the Boundary Commission for Wales from 5 October 2025 to 31 March 2032, and from 5 October 2025 to 31 March 2028, respectively.
The Boundary Commission for Wales is an advisory non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.
The Boundary Commission for Wales is required by the Parliamentary Constituencies Act 1986 to review the parliamentary constituencies in Wales every 8 years.
Biographies
Sam Hartley
Sam Hartley runs the statutory public inquiry into the Omagh Bombing in 1998, supporting the Rt Hon Lord Turnbull in his role as Chairman. Sam established and has led the organisation since his appointment in November 2023. He moved there from the UK Covid-19 Public Inquiry, where he was Director of Policy, Research and Analysis and Deputy Secretary.
Sam has a background in senior leadership in the public sector. Before joining the Covid Inquiry, he led an independent arm’s-length body for the Department of Transport in the aviation sector. Prior to this, he was Secretary to the Parliamentary Boundary Commission for England, and led the body in delivering the review of Parliamentary boundaries in 2018. He has a wider background in the constitutional and regulatory fields, and has had other senior roles in healthcare and constitutional regulators, as well as in the Cabinet Office. Sam Hartley is on the board of the Association of Chief Executives, and has previously been the independent member of a government department Audit and Risk Assurance Committee, and an independent member of a local authority Standards Committee.
Huw Vaughan Thomas CBE
Huw Vaughan Thomas CBE has worked in a number of public sector roles, including Regional Director for South West England and Director for Wales in the Department of Employment. He was subsequently the Chief Executive of Gwynedd and Denbighshire County Councils. He has also held a number of non-executive appointments including serving on the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and Chairing the Big Lottery Committee for Wales. He was a member of the Richard Commission on the Powers and Electoral Arrangements of the National Assembly of Wales. In 2018, he retired from his role as the Auditor General for Wales, an appointment he held for 8 years.
Huw Vaughan Thomas was awarded a CBE for services to Public Audit and Accountability in Wales in 2018, and is a Reader in the Church in Wales.