This article's subject stood for re-election to the British House of Commons on 4 July. This article may be out of date during and after this period. Feel free to improve it (updates without reliable references will be removed) or discuss changes on the talk page. Remove this template once the article is no longer out of date.
Lake was born in Carmarthen and brought up in Lampeter. He is the son of a police officer and a council worker.[4] He attended Ffynnonbedr Primary School and Ysgol Bro Pedr.[5] After graduating from Trinity College, Oxford, with an undergraduate degree in History and Politics, and a master's degree in Modern British and European History,[6] he became a Research Officer in the National Assembly for Wales.[7] His first language is Welsh,[8] which was seen as a key factor in his election as MP for one of the strongest Welsh-speaking constituencies in Wales.[9]
Lake is currently the Plaid Cymru spokesperson at Westminster for the Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, Education & Skills, Health, Communities & Local Government, Culture, Media & Sport and Constitutional Affairs.[13] Lake was appointed a member of the Welsh Affairs Committee in September 2017.[14] He is a member of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on State Pension Inequality for Women.[15] He supported Rhun ap Iorwerth in the 2018 Plaid Cymru leadership election.[16]
In December 2017, Lake was awarded the 'Politician to Watch' prize as part of the ITV Welsh Politician of the Year Awards 2017.[17] In August 2019, Lake was nominated for the MP of the Year Award, acknowledging MPs who actively work with under-represented and disadvantaged communities across the UK.[18]