Plaid Cymru, or Plaid Cymru–The Party of Wales, is a political party in Wales that has advocated for self-government and the protection and preservation of Welsh language, culture, &traditions. It is also known as the Welsh Nationalist Party.
Political history about Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru was founded in 1925 as more of a social movement than a political party in response to a perceived danger to Welsh culture and language posed by the increasing official use of English in Wales.
Plaid’s cultural and linguistic nationalism received little support from voters during the 1920s and 1930s, when economic hardship and social transformation dominated the political agenda.
The party did not take economic concerns seriously until after 1945, when it addressed the postwar restoration of the Welsh economy.
Internal disputes over the party’s persistent emphasis on cultural problems instead of socioeconomic concerns, as well as the power of the Labour Party, which contained several prominent Welsh politicians, guaranteed that Plaid Cymru had minimal electoral success in the 1950s.
Establishment of Welsh Development Agency
During the 1960s, the party widened its agenda to encompass important social and economic issues, thanks to the infusion of new thoughts from younger members.
Plaid benefited greatly from the founding of the Welsh Language Society in 1962, because it permitted the party to focus more on electoral politics.
In a by-election in 1966, the party obtained its first member in Parliament, and its policies aided in the passing of the Welsh Language Act of 1967 or the formation of the Welsh Development Agency in 1974.
The Welsh Language Board
Other significant changes inspired by the party include the establishment of a Welsh tv channel in 1982 and the passing of the Welsh Language Act in 1993.
The Welsh Language Board, founded under the 1993 legislation, promoted the use of Welsh and aimed to give Welsh equal legal weight with English in government business or the administration of justice.
1997 General Election
Plaid Cymru gained four of the 40 Welsh seats in Parliament in the 1997 general election.
Because of the Labour Party’s long-standing stronghold in the populous English-speaking south, the party had a tough time winning support outside of its Welsh-speaking core in the north and west of Wales.
Plaid was the second-largest party in local councils in Wales, trailing only Labour. Plaid’s popularity was low even at the municipal level, particularly in the major cities.
The Second Independence Referendum
Plaid was a firm advocate of a new Welsh assembly, which was initially proposed in a failed referendum in 1979 and then barely accepted in a second independence referendum in September 1997.
(On a turnout of barely 50% of eligible voters, a bare majority—50.3 percent—voted in favour of a new assembly.)
The National Assembly for Wales, which first met in May 1999, was in charge of administering public services and executing regional policies on education, health care, and economic growth, among other things.
Winner of the Inaugural Assembly Election
Plaid was a big winner in the inaugural assembly elections, taking 30% of the vote and 17 seats out of 60 (particularly three generally safe Labour seats in south Wales) to become the primary opposition to the minority Labour government.
Plaid’s vote share fell by one-third in the 2003 assembly elections, and it only gained 12 seats. Despite this, the party remained a powerful political force, especially in Welsh-speaking areas.
Plaid gained three seats in the 2007 assembly elections, bringing its total to fifteen. Plaid’s first stint in office came after the party formed a formal coalition government in Wales with the Labour Party.
However, the party lost four seats in the 2011 assembly elections, bringing its total to 11, though it regained one in the 2016 elections.
The party gained three seats in each of the four House of Commons elections between 2001 and 2015, and four seats in the June 2017 and December 2019 snap elections.
The party gained one member in the National Assembly in the 2021 elections, giving it a total of 13 representatives in the assembly.
RELATED: Yorkshire Party
Policy and other structures
Plaid Cymruis a staunchly constitutional &nonviolent party, which sets it apart from certain more radical Welsh culture and language supporters.
The party’s policies revolve around decentralisation of authority, with a special focus on full national status for Wales.
Plaid pushed after the National Assembly was established in 1998 to grant it the right to change tax rates and enact other “primary”laws, in addition to the limited powers it had gained from the secretary of state for Wales and thus the Welsh Office.
It’s constitution has been committed to socialism since 1981. “Community socialism,”a peculiarly Welsh notion emphasising a focus on local politics and advocating a certain philosophical distance from several other political parties, was at the heart of this commitment.
Such a “isolationist”position may have limited possibilities for substantial change in Welsh politics, but it actually helped to emphasise Plaid’s commitment to gradual transformation rather than revolutionary change.
Plaid had a more positive view of the European Union (EU) in 1990, seeing it as a framework under which a self-governing Wales could function on an equal footing with other states.
The party also created policy on environmental issues as well as the role of women.
It attempted, with varied results, to form alliances with other parties such as the Scottish National Party as well as the British Green Party.
The local branch is the foundation of Plaid’s political structure. District and parliamentary constituency committees exist at the intermediate level, and a National Council, a National Executive Committee, national sections, or an annual conference are available at the national level.
The Executive Committee is in charge of preserving the party’s organisational structure as well as putting National Council and annual conference resolutions into action. Between the formerly sovereign annual conferences, the National Council undertakes policy-making tasks.
Related: Traditional Unionist Voice
The party’s membership is tiny, with an estimated 10,000 members.
Plaid does not get any support from industry or trade unions, hence the local branches’ primary purpose is to raise funds.
Branches nominate candidates, and committees composed of branch officials, constituency authorities, or regional party representatives make the final decision.
