Professor Laura McAllister is currently Professor of Governance at the University of Liverpool.  Her areas of expertise are Welsh politics and political parties.  She is currently working on a biography of Dafydd Ellis Thomas. Other monographs include Plaid Cymru, The Emergence of a Political Party (2001) and Women, Politics and Constitutional Change, The First years of the National Assembly for Wales (2007).  Prof McAllister is an Executive Member of the Parliamentary Services Advisory Board for the National Assembly for Wales Commission, Vice Chair of the Sports Council for Wales (appointed by the Minister for Culture) and sat on the Lord Richard Commission on the Powers and Electoral Arrangements of the National Assembly for Wales (2002).  She has been asked to make presentations to the National Assembly for Wales on a number of issues including the new legislative framework for devolution (2006).  Prof McAllister is also a consultant/analyst for the BBC’s coverage of Welsh politics, National Assembly for Wales and elections. She has been an invited speaker at international conferences including the Netherlands, France, China, Greece and Australia.