Jump to content

Plaid Cymru

Listen to this article
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Party of Wales" redirects here. For other political parties in Wales, see List of political parties in Wales.
Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales
LeaderRhun ap Iorwerth[1]
Deputy LeaderDelyth Jewell
Westminster LeaderLiz Saville Roberts
ChairMarc Jones
Honorary PresidentThe Lord Wigley
Founded5 August 1925; 99 years ago (1925-08-05)
HeadquartersTŷ Gwynfor
Marine Chambers
Anson Court
Atlantic Wharf
Cardiff
CF10 4AL
Youth wingPlaid Ifanc
LGBT wingPlaid Pride
Disability wingPlaid Cymru Anabledd
Membership (2022)Increase c.10,000[2]
Ideology
Political positionCentre-left[24] to left-wing[27]
European affiliationEuropean Free Alliance
Colours  Green   Yellow
House of Commons (Welsh seats)
4 / 32
House of Lords[28]
2 / 801
Senedd[29]
12 / 60
Police and crime commissioners in Wales
1 / 4
Councillors in Wales[30]
205 / 1,231
Councils led In Wales
4 / 22
Website
plaid.cymru (Welsh)
partyof.wales (English)
This article is part of a series of articles on
Welsh nationalism and republicanism
Nationalism
Organisations
History
Devolution
Politics
Independence
Cultural
Militant
Republicanism
Figures
Opposition
Part of a series on
Socialism in
the United Kingdom
Ideologies
Principles
Intellectuals
Works
History
Political figures
Parties
(Current UK parties - Defunct UK parties)

Social democracy

Socialism

Communism

Northern Ireland

Scotland

Wales

Organisations
UK Trade unions

Other

Media
Related topics

Plaid Cymru (English: /plaɪd ˈkʌmri/ PLYDE KUM-ree;[31] Welsh: [plaid ˈkəmri], lit. 'Party of Wales'; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.[32][33] It campaigns on a platform of social democracy and civic nationalism. The party is a supporter of the European Union and is a member of the European Free Alliance (EFA).[34][35] The party holds 4 of 32 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament, 12 of 60 seats in the Senedd,[36] and 202 of 1,231 principal local authority councillors.[30] Plaid was formed in 1925 under the name Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru (English: The National Party of Wales) and Gwynfor Evans won the first Westminster seat for the party at the 1966 Carmarthen by-election.[37]

In 1999 (in the first devolved Welsh Assembly election), Plaid Cymru gained considerable ground in traditionally Labour heartlands.[38] These breakthroughs were part of the intentional aim to win more seats in the Welsh valleys and North East Wales, which continues to be an ambition today.[39] The party have mostly been in opposition in the Senedd. Although under the leadership of Ieuan Wyn Jones, the party was part of a coalition as a junior partner with Welsh Labour (See: One Wales, Morgan and Jones governments) between 2007 and 2011.[40] Wyn Jones became the deputy First Minister and Minister for the Economy and Transport, other Plaid Cymru Assembly members were also part of the cabinets.

After losses in the 2011 Assembly elections and dropping down to being the third largest party, Wyn Jones stepped down. He was succeeded by Leanne Wood.[41] In the 2016 Assembly elections Wood managed to win her constituency seat of Rhondda meaning the party gained one seat, and became the official opposition once again, although only for a brief period.[42] In 2018 following internal pressure and a leadership contest, Adam Price defeated Wood and was elected the new leader. Following the 2021 Senedd election Plaid formed a co-operation agreement with the Welsh Labour government.[43] In May 2023 Price resigned as leader following the publication of a report which detailed failings by the party to prevent sexual harassment and bullying. [44] In June 2023 Rhun ap Iorwerth was elected unopposed as leader.[45] The party won the second most seats in Wales in the 2024 general election and won both its target seats. [46]

Aims

[edit]

In September 2008, a senior Plaid assembly member spelled out her party's continuing support for an independent Wales. The then Welsh Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones, told delegates at Plaid's annual conference in Aberystwyth that the party would continue its commitment to independence under the coalition with Welsh Labour.[47]

In 2014, the party's constitution included the following aims:

  • Securing Welsh independence in Europe
  • Economic prosperity, social justice and a healthy natural environment with decentralist socialism
  • A national community with equal citizenship and respect for diversity
  • Develop a bilingual society
  • Promote Wales to the world and achieve United Nations membership[48]

While Wales remains part of the United Kingdom, Plaid Cymru want to see further powers devolved from the UK Government to Wales, including: broadcasting and communication powers, devolution of the Crown Estate, welfare and rail.[49][43][50][51]

The party opposes nuclear power and nuclear weapons (including the UK's Trident nuclear weapons programme).[52][53][54][55]

The party also favours lowering the voting age to 16 years old.[56] The voting age has already been lowered to include 16- and 17-year-olds for both Senedd elections[57] and local elections in Wales since 2020,[58] but not for UK general elections or police and crime commissioner elections: 18 is the minimum voting age for both of these.[58]

Plaid Cymru supports making social care "free at the point of need".[59][60][61]

In 2022, Plaid Cymru's policies included in its co-operation agreement with Welsh Labour included:

History

[edit]
Main article: History of Plaid Cymru

Beginnings

[edit]
Plaque commemorating the founding of Plaid Cymru, Pwllheli

While both the Labour and Liberal parties of the early 20th century had accommodated demands for Welsh home rule, no political party existed for the purpose of establishing a Welsh government. Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru (Welsh for 'the National Party of Wales') was formed on 5 August 1925, by Moses Gruffydd, H. R. Jones and Lewis Valentine, members of Byddin Ymreolwyr Cymru (Welsh for 'the Home Rule Army of Wales'; lit. 'the Self-Rulers' Army of Wales'); and Fred Jones, Saunders Lewis of Y Mudiad Cymreig (Welsh for 'the Welsh Movement') and D. Edmund Williams.[63] Initially, home rule for Wales was not an explicit aim of the new movement; keeping Wales Welsh-speaking took primacy, with the aim of making Welsh the only official language of Wales.[64]

In the 1929 general election, the party contested its first parliamentary constituency, Caernarvonshire, polling 609 votes, or 1.6% of the vote for that seat. The party contested few such elections in its early years, partly due to its ambivalence towards Westminster politics. Indeed, the candidate Lewis Valentine, the party's first president, offered himself in Caernarvonshire on a platform of demonstrating Welsh people's rejection of English dominion.[65]

1930s

[edit]

By 1932, the aims of self-government and Welsh representation at the League of Nations had been added to that of preserving Welsh language and culture. However, this move, and the party's early attempts to develop an economic critique, did not broaden its appeal beyond that of an intellectual and socially conservative Welsh language pressure group.[66] The alleged sympathy of the party's leading members (including President Saunders Lewis) towards Europe's totalitarian regimes compromised its early appeal further.[67]

Saunders Lewis, David John Williams and Lewis Valentine set fire to the newly constructed RAF Penyberth air base on the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd in 1936, in protest at its siting in the Welsh-speaking heartland. The leaders' treatment, including the trial judge's dismissal of the use of Welsh and their subsequent imprisonment in Wormwood Scrubs, led to "The Three" becoming a cause célèbre. This heightened the profile of the party dramatically and its membership had doubled to nearly 2,000 by 1939.[64][68]

1940s

[edit]
A Plaid Cymru rally in Machynlleth in 1949

Penyberth, and Plaid Cymru's neutral stance during the Second World War, prompted concerns within the UK Government that it might be used by Germany to insert spies or carry out other covert operations.[69] In fact, the party adopted a neutral standpoint and urged (with only limited success) conscientious objection to war service.[70]

In 1943, Saunders Lewis contested the University of Wales parliamentary seat at a by-election, gaining 1,330 votes, or 22%. In the 1945 general election, with party membership at around 2,500, Plaid Cymru contested seven seats, as many as it had in the preceding 20 years, including constituencies in south Wales for the first time. At this time Gwynfor Evans was elected president.[71]

1950s

[edit]
1959 election in Merioneth. Gwynfor Evans, standing, is talking at Bryncrug
Iorwerth Thomas and Gwynfor Evans sitting at a table in front of a BBC microphone, debating.
BBC debate between Iorwerth Thomas (Rhondda MP - Labour) and Gwynfor Evans, Plaid Cymru's first MP

Gwynfor Evans's presidency coincided with the maturation of Plaid Cymru (as it now began to refer to itself) into a more recognisable political party. Its share of the vote increased from 0.7% in the 1951 general election to 3.1% in 1955 and 5.2% in 1959. In the 1959 election, the party contested a majority of Welsh seats for the first time. Proposals to flood the village of Capel Celyn in the Tryweryn valley in Gwynedd in 1957 to supply the city of Liverpool with water played a part in Plaid Cymru's growth. The fact that the parliamentary bill authorising the dam went through without support from any Welsh MPs showed that the MPs' votes in Westminster were not enough to prevent such bills from passing.[72]

1960s

[edit]

Support for the party declined slightly in the early 1960s, particularly as support for the Liberal Party began to stabilise from its long-term decline. In 1962, Saunders Lewis gave a radio talk entitled Tynged yr Iaith (The fate of the language) in which he predicted the extinction of the Welsh language unless action was taken. This led to the formation of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg (the Welsh Language Society) the same year.[73]

Labour's return to power in 1964 and the creation of the post of Secretary of State for Wales appeared to represent a continuation of the incremental evolution of a distinctive Welsh polity, following the Conservative government's appointment of a Minister of Welsh Affairs in the mid-1950s and the establishment of Cardiff as Wales' capital in 1955.[citation needed]

However, in 1966, less than four months after coming in third in the constituency of Carmarthen, Gwynfor Evans captured the seat from Labour at a by-election. This was followed by two further by-elections in Rhondda West in 1967 and Caerphilly in 1968 in which the party achieved massive swings of 30% and 40% respectively, coming within a whisker of victory. The results were caused partly by an anti-Labour backlash. Expectations in coal mining communities that the Wilson government would halt the long-term decline in their industry had been dashed by a significant downward revision of coal production estimates.[74] However, particularly in Carmarthen, Plaid also successfully depicted Labour's policies as a threat to the viability of small Welsh communities.[75]

1970s

[edit]

In the 1970 general election, Plaid Cymru contested every seat in Wales for the first time and its vote share surged from 4.5% in 1966 to 11.5%. Gwynfor Evans lost Carmarthen to Labour, but regained the seat in October 1974, by which time the party had gained a further two MPs, representing the constituencies of Caernarfon and Merionethshire.[citation needed]

Plaid Cymru's emergence (along with the Scottish National Party) prompted the Wilson government to establish the Kilbrandon Commission on the constitution. The subsequent proposals for a Welsh Assembly were, however, heavily defeated in a referendum in 1979. Despite Plaid Cymru's ambivalence toward home rule (as opposed to outright independence) the referendum result led many in the party to question its direction.[65]

Plaid campaigned to leave the Common Market in the 1975 referendum,[76][77] feeling that the EC's regional aid policies would "reconcile places like Wales to their subordinate position".[78] Nevertheless, 65% of Welsh voters voted to remain in the EC during a 1975 referendum.[79] The EC was incorporated into the European Union (EU) in 1993.[80]

At the 1979 general election, the party's vote share declined from 10.8% to 8.1% and Carmarthen was again lost to Labour, although Caernarfon and Merionethshire were held by the party.[citation needed]

1980s

[edit]

Caernarfon MP Dafydd Wigley succeeded Gwynfor Evans as president in 1981, inheriting a party whose morale was at an all-time low. In 1981 the party adopted a policy of "community socialism".[81] While the party embarked on a wide-ranging review of its priorities and goals, Gwynfor Evans fought a successful campaign (including the threat of a hunger strike) to oblige the Conservative government to fulfill its promise to establish S4C, a Welsh-language television station.[82] In 1984, Dafydd Elis-Thomas was elected president, defeating Dafydd Iwan, a move that saw the party shift to the left. Ieuan Wyn Jones (later Plaid Cymru leader) captured Ynys Môn from the Conservatives in 1987. In 1989 Dafydd Wigley once again assumed the presidency of the party.[citation needed]

1990s

[edit]

In the 1992 general election, the party added a fourth MP, Cynog Dafis, when he gained Ceredigion and Pembroke North from the Liberal Democrats. Dafis was endorsed by the local branch of the Green Party. The party's vote share recovered to 9.9% at the 1997 general election.[citation needed]

In 1997, following the election of a Labour government committed to devolution for Wales, a further referendum was narrowly won, establishing the National Assembly for Wales. Plaid Cymru became the main opposition to the ruling Labour Party, with 17 seats to Labour's 28. In doing so, it appeared to have broken out of its rural Welsh-speaking heartland, and gained seats in traditionally strong Labour areas in industrial South Wales.[citation needed]

Ahead of the 1999 National Assembly for Wales election, Plaid Cymru dropped its policy of Welsh independence in favour of continued membership in the European Union. These changes in policy were made as it was believed that the electorate in Wales did not view independence as an important issue. It also adopted social democracy for its economic policy in an attempt to weaken Labour. These changes in policy have been used to explain the party's subsequent electoral success in Labour's traditional South East Wales heartlands.[83]

Assembly/Senedd era

[edit]
Plaid Cymru Group office in the Senedd building

First National Assembly (1999–2003)

[edit]

In the 1999 election, Plaid Cymru gained seats in traditional Labour areas such as Rhondda, Islwyn and Llanelli, achieving by far its highest share of the vote in any Wales-wide election. While Plaid Cymru regarded itself as the natural beneficiary of devolution, others attributed its performance in large part to the travails of the Labour Party[who?], whose nomination for Assembly First Secretary, Ron Davies, was forced to stand down in an alleged sex scandal. The ensuing leadership battle, won by Alun Michael, did much to damage Labour, and thus aided Plaid Cymru, whose leader was the more popular and higher profile Dafydd Wigley. The Labour Party's UK national leadership was seen to interfere in the contest and deny the popular Rhodri Morgan victory.[84] Less than two months later, in elections to the European parliament, Labour support slumped further, and Plaid Cymru came within 2.5% of achieving the largest share of the vote in Wales. Under the new system of proportional representation, the party also gained two MEPs.[citation needed]

Plaid Cymru then developed political problems of its own. Dafydd Wigley resigned, citing health problems but amid rumours of a plot against him.[85] His successor, Ieuan Wyn Jones, struggled to impose his authority, particularly over controversial remarks made by a councillor, Seimon Glyn.[86] At the same time, Labour leader and First Minister Alun Michael was replaced by Rhodri Morgan.[citation needed]

In the 2001 general election, notwithstanding Plaid Cymru recording its highest-ever vote share in a general election, 14.3%, the party lost Wyn Jones's former seat of Ynys Môn to Albert Owen, although it gained Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, where Adam Price was elected.[citation needed]

Second National Assembly (2003–07)

[edit]

The Assembly elections of May 2003 saw the party's representation drop from 17 to 12, with the seats gained in the 1999 election falling again to Labour and the party's share of the vote declining to 21%. Plaid Cymru narrowly remained the second-largest party in the National Assembly ahead of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Forward Wales.[citation needed]

On 15 September 2003, folk-singer and county councillor Dafydd Iwan was elected as Plaid Cymru's president. Ieuan Wyn Jones, who had resigned from his dual role as president and Assembly group leader following the losses in the 2003 Assembly election, was re-elected in the latter role. Elfyn Llwyd remained the Plaid Cymru leader in the Westminster Parliament. Under Iwan's presidency the party formally adopted a policy of independence for Wales within Europe.[citation needed] Plaid Cymru had historically supported Welsh independence but dropped this policy ahead of the 1999 devolved election.[83]

The 2004 local election saw the party lose control of the two South Wales councils it gained in 1999, Rhondda Cynon Taff and Caerphilly, while retaining its stronghold of Gwynedd in the north-west. The results enabled the party to claim a greater number of ethnic minority councillors than all the other political parties in Wales combined,[87] along with gains in authorities such as Cardiff and Swansea, where Plaid Cymru representation had been minimal. In the European Parliament elections of the same year, the party's vote share fell to 17.4%, and the reduction in the number of Welsh MEPs saw its representation reduced to one.[citation needed]

Old logo (above) and new logo (below)

In the general election of 5 May 2005, Plaid Cymru lost the Ceredigion seat to the Liberal Democrats; this result was a disappointment to Plaid, who had hoped to gain Ynys Môn. Overall therefore, Plaid Cymru's Parliamentary representation fell to three seats, the lowest number for the party since 1992. The party's share of the vote fell to 12.6%.[88]

Since Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru reformation to 'Plaid Cymru' in 1933, the logo representing the party was the green 'triban' (three peaks) which symbolically represented Plaid's three key goals; self-government, cultural prosperity and economic prosperity, 'anchored in the bedrock of Welsh identity and history that is the Welsh upland landscape',[89] the logo would change in the late stages of 20th century to include the red dragon of Wales, however this version was short-lived. In 2006, the party voted constitutional changes to formally designate the party's leader in the assembly as its overall leader, with Ieuan Wyn Jones being restored to the full leadership and Dafydd Iwan becoming head of the voluntary wing of the party.[90] The party unveiled a radical change of image in 2006. In that year, the party opted to use "Plaid" as the party's name, although "Plaid Cymru — the Party of Wales" would remain the official title. Plaid would abandon the triban (apart from the merchandise) and adopt the yellow Welsh poppy (Meconopsis cambrica).[91]

Third National Assembly (2007–2011)

[edit]

In the National Assembly election of 3 May 2007, Plaid Cymru increased its number of seats from 12 to 15, regaining Llanelli, gaining one additional list seat and winning the newly created constituency of Aberconwy. The 2007 election also saw Plaid Cymru's Mohammad Asghar become the first ethnic minority candidate elected to the Welsh Assembly.[92] The party's share of the vote increased to 22.4%.[citation needed]

After weeks of negotiations involving all four parties in the Assembly, Plaid Cymru and Labour agreed to form a coalition government. Their agreed "One Wales" programme included a commitment for both parties to campaign for a Yes vote in a referendum on full law-making powers for the Assembly, to be held at a time of the Welsh Assembly Government's choosing.[40] Ieuan Wyn Jones was subsequently confirmed as Deputy First Minister of Wales[93] and Minister for the Economy and Transport. Rhodri Glyn Thomas was appointed Heritage Minister. He later stood down, and Alun Ffred Jones took over. Ceredigion AM Elin Jones was appointed to the Rural Affairs brief in the new 10-member cabinet. Jocelyn Davies became Deputy Minister for Housing, and later, Regeneration.[citation needed]

In the 2010 general election, Plaid returned three MPs to Westminster. They took part in the Yes for Wales cross-party campaign for the March 2011 referendum.[citation needed]

Fourth National Assembly (2011–16)

[edit]

In the 2011 National Assembly election, Plaid slipped from second place to third, being overtaken by the Welsh Conservatives and losing its deputy leader Helen Mary Jones. The party held an inquiry into the election result.[94] The internal investigation led to the adoption of wide-ranging changes to its constitution, including a streamlining of the leadership structure.[95]

In May 2011, Ieuan Wyn Jones announced he would stand down as leader within the first half of the Assembly term.[96] A leadership election was held in which three candidates eventually stood: Elin Jones, Dafydd Elis-Thomas and Leanne Wood;[97] Simon Thomas withdrew his candidacy before ballots were cast.[98]

On 15 March 2012, Plaid Cymru elected Leanne Wood as its new leader. She received 55% of the vote, over second-placed Elin Jones with 41%.[99] Wood was the party's first female leader, and its first not to be a fluent Welsh speaker.[41][100] Soon after her election as leader, she appointed former MP Adam Price to head an economic commission for the party "focussed on bringing together tailor-made policies in order to transform our economy".[101][102] On 1 May 2012, it was confirmed Leanne Wood would not be taking the £23,000 pay increase that every other party leader in the Assembly receives.[103]

On 12 November 2012, Wood announced she would aim to abandon her relatively safe list seat by winning a constituency at the 2016 National Assembly elections;[104] she later confirmed she would contest the Rhondda.[105] Adam Price was subsequently selected as the party's candidate for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr.[106] Lindsay Whittle confirmed he would stand solely in Caerphilly.[107]

On 20 June 2013, former party leader Ieuan Wyn Jones stood down from the Assembly as the member for Ynys Môn.[108] Plaid Cymru's candidate Rhun ap Iorwerth was elected as the new Assembly Member for the constituency, receiving 12,601 votes (a 58% share) with a majority of 9,166 over the Labour candidate.[109]

Fifth National Assembly/Senedd (2016–2021)

[edit]

At the 2016 Welsh Assembly elections, Plaid Cymru gained one seat, became the Assembly's second-largest party and briefly became the official opposition to the Welsh Government with 12 seats.[42] By January 2018 Plaid Cymru had been reduced to ten Assembly Members, following the resignation of Dafydd Elis-Thomas in 2016[110][111] and the permanent expulsion of Neil McEvoy from Plaid's Assembly group in 2018.[112]

Despite campaigning to leave in 1975,[77] Plaid campaigned for a Remain vote in the 2016 referendum on the UK's membership of the EU,[113] spending £27,495 on the campaign.[114] In the referendum Wales voted 52.5% in favour of Leave.[115] Immediately after the referendum, Leanne Wood stated that voters 'must be respected' and criticised calls for a second EU referendum.[116] Plaid Cymru later modified their policy to support a People's Vote.[117]

In the 2017 United Kingdom general election, Plaid saw their popular vote fall, but narrowly gained Ceredigion and saw Arfon become highly marginal.[118]

In September 2018, Adam Price won the party's leadership election, defeating the incumbent Leanne Wood and fellow challenger Rhun ap Iorwerth.[119]

In the Brecon and Radnorshire by-election Plaid Cymru decided not to put up a candidate, but instead to support the Liberal Democrat candidate Jane Dodds in order to maximise the chance of an anti-Brexit candidate winning.[120]

In the 2019 United Kingdom general election, Plaid stood aside in four seats to endorse Unite to Remain candidates.[121] Plaid held their four seats but saw a decrease in their popular vote.[122]

Sixth Senedd (2021–)

[edit]

In the run-up to the 2021 Senedd election, polling suggested that Welsh Labour would win the highest number of seats but fall short of an overall majority. Pollsters and commentators suggested that the most likely outcome would be another Labour–Plaid Cymru coalition,[123][124] an option First Minister Mark Drakeford said he would be open to.[125] Price insisted that his party would not be Labour's "junior partner",[126] nor would they work with the Conservatives under any circumstances.[127] He stated that Plaid would be willing to join forces with Labour, but only if the former were the largest party or if it were an equal partnership.[124] Price also said that he did not consider Welsh independence to be "a distraction or a constitutional abstraction", but rather "a practical necessity".[128]

At the election, Plaid increased their seat total to thirteen, up one from the twelve they won in 2016, but lost out in their target constituencies, and lost Rhondda where former leader Leanne Wood lost her seat to Labour.[129] Price said he would not resign, telling ITV Wales: "My job is to lead, its not to give up at a set back or disappointment. My job is to sustain the hope – all those young people who voted for Plaid because they were inspired by our message of the potential we believe is there in Wales to deliver a decent society for our people. I firmly believe that we have sown a lot of seed at this election. A lot of young people in particular who did come with us this time has laid the foundations for the future which I think will set us up for growth in the years to come."[130]

On 22 November 2021, despite Price's earlier comments about refusing to work with Labour,[131] the two parties announced a co-operation agreement consisting of almost 50 different policies, including providing free school meals for all primary school children, the establishment of a free-at-point-of-need national care system and building a railway between North and South Wales.[132] Price called the agreement "a down-payment on independence" and claimed that the results of the Senedd election "confirmed Wales's status as an indy-curious nation. A curiosity that will give birth – sooner than many think – to an independent Wales." He went on to say, "For Wales to be free, we must first be united. And, that is what this Co-operation Agreement sets out to achieve. It launches us on a pathway to a united Wales, one that, sooner than we perhaps think, will find it both comfortable and natural, indeed essential, to join the world community of normal, independent nations."[133]

The co-operation agreement was ratified by Plaid's conference, with 94% voting in favour. "This is a huge step forward for Wales and our democracy," Price said. "The co-operation agreement will bring immediate, tangible and long-term benefit for the people of Wales. All primary school children will now receive free school meals; there will be free childcare for all two-year-olds; and radical action to tackle the housing crisis. There will be stability payments to support family farms; exploration of an accelerated pathway to net zero by 2035; the creation of Ynni Cymru – a company to expand community-owned renewable energy generation; and a new and reformed Senedd – bigger, more diverse, and gender balanced in law. From feeding our children to caring for our elderly, this is a nation-building Programme for Government which will change the lives of thousands of people the length and breadth of our country for the better. And none of it would be happening without Plaid Cymru."[134]

In May 2023, the publication of a report which detailed failings by the party to prevent sexual harassment and bullying led to media coverage suggesting that Price had agreed to resign the party leadership,[44][135] and Price confirmed this in a statement on 10 May. Acknowledging that he "no longer had the united support of [his] colleagues", Price stated that he would step down officially at the start of the following week, once the process for electing a new interim leader was finalised.[136][137] On 11 May Plaid Cymru announced that Llyr Gruffydd, Senedd member for North Wales, would replace him as interim party leader, and that this would be confirmed by the NEC on 13 May.[138] On 16 June 2023 Rhun ap Iorwerth was announced as the new permanent leader after he was elected unopposed.[45]

At party conference in Aberystwyth in October 2023, Rhun ap Iorwerth said the party was "not just for Welsh speakers".[139] Accomplishments like free school meals with the Drakeford government were promoted.[140]

Independence Commission 2020

[edit]

Before the 2019 general election, Price announced that he would set up a commission to look at the practicality of Welsh independence, and how a Plaid Government would hold an independence referendum.[141] The commission, led by former Plaid Dwyfor Meirionydd MP Elfyn Llwyd, released its report on 25 September 2020.[142][143] It recommends five key aims for Plaid Cymru:[144]

  • Says an independent Wales should seek membership of the European Union, with a possible intermediate step being membership of the European Free Trade Area.
  • Recommends that Wales explores a confederal relationship with England and Scotland.
  • Proposes improvements to the operation of the Welsh Government and civil service.
  • Points the way to drawing up a Welsh Constitution and sets out a framework for a Self-Determination Bill to take the independence process forward.
  • A statutory National Commission should provide the people of Wales with a clear understanding of the option for their political future – including through Citizens' Assemblies and an initial referendum to test a range of constitutional options.

It also recommends that there should be one multiple choice referendum to gauge views and to persuade a UK Westminster government to agree to a referendum on the preferred option.[143]

The report was met with criticism from the Welsh Liberal Democrats, describing the report as a mix of "fanatical politics" and "pie in the sky economics".[145]

In December 2020, Price stated that an independence referendum would be held in Plaid Cymru's first term in office, if the party won a majority at the 2021 Senedd election.[146]

Undeb Credyd Plaid Cymru

[edit]

Undeb Credyd Plaid Cymru Credit Union Limited is a savings and loans co-operative established for party members in 1986.[147] Based in Roath, Cardiff, it is a member of the Association of British Credit Unions Limited.[148] The credit union is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the PRA. Ultimately, like the banks and building societies, members' savings are protected against business failure by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.[149]

Party leadership

[edit]
Name and portrait Party office Constituency
(if any) 		Notes

Rhun ap Iorwerth 		Leader of the Senedd Group

and Party Leader

Ynys Môn

Liz Saville Roberts 		Westminster Group Leader
 MP for Dwyfor Meirionydd [150]

Dafydd Wigley 		Honorary Party President from 2001 N/A Former Party President

Member of the House of Lords

Leaders

[edit]

The Party leader was referred to as the president until March 2000 when the separate role of Leader was created.

Leader From To
1 Lewis Valentine 1925 1926
2 Saunders Lewis 1926 1939
3 John Edward Daniel 1939 1943
4 Abi Williams 1943 1945
5 Gwynfor Evans 1 August 1945[151] 1981
6 Dafydd Wigley 1981 1984
7 Dafydd Elis-Thomas 1984 1991
(6) Dafydd Wigley 1991 4 August 2000
8 Ieuan Wyn Jones 4 August 2000 16 March 2012
9 Leanne Wood 16 March 2012 28 September 2018
10 Adam Price 28 September 2018 16 May 2023
- Llyr Gruffydd (acting) 16 May 2023[152] 16 June 2023
11 Rhun ap Iorwerth 16 June 2023[153] Incumbent

Deputy leaders

[edit]
Deputy Leader From To
Rhodri Glyn Thomas 2003 [154] 2007
Alun Ffred Jones 2007 [155] 2008
Helen Mary Jones 2008 2012
Elin Jones 17 July 2012 [156] 2016
Vacant 2016 2018
Rhun ap Iorwerth & Siân Gwenllian 23 October 2018 [157] 27 June 2023
Delyth Jewell 27 June 2023 Present

Chief executives

[edit]
Chief executive From To
Dafydd Trystan Davies 2002 2007
Gwenllian Lansdown 2007 [158] 2011
Rhuanedd Richards 2011[159] 2016[160]
Gareth Clubb 2016[161] 2020
Marc Phillips 2020[162] 2021
Carl Harris 2021[163] 2022
Owen Roberts 2023[164] Incumbent

Elected representatives

[edit]

House of Commons

[edit]
Name Constituency Since Spokesperson role[165]
Ann Davies Caerfyrddin 2024 Department for Work and Pensions; Environment and Rural Affairs; Education; Transport; and Culture, Media, and Sport
Llinos Medi Ynys Môn 2024 Department of Energy Security and Net Zero; Business and Trade; Housing, Communities and Local Government; Health; and Equalities
Ben Lake Ceredigion 2017 Group Secretary and Treasurer, speaking for the group on the Treasury; Foreign and Commonwealth Office; and Science, Innovation and Technology
Liz Saville Roberts Dwyfor Meirionnydd 2015 Wales Office; Ministry of Justice; Home Office; Cabinet Office; Attorney General’s Office; and Ministry of Defence

Senedd

[edit]

Local councillors

[edit]

Appointments

[edit]

House of Lords

[edit]
Name Date Ennobled
Lord Wigley 24 January 2011
Baroness Smith of Llanfaes 13 March 2024

Electoral performance

[edit]
Main article: Plaid Cymru election results

House of Commons

[edit]
Election Wales +/– Government
Votes % Seats
1929 609 0.003
0 / 36
 —
1931 2,050 0.2
0 / 36
 Steady —
1935 2,534 0.3
0 / 36
 Steady —
1945 16,017 1.2
0 / 36
 Steady —
1950 17,580 1.2
0 / 36
 Steady —
1951 10,920 0.7
0 / 36
 Steady —
1955 45,119 3.1
0 / 36
 Steady —
1959 77,571 5.2
0 / 36
 Steady —
1964 69,507 4.8
0 / 36
 Steady —
1966 61,071 4.3
0 / 36
 Steady —
1970 175,016 11.5
0 / 36
 Steady —
Feb 1974 171,374 10.8
2 / 36
 Increase 2 Opposition
Oct 1974 166,321 10.8
3 / 36
 Increase 1 Opposition
1979 132,544 8.1
2 / 36
 Decrease 1 Opposition
1983 125,309 7.8
2 / 38
 Steady Opposition
1987 123,599 7.3
3 / 38
 Increase 1 Opposition
1992* 156,796 9.0
4 / 38
 Increase 1 Opposition
1997 161,030 9.9
4 / 40
 Steady Opposition
2001 195,893 14.3
4 / 40
 Steady Opposition
2005 174,838 12.6
3 / 40
 Decrease 1 Opposition
2010 165,394 11.3
3 / 40
 Steady Opposition
2015 181,694 12.1
3 / 40
 Steady Opposition
2017 164,466 10.4
4 / 40
 Increase 1 Opposition
2019 153,265 9.9
4 / 40
 Steady Opposition
2024 194,811 14.8
4 / 32
 Steady Opposition

*Six seats (Blaenau Gwent, Ceredigion & Pembroke North, Islwyn, Monmouth, Newport West and Torfaen) contested on a joint Plaid Cymru/Green Party ticket

National Assembly/Senedd

[edit]
Election Constituency Regional Total seats +/– Government
Votes % Seats Votes % Seats
1999 290,572 28.4
9 / 40
 312,048 30.6
8 / 20
17 / 60
 Opposition
2003 180,185 21.2
5 / 40
 167,653 19.7
7 / 20
12 / 60
 Decrease 5 Opposition
2007 219,121 22.4
7 / 40
 204,757 21.0
8 / 20
15 / 60
 Increase 3 Lab–Plaid
2011 182,907 19.3
5 / 40
 169,799 17.9
6 / 20
11 / 60
 Decrease 4 Opposition
2016 209,376 20.5
6 / 40
 211,548 20.8
6 / 20
12 / 60
 Increase 1 Opposition
2021 225,376 20.3
5 / 40
 230,161 20.7
8 / 20
13 / 60
 Increase 1 Opposition

Local councils

[edit]
Election Votes % Councils +/- Seats +/-
1995 115,900 12.5
1 / 8
202 / 1,272
1999 179,212 18.2
3 / 22
 Increase 2
205 / 1,270
 Increase 3
2004 149,352 16.4
1 / 22
 Decrease 2
175 / 1,263
 Decrease 30
2008[167] 159,847 16.8
0 / 22
 Decrease 1
205 / 1,270
 Increase 31
2012[168]* 133,961 15.8
0 / 22
 Steady
158 / 1,235
 Decrease 41
2017[169] 160,519 16.5
1 / 22
 Increase 1
208 / 1,254
 Increase 33
2022[170] 160,284 16.9
4 / 22
 Increase 3
202 / 1,231
 Decrease 6

*The 2012 figures exclude Anglesey, where the vote was delayed until 2013. The changes in seats and votes shown for 2012 are a direct comparison since the 2008 elections in the 21 councils up for election (i.e. excluding Anglesey).

In 2008, Plaid won 205 seats including six in Anglesey. For the purposes of this table the 205 figure has been reduced to 199 for the 2012 elections where the party lost 41 of the 199 seats it was defending on the night, leaving them with 158 seats.

In the 2013 elections in Anglesey, the party won 12 seats, up from the 6 it won in 2008 (although there were significant boundary changes and a reduction in the total number of seats from 40 to 30).

The 2017 figures are based on changes from the 2012 and 2013 elections. (Hence the slight discrepancy in the percentage increase.)

Police and Crime Commissioners

[edit]
Election Wales +/–
First Pref Votes % Seats
2012
did not contest
2016
228,334
 23.7%
2 / 4
2021
247,518
 23.2%
1 / 4
 Decrease 1
2024
92,063
 23.3%
1 / 4
 Steady

European Parliament

[edit]
Election Wales +/–
Votes % Seats
1979 83,399 11.7
0 / 4
1984 103,031 12.2
0 / 4
 Steady
1989 115,062 12.9
0 / 4
 Steady
1994 162,478 17.1
0 / 5
 Steady
1999 185,235 29.6
2 / 5
 Increase 2
2004 159,888 17.1
1 / 4
 Decrease 1
2009 126,702 18.5
1 / 4
 Steady
2014 111,695 15.3
1 / 4
 Steady
2019 163,928 19.6
1 / 4
 Steady

European Free Alliance

[edit]

Plaid retains strong links with the Scottish National Party (SNP),[171] with both parties' MPs co-operating closely with one another.[172] They work as a single parliamentary group within Westminster,[173] and were involved in joint campaigning, under the banner of a "Celtic alliance", during the 2001 and 2010 general elections.[174][175] Both Plaid and the SNP, along with Mebyon Kernow of Cornwall,[176] are members of the European Free Alliance (EFA), a pan-European political party for regionalist, autonomist and pro-independence political parties across Europe. The EFA co-operates with the larger European Green Party to form The Greens–European Free Alliance (Greens/EFA) political group in the European Parliament, although the UK is no longer a member of the European Union.

See also

[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Plaid Cymru.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Plaid Cymru: Rhun ap Iorwerth takes over as party leader". BBC News. 16 June 2023.
  2. ^ Burton, Matthew; Tunnicliffe, Richard (30 August 2022). "Membership of political parties in Great Britain" (PDF). UK Parliament House of Commons Library. Retrieved 18 September 2022.
  3. ^ Zurcher, Anthony (9 December 2019). "General election 2019: Does UK hold clues to Trump's fortunes?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  4. ^ Mandhai, Shafik (5 October 2016). "UK Conservative Party's migration comments prompt anger". Al Jazeera. Archived from the original on 10 August 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  5. ^ Leftly, Mark (18 January 2017). "British Lawmakers Worry About Donald Trump's Offer of a Trade Deal". Time. New York City. Archived from the original on 3 December 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  6. ^ Sandle, Paul (3 November 2019). "Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage will not run in UK election". Reuters. Archived from the original on 5 February 2021. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  7. ^ [3][4][5][6]
  8. ^ "Programme for Opposition 2016–2021" (PDF). Plaid Cymru. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  9. ^ "Plaid Cymru". Politics.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 July 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2021.
  10. ^ [8][9]
  11. ^ "Plaid Cymru". Politics.co.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2022.
  12. ^ a b Schrijver, Frans (2006). Regionalism After Regionalisation: Spain, France and the United Kingdom (Thesis). Amsterdam University Press. p. 330. hdl:11245/1.288031. ISBN 978-90-5629-428-1.
  13. ^ Siaroff, Alan (2000). Comparative European Party Systems: An Analysis of Parliamentary Elections Since 1945. Garland. p. 467. ISBN 978-1-138-88809-8.
  14. ^ a b Elias, Anwen (2006). "From 'full national status' to 'independence' in Europe: The case of Plaid Cymru — the Party of Wales". European Integration and the Nationalities Question. Routledge. p. 194.
  15. ^ [12][13][14]
  16. ^ Driver, Stephen (2011). Understanding British Party Politics. Polity Press. p. 176. ISBN 978-0-7456-4078-5.
  17. ^ [12][16]
  18. ^ a b Hamilton, Paul (2008). "Nationalism and Environmentalism". Nations and Nationalism: A Global Historical Overview. Vol. 3. ABC-CLIO. p. 881.
  19. ^ [18][14]
  20. ^ Schrijver, Frans (2006). Regionalism After Regionalisation: Spain, France and the United Kingdom. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 261–290. ISBN 978-90-5629-428-1. Archived from the original on 1 May 2016. Retrieved 25 November 2015.
  21. ^ Emmanuel, Massetti (2018). "Left-wing regionalist populism in the 'Celtic' peripheries: Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party's anti-austerity challenge against the British elite". Comparative European Politics. 16 (6): 937–953. doi:10.1057/s41295-018-0136-z. Retrieved 16 March 2023.
  22. ^ Dimitri Almeida (2012). The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus. Taylor & Francis. p. 89. ISBN 978-1-136-34039-0.
  23. ^ Scully, Roger (13 April 2017). "Wales and the Brexit dilemma - will radical devolution provide an escape?". New Statesman. London. Archived from the original on 29 June 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2017.
  24. ^ [22][23]
  25. ^ Dunphy, Richard (2004). Contesting capitalism?: Left parties and European integration. Manchester University Press. p. 157. ISBN 0-7190-6803-7.
  26. ^ McEwen, Nicola; Parry, Richard (2005). "Devolution and the preservation of the United Kingdom welfare state". The Territorial Politics of Welfare. Routledge. p. 53.
  27. ^ [25][26]
  28. ^ "Lords by party and type of peerage". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 12 June 2015. Retrieved 5 April 2015.
  29. ^ "Plaid Cymru Senedd member Rhys ab Owen suspended from party group". BBC News. 8 November 2022.
  30. ^ a b "Wales Local Elections 2022". BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  31. ^ "Plaid Cymru, n." OED Online. Oxford University Press. September 2014. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  32. ^ "Plaid Cymru conference calls for independence for Wales". BBC News. 10 September 2011. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  33. ^ "Plaid Cymru Constitution" (PDF). February 2013. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  34. ^ "European Free Alliance". The Party of Wales. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  35. ^ Cymru, Plaid. Plaid Cymru Manifesto 2024 (PDF). p. 51.
  36. ^ "Welsh Parliament election 2021". BBC News. Archived from the original on 9 October 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  37. ^ "Plaid Cymru's first MP 'helped change course of a nation'". BBC News. 14 July 2016. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  38. ^ "Wales election 2021: Plaid Cymru to harness 'spirit of 1999'". BBC News. 7 January 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  39. ^ Hayward, Will (22 March 2024). "Plaid's leader on his plan to win votes in the Valleys and take on Gething". Wales Online. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  40. ^ a b "Details of Labour–Plaid agreement". BBC News. 27 June 2007. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 31 July 2008. On the sensitive issue of giving the Welsh assembly full law-making powers, a referendum on the issue is promised "as soon as practicable, at or before the end of the assembly term (in 2011)". According to the document "both parties will then take account of the success of the bedding down of the use of the new legislative powers (which came in after last May's election) already available and, by monitoring the state of public opinion, will need to assess the levels of support for full law-making powers necessary to trigger the referendum".
  41. ^ a b "Plaid Cymru elect Leanne Wood as new leader". BBC News. 15 March 2012. Archived from the original on 25 December 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  42. ^ a b Morris, Steven (6 May 2016). "Labour holds Wales despite serious losses". The Guardian. London. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  43. ^ a b "Labour and Plaid Cymru approve Wales government deal". BBC News. 21 November 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  44. ^ a b "Adam Price to quit as Plaid Cymru leader". Nation.Cymru. 9 May 2023. Retrieved 9 May 2023.
  45. ^ a b "Plaid Cymru: Rhun ap Iorwerth takes over as party leader". BBC News. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  46. ^ "Wales results: Plaid Cymru delight at 'terrific' target seat wins". BBC News. 5 July 2024. Retrieved 1 August 2024.
  47. ^ "Plaid Cymru want independent Wales". This Is South Wales. Archived from the original on 20 September 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  48. ^ "Constitution Plaid Cymru - the Party of Wales" (PDF).
  49. ^ "Plaid Cymru calls for devolution of broadcasting to safeguard the future of Welsh media". Nation.Cymru. 16 January 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  50. ^ Owen, Twm (5 July 2022). "Plaid Cymru repeat Crown Estate devolution call following off shore wind plan". The National Wales. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  51. ^ Deans, David (7 April 2021). "Welsh election: Key points from Plaid Cymru manifesto". BBC News. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  52. ^ "Nuclear 'the wrong answer' says Plaid Cymru leader as new reactors mooted for Anglesey". Nation.Cymru. 27 March 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  53. ^ Tegeltija, Sam (18 January 2015). "Plaid Cymru to join forces with SNP and Greens in debate over Trident weapons programme". WalesOnline. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  54. ^ "Six things the SNP, Greens and Plaid have in common". BBC News. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  55. ^ "Adam Price reiterates Plaid Cymru's opposition to nuclear weapons". Nation.Cymru. 1 May 2022. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  56. ^ Walker, Peter (3 November 2017). "MPs to debate bill to reduce voting age to 16". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  57. ^ Mortimer, Josiah (1 June 2020). "16 and 17 year olds have secured the right to vote in Wales". Electoral Reform Society. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  58. ^ a b Uberoi, Elise; Johnston, Neil (19 November 2020). "Voting age". House of Commons Library. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  59. ^ "Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price pledges free social care from parent's home". ITV News. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  60. ^ "Plaid Cymru sets out vision for 'transformational' social care". The Care Home Environment. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  61. ^ "Plaid Cymru set out vision to make social care 'free at the point of need'". Nation.Cymru. 15 April 2021. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
  62. ^ "What is the Labour and Plaid Cymru co-operation agreement? And what does it mean for Wales?". itv.com.
  63. ^ Morgan, Kenneth O. (1981). Rebirth of a nation: Wales, 1880–1980. History of Wales. Vol. 6 (reprint 2002 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 206. ISBN 0-19-821760-9. Archived from the original on 3 June 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  64. ^ a b Philip, Alan Butt (1975). The Welsh Question: Nationalism in Welsh Politics, 1945–1970. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-0537-7.
  65. ^ a b McAllister, Laura (2001). Plaid Cymru: the Emergence of a Political Party. Bridgend: Seren. ISBN 1-85411-310-0.
  66. ^ McAllister, L., Plaid Cymru: the Emergence of a Political Party (Seren, 2001), "The tentative moves towards elaborating and broadening Plaid's policy portfolio did not allow it to shake off its early identity as a language movement or a cultural pressure group." See also Philip, A. B., The Welsh Question (University of Wales Press, 1975), "It is clear that the Welsh Nationalist Party was at the outset essentially intellectual and moral in outlook and socially conservative."
  67. ^ Morgan, K. O., Welsh Devolution: the Past and the Future in Scotland and Wales: Nations Again? (ed. Taylor, B., and Thomson, K.), (1999), University of Wales Press. Williams, G. A. When Was Wales?, (1985), Penguin. Davies, J., A History of Wales, (1990, rev. 2007), Penguin. Davies, D. H., The Welsh Nationalist Party 1925–1945 (1983), St. Martin's Press. Morgan, K. O., Rebirth of a Nation, (1981), OUP.
  68. ^ Jones, R. Merfyn (2003). Wrigley, Chris (ed.). A companion to early twentieth-century Britain. Blackwell's Companion to British History. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell. p. 99. ISBN 0-631-21790-8. Archived from the original on 5 May 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  69. ^ "Inspector Williams the Spy Catcher]". South Wales Police. Archived from the original on 12 November 2009. Retrieved 29 September 2006.
  70. ^ Davies, J., A History of Wales (1990, rev. 2007), Penguin: "Saunders Lewis ... hoped that a substantial number of Welshmen would refuse to be conscripted on the grounds that they were Welsh. He was disappointed by their response."
  71. ^ Dafis, Cynog (24 February 2016). "EVANS, GWYNFOR RICHARD (1912-2005), Welsh nationalist and politician". The Dictionary of Welsh Biography. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
  72. ^ Davies, J., A History of Wales (1990, rev. 2007), Penguin.
  73. ^ Morgan, K. O., Rebirth of a Nation, (1981), OUP.
  74. ^ Francis, H. and Smith, D., The Fed: A History of the South Wales Miners in the Twentieth Century, (1980), University of Wales.
  75. ^ Tanner, D., Facing the New Challenge: Labour and Politics 1970–2000 in The Labour Party in Wales 1900–2000 (Ed. Tanner, D., Williams, C. and Hopkin, D.), (2000), University of Wales Press.
  76. ^ "In memory of Wales to be killed by the common market". LSE Digital Library. London School of Economics. Archived from the original on 11 August 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
  77. ^ a b "EU referendum: Parallels with 1975". BBC News. 10 June 2015. Archived from the original on 16 April 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  78. ^ Williams, Joe (22 October 2019). "The Welsh independence movement's Brexit stance risk alienating Leave voters". Nation.Cymru. Archived from the original on 25 July 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  79. ^ "Europe Referendum 1975: How BBC reported Wales results". BBC News. 16 June 2016. Archived from the original on 23 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  80. ^ "Treaty of Maastricht on European Union". Europa web portal. Activities of the European Union. 7 February 1992. Archived from the original on 11 October 2011. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  81. ^ Cole, Matt; Deighan, Helen (2012). Political Parties in Britain. Edinburgh University Press. p. 165.
  82. ^ "Plaid pioneer Gwynfor Evans dies". BBC News. 21 April 2005. Archived from the original on 15 January 2009. Retrieved 31 July 2008. Mr Evans changed the face of British politics when he became Plaid's first MP in the 1966 Carmarthen by-election. Fourteen years later he threatened to starve himself to death in the cause of Welsh language television, leading to the foundation of S4C.
  83. ^ a b "Welsh Nationalism: An Approach" (PDF). Universidad del Pais Vasco. 2018. p. 14. Retrieved 28 December 2023.
  84. ^ "Morgan is more popular — Michael". BBC News. 17 February 1999. Archived from the original on 31 December 2002. Retrieved 31 July 2008. Mr Michael, who has Prime Minister Tony Blair's backing, has been widely predicted to come first due to the form of electoral system used. An electoral college composed of three groups — politicians, trade unions and party members — will determined the winner. Large unions such as AEEU that have made their choice after a ballot of a small number of delegates are backing Mr Michael, but Mr Morgan has won every union member vote, including the shopworkers' union Usdaw on Tuesday night. Mr Morgan, a left-wing backbencher, has also repeatedly topped opinion polls taken among Labour Party members in Wales.
  85. ^ "'Wigley downfall' plot denied". BBC News. 14 July 2000. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 31 July 2008. Mr Wigley's announcement that he was to give up the presidency of Plaid Cymru in May came as a shock. Although he had been in hospital undergoing heart surgery, he was expected to resume his career. Some Assembly members said privately that he had taken on too much — being an MP, AM, party president and also group leader in the National Assembly. But there was also the suggestion that there was a conspiracy to oust him.
  86. ^ "Moderate with a hard act to follow". BBC News. 4 April 2003. Archived from the original on 22 June 2006. Retrieved 31 July 2008. But Mr Jones was soon facing questions about his credentials for the job. Seimon Glyn, until then a fairly obscure Plaid Cymru councillor from Gwynedd, had made controversial comments on BBC Radio Wales about inward migration into Welsh-speaking communities. The issue was raised when Mr Jones appeared on the BBC's Question Time in Caernarfon, and he was criticised for his response, in which he at first denied that Mr Glyn had referred to English as a foreign language. There were more problems when Plaid's then chief executive said that Mr Jones was on a learning curve in the job.
  87. ^ "Elfyn Llwyd — Plaid Cymru parliamentary leader ePolitix interview". Epolitix.com. 6 September 2006. Archived from the original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  88. ^ "Election 2005 results, Wales". BBC News. 1 June 2005. Archived from the original on 18 February 2009. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  89. ^ Dudley, Marianna (16 January 2014). An Environmental History of the UK Defence Estate, 1945 to the Present. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-4725-3373-9.[page needed]
  90. ^ "UK | Wales | Jones 'to return as Plaid leader'". BBC News. 16 February 2006. Archived from the original on 29 June 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2022.
  91. ^ "Plaid image change 'a new start'". BBC News. 24 February 2006. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  92. ^ "First ethnic minority AM elected". BBC News. 4 May 2007. Archived from the original on 16 May 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2007. The assembly has its first ethnic minority member with the election of Plaid Cymru's Mohammad Asghar on the regional list. Mr Asghar, who was second on the Plaid list, was the fourth and final AM to be elected in South Wales East.
  93. ^ "Jones confirmed as deputy leader". BBC News. 11 July 2007. Archived from the original on 9 October 2007. Retrieved 31 July 2008. Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones said it was a "great honour" to become the Welsh assembly's Deputy First Minister. He was Plaid's first government minister in the party's 82-year history. In accepting the post as part of the coalition deal with Labour, Mr Jones said it was an "historic statement" personally and for his party.
  94. ^ "Plaid plans review of election catastrophe". Wales Online. 10 May 2011. Archived from the original on 14 October 2012. Retrieved 16 May 2011.
  95. ^ "Plaid Cymru agrees new constitution at special Aberystwyth conference". BBC News. 16 February 2013. Archived from the original on 13 December 2016. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  96. ^ "Ieuan Wyn Jones to stand down as Plaid Cymru leader". BBC News. UK. 13 May 2011. Archived from the original on 30 May 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  97. ^ "Plaid Cymru leadership: Profiles of the three candidates". BBC News. 27 January 2012. Archived from the original on 30 May 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  98. ^ "Simon Thomas yn tynnu'n ôl o ras arweinyddiaeth Plaid". Golwg360. 15 March 2012. Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  99. ^ "Leanne Wood yw arweinydd newydd Plaid Cymru". Newyddion. BBC Cymru. 6 February 2012.
  100. ^ "Leanne Wood becomes first female leader of Plaid Cymru". WalesOnline. 23 March 2012. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  101. ^ "New Plaid Cymru Leader Unveils Economic Commission". Plaid Cymru. 21 March 2012. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  102. ^ "Adam Price: WDA was 'thrown away' and Wales needs new economic powerhouse". BBC News. 25 March 2012. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  103. ^ "Plaid leader Leanne Wood turns down pay rise". Daily Post. 1 May 2012. Archived from the original on 17 March 2016. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  104. ^ "Leanne Wood am sefyll mewn sedd etholaeth yn 2016". Golwg 360. 12 November 2012. Archived from the original on 25 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  105. ^ "Leanne Wood i ymladd etholaeth Rhondda yn 2016". BBC Cymru. 15 March 2013. Archived from the original on 20 April 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  106. ^ "Ex-Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price to stand for Welsh assembly". BBC Cymru. 12 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  107. ^ "Lindsay Whittle chosen as Caerphilly Assembly candidate". Caerphilly Observer. 16 September 2013. Archived from the original on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2013.
  108. ^ "Ieuan Wyn am sefyll i lawr yn syth". BBC Cymru. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
  109. ^ "Canlyniadau'r etholiad ar gyfer Ynys Môn" [Election results for Anglesey]. National Assembly for Wales (in Welsh). Archived from the original on 26 September 2013. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  110. ^ Shipton, Martin (14 October 2016). "Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas quits Plaid Cymru". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  111. ^ "Assembly Members". The Party of Wales. Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
  112. ^ Shipton, Martin (16 January 2018). "Neil McEvoy expelled from Plaid Cymru Assembly group". Walesonline.co.uk. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  113. ^ "Plaid: Stay in EU to solve its problems". BBC News. 10 February 2016. Archived from the original on 31 May 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  114. ^ "Campaign spending at the EU referendum". Electoral Commission. 29 July 2019. Archived from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 8 September 2020.
  115. ^ "Welsh voters back Leave in EU poll". BBC News. 24 June 2016. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  116. ^ Shipton, Martin (4 July 2016). "Leanne Wood says voters 'must be respected' – and criticises calls for a second EU referendum". Wales Online. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  117. ^ "Plaid MPs 'will join SNP in backing new Brexit referendum'". BBC News. 8 October 2018. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  118. ^ Harries, Robert (9 June 2017). "Plaid Cymru have their youngest ever MP after a dramatic night in Ceredigion". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 22 January 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  119. ^ "Plaid Cymru leadership contest: Adam Price wins". BBC News. 28 September 2018. Archived from the original on 12 November 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  120. ^ Mason, Chris (4 July 2019). "Remain parties team up for Brecon and Radnorshire by-election". BBC News. Archived from the original on 18 August 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  121. ^ Gregory, Andy (7 November 2019). "General election: Lib Dems agree 'Remain alliance' with Greens and Plaid Cymru". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on 24 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  122. ^ "General Election 2019: Plaid hold Wales' most marginal seat". BBC News. 13 December 2019. Archived from the original on 24 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  123. ^ de La Mare, Tess (2 May 2021). "Plaid Cymru bullish as Welsh Labour hints at coalition plans post election". Evening Standard. London. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  124. ^ a b Morgan Jones, Ifan (23 March 2021). "Are we heading for a second Plaid-Labour coalition in Wales, and if so what could they agree on?". Nation.Cymru. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  125. ^ "Drakeford leaves door open to Plaid Cymru coalition". Gwalia News. 2 May 2021. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  126. ^ Hayward, Will (2 October 2020). "'Anything less than First Minister is a failure': Adam Price on his hopes for Plaid in the 2021 Senedd election". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  127. ^ "Adam Price: 'No coalition under any circumstances with Conservatives'". Nation.Cymru. 2 October 2020. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  128. ^ Mosalski, Ruth (24 April 2021). "The Adam Price election interview: Independence isn't a distraction". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  129. ^ Mosalski, Ruth (11 May 2021). "Plaid's goal of independence took a step back in the election - Leanne Wood". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  130. ^ "Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price won't resign following election disappointment". Nation.Cymru. 12 May 2021. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. Retrieved 12 May 2021.
  131. ^ Price, Adam (23 November 2021). "Adam Price explains why he did a deal with Labour". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 23 November 2021. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  132. ^ Webster, Laura (22 November 2021). "Labour and Plaid Cymru agree Welsh government co-operation deal". The National. Glasgow. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 24 November 2021.
  133. ^ "Adam Price: Labour and Plaid's co-op agreement is a 'down-payment on independence'". ITV News. 26 November 2021. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 26 November 2021.
  134. ^ "Plaid Cymru conference votes in favour of co-operation agreement with Welsh Government". Nation.Cymru. 27 November 2021. Archived from the original on 27 November 2021. Retrieved 27 November 2021.
  135. ^ Deans, David (10 May 2023). "Adam Price: Plaid Cymru leader's future in doubt". BBC News.
  136. ^ Deans, David (11 May 2023). "Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price quits after damning report". BBC Wales.
  137. ^ Adu, Aletha; Badshah, Nadeem (11 May 2023). "Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price steps down after damning report". The Guardian.
  138. ^ "Plaid Cymru: Llyr Gruffydd interim leader after Price quits". BBC Wales. 11 May 2023.
  139. ^ "Plaid Cymru not just for Welsh speakers - Rhun ap Iorwerth". BBC News. 5 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  140. ^ "Plaid Cymru must get free school meals credit - senior party figure". BBC News. 7 October 2023. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  141. ^ Price, Adam (12 November 2019). "Plaid Cymru sets up commission to prove an independent Wales is possible". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 8 August 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  142. ^ Morris, Steven (25 September 2020). "Plaid Cymru sets out possible roadmap for Welsh independence". The Guardian. London. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 25 September 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  143. ^ a b "Plaid report calls for two polls on Wales' future". BBC News. 25 September 2020. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  144. ^ "Independence Commission". Independence Commission. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  145. ^ "Welsh Liberal Democrats response to Plaid Cymru's Independence Commission report". Liberal Democrat Voice. 30 September 2020. Archived from the original on 20 December 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
  146. ^ Hayward, Will (11 December 2020). "Plaid pledges independence referendum if they win Senedd election". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 12 December 2020. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  147. ^ "Join us today". Plaid Cymru Credit Union. Archived from the original on 3 April 2015. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  148. ^ "Credit unions in membership of ABCUL". Association of British Credit Unions. Archived from the original on 3 January 2015. Retrieved 1 November 2014.
  149. ^ "A Guide for Credit Unions" (PDF). Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Archived (PDF) from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 2 April 2015.
  150. ^ "Liz Saville Roberts MP". UK Parliament. Archived from the original on 29 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  151. ^ Hughes Griffiths, Peter. "Gwynfor Evans – Lecture by Peter Hughes Griffiths". Hanes Plaid Cymru History. Retrieved 16 August 2022.
  152. ^ "Plaid Cymru: Adam Price to formally resign as leader in the Senedd, so what happens next?". ITV Wales. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  153. ^ "Plaid Cymru: Rhun ap Iorwerth takes over as party leader". BBC News. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  154. ^ "Folk singer eyes Plaid helm (New deputy assembly leader wants promotion)". BBC News. 20 May 2003. Archived from the original on 5 July 2004. Retrieved 20 April 2020.
  155. ^ "Alun Ffred Jones named Plaid deputy leader in Assembly". Daily Post. 16 October 2007. Archived from the original on 21 June 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  156. ^ "Elin Jones is deputy Plaid leader". BBC News. 17 July 2012. Archived from the original on 16 July 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  157. ^ Masters, Adrian [@adrianmasters84/] (23 October 2018). "New Plaid Cymru leader @Adamprice has appointed two deputies: @siangwenfelin and @RhunapIorwerth" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  158. ^ Williamson, David (23 June 2011). "Plaid Cymru's new chief executive reveals her vision for the party". Western Mail. Cardiff: Media Wales Ltd. Retrieved 23 June 2011.
  159. ^ Williamson, David (22 June 2011). "Plaid Cymru's new chief executive reveals her vision for the party". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  160. ^ Barry, Sion (5 June 2016). "New role for Plaid Cymru chief executive". WalesOnline. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021. Retrieved 4 August 2021.
  161. ^ Plaid Cymru [@Plaid_Cymru] (1 September 2016). "Plaid Cymru appoints Gareth Clubb as new Chief Executive http://plaid2016.wales/gareth_clubb" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  162. ^ Phillips, Marc [@bertwyn] (22 December 2020). "Many thanks to my friend @GarethClubb as he leaves after four excellent years as Chief Executive of @Plaid_Cymru. The unexpected, but exciting prospect for me is the challenge of taking over the role (temporarily) to deliver a memorable Senedd Election result in May" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  163. ^ "Plaid Cymru appoints election strategist as new Chief Executive". Nation.Cymru. 16 July 2021. Archived from the original on 3 August 2021. Retrieved 3 August 2021.
  164. ^ "New Plaid Cymru chief executive Owen Roberts appointed". BBC News. 15 March 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  165. ^ "Liz Saville Roberts re-elected Plaid Cymru Westminster leader". The Party of Wales. 10 July 2024. Retrieved 12 July 2024.
  166. ^ "Local Elections 2022 in Wales". BBC News. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  167. ^ "Election 2008 – Councils A-Z". BBC News. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  168. ^ "Vote 2012 – Welsh Council Results". BBC News. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  169. ^ "Wales local elections 2017". BBC News. Archived from the original on 17 July 2018. Retrieved 21 June 2018.
  170. ^ "Wales local elections 2022". BBC News. Archived from the original on 8 May 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  171. ^ "Plaid Cymru call for alliance with SNP to break up the UK". The Scotsman. Edinburgh. 7 October 2018. Archived from the original on 16 January 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  172. ^ "In full: Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price addresses first-ever virtual SNP conference". The National. Glasgow. 29 November 2020. ISSN 2057-231X. Archived from the original on 11 December 2020. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  173. ^ Tempest, Matthew (27 June 2001). "SNP and Plaid join forces". The Guardian. London. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 6 August 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  174. ^ "Plaid and SNP form Celtic alliance". BBC News. 28 June 2001. Archived from the original on 29 March 2022. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  175. ^ Carrell, Severin (31 March 2010). "SNP and Plaid Cymru form Celtic alliance to influence hung parliament". The Guardian. London. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  176. ^ "Member parties". European Free Alliance. 2013. Archived from the original on 21 September 2014. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
[edit]
Listen to this article (5 minutes)
Spoken Wikipedia icon
This audio file was created from a revision of this article dated 12 July 2005 (2005-07-12), and does not reflect subsequent edits.
(Audio help · More spoken articles)
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Plaid_Cymru&oldid=1262101683"