Plaid Cymru

Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales
Leader Leanne Wood
Chair Dafydd Trystan Davies
Chief Executive Rhuanedd Richards
Honorary President The Lord Wigley
Founded 5 August 1925 (1925-08-05)
Headquarters Tŷ Gwynfor, Marine Chambers, Anson Court, Atlantic Wharf
Cardiff, Wales
CF10 4AL
Youth wing Plaid Cymru Youth
Membership  (2012) Increase 7,863 [1]
Ideology Welsh nationalism
Civic nationalism[2]
Regionalism[3]
Democratic socialism[4][5][6]
Social democracy[4][7][8]
Environmentalism[2][6]
Political position Left-wing[9][10]
European affiliation European Free Alliance
International affiliation None
European Parliament group Greens/EFA
Colours Green
House of Commons (Welsh seats)
3 / 40
House of Lords[11]
2 / 807
European Parliament (Welsh seats)
1 / 4
National Assembly for Wales
12 / 60
Local government in Wales[12]
171 / 1,264
Website
plaid.cymru

Plaid Cymru (Welsh pronunciation: [plaɪd ˈkəmri]; English pronunciation: /ˌplaɪd ˈkʌmri/;[13] officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a social-democratic political party in Wales advocating for an independent Wales from the United Kingdom within the European Union.[14][15]

Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966. Plaid Cymru by 2012 had 1 of 4 Welsh seats in the European Parliament, 3 of 40 Welsh seats in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, 11 of 60 seats in the National Assembly for Wales, and 206 of 1,264 principal local authority councillors.[12] Plaid is a member of the European Free Alliance.

Platform

Plaid Cymru's goals as set out in its constitution are:

  1. To promote the constitutional advancement of Wales with a view to attaining independence within the European Union;
  2. To ensure economic prosperity, social justice and the health of the natural environment, based on decentralist socialism;
  3. To build a national community based on equal citizenship, respect for different traditions and cultures and the equal worth of all individuals, whatever their race, nationality, gender, colour, creed, sexuality, age, ability or social background;
  4. To create a bilingual society by promoting the revival of the Welsh language;
  5. To promote Wales's contribution to the global community and to attain membership of the United Nations.

In September 2008, a senior Plaid Cymru assembly member spelled out her party's continuing support for an independent Wales. The Welsh Minister for Rural Affairs, Elin Jones, kicked off Plaid's annual conference by pledging to uphold the goal of making Wales a European Union member state. She told the delegates in Aberystwyth that the party would continue its commitment to independence under the coalition with the Welsh Labour Party.[16]

History

Beginnings

Plaid Cymru Founding Plaque - geograph.org.uk - 644944

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 (English: National Party of Wales) was formed on 5 August 1925, by Moses Gruffydd, H. R. Jones and Lewis Valentine, members of Byddin Ymreolwyr Cymru (Home Rule Army of Wales; literally, Self-Rulers' Army of Wales); and Fred Jones, Saunders Lewis and David Edmund Williams of Y Mudiad Cymreig (The Welsh Movement).[17] 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.[18]

In the general election of 1929 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.[19]

1930s

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.[20] The alleged sympathy of the party's leading members (including President Saunders Lewis) towards Europe's totalitarian regimes compromised its early appeal further.[21]

In 1936 Lewis, David John Williams and Lewis Valentine attacked and set fire to the newly constructed RAF Penyberth air base on the Llŷn Peninsula in Gwynedd 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.[18][22]

1940s

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.[23] In fact, the party adopted a neutral standpoint and urged (with only limited success) conscientious objection to war service.[24]

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.

1950s

1959 election in Merioneth
Iorwerth Thomas and Gwynfor Evans sitting at a table in front of a BBC microphone, debating.
BBC debate between Iorwerth Thomas (Rhondda MP) and Gwynfor Evans, Plaid Cymru's first MP

Gwynfor Evans' 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 drown 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 drowning went through without support from any Welsh MPs showed that the MPs' votes in Westminster were not enough to prevent such bills from passing.[25]

1960s

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.[26]

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's capital in 1955.

However, in 1966, less than four months after coming in third in the constituency of Carmarthen, Gwynfor Evans sensationally 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.[27] However, — in Carmarthen particularly — Plaid Cymru also successfully depicted Labour's policies as a threat to the viability of small Welsh communities.[28]

1970s

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.

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.[19]

At the 1979 general election the party's vote share declined from 10.8% to 8.1% and Carmarthen was again lost to Labour.

1980s

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 "community socialism" as a constitutional aim. 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.[29] 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.

1990s

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.

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 captured traditionally strong Labour areas in industrial South Wales.

Plaid Cymru in the Assembly era

First National Assembly, 1999–2003

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, 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.[30] 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.

Plaid Cymru then developed political problems of its own. Dafydd Wigley resigned, citing health problems but amid rumours of a plot against him.[31] His successor, Ieuan Wyn Jones, struggled to impose his authority, particularly over controversial remarks made by a councillor, Seimon Glyn.[32] At the same time, Labour leader and First Minister Alun Michael was replaced by Rhodri Morgan.

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.

Second National Assembly, 2003–07

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.

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.

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,[33] 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.

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%.[34]

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. 2006 also saw the party unveil a radical change of image, opting to use "Plaid" as the party's name, although "Plaid Cymru — the Party of Wales" would remain the official title. The party changed its logo in 2006, from the traditional green and red triban (three peaks) used since 1933, to a yellow Welsh poppy (Meconopsis cambrica).[35]

Third National Assembly, 2007–11

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.[36] The party's share of the vote increased to 22.4%.

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.[37] Ieuan Wyn Jones was subsequently confirmed as Deputy First Minister of Wales[38] 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.

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.

Fourth National Assembly, 2011–

In the 2011 National Assembly election Plaid slipped from second place to third, being overtaken by the Welsh Conservative Party and losing its deputy leader Helen Mary Jones. The party held an inquiry into the election result.[39] The internal investigation led to the adoption of wide-ranging changes to its constitution, including a streamlining of the leadership structure.[40]

In May 2011, Ieuan Wyn Jones announced he would stand down as leader within the first half of the Assembly term.[41] A leadership election was held in which three candidates eventually stood: Elin Jones, Dafydd Elis-Thomas and Leanne Wood,[42] Simon Thomas having withdrawn his candidacy before ballots were cast.[43]

On 15 March 2012, Plaid Cymru elected Leanne Wood as the new leader. She was elected with 55% of the vote over second-placed Elin Jones with 41%.[44] She is the first female, and the first non-fluent Welsh speaker.[45][46] Soon after Wood's 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".[47][48] On 1 May 2012 it was confirmed Leanne Wood would not be taking the £23,000 pay hike every other party leader in the Assembly receives.[49]

On 12 November 2012, Leanne Wood announced she would be abandoning her relatively safe list seat to stand in a constituency at the 2016 National Assembly elections,[50] she later confirmed she would contest the Rhondda.[51] Adam Price was subsequently selected as the party's candidate for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr.[52] Lindsay Whittle confirmed he would contest the Caerffili constituency.[53]

On 20 June 2013, former party leader Ieuan Wyn Jones stood down from the Assembly as the member for Ynys Môn.[54] 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.[55]

Undeb Credyd Plaid Cymru

Undeb Credyd Plaid Cymru Credit Union Limited is a savings and loans co-operative established for party members in 1986.[56] Based in Roath, Cardiff, it is a member of the Association of British Credit Unions Limited.[57] 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.[58]

Party leadership

Name and portrait Party office Constituency
(if any)		 Notes
1
Leanne Wood		 Party Leader since 2012
and Welsh Assembly Group Leader		 Rhondda
2
Dafydd Wigley		 Honorary
Party President
From 2001		 Former Party President
Member of the House of Lords
3
Elfyn Llwyd		 UK Parliament
Group Leader		 MP Dwyfor Meirionnydd
4
Jill Evans		 European Parliament
Group Leader		 MEP for Wales Former Party President
5 Rhuanedd Richards Chief Executive Appointed June 2011[59]

Elected representatives

UK Parliament

European Parliament

Welsh Assembly

Local councillors

Electoral performance

European Parliament elections

Year Percentage of vote in Wales # of total votes Seats won
1979 11.7% 83,399
0 / 4
1984 12.2% 103,031
0 / 4
1989 12.9% 115,062
0 / 4
1994 17.1% 162,478
0 / 5
1999 29.6% 185,235
2 / 5
2004 17.1% 159,888
1 / 4
2009 18.5% 126,702
1 / 4
2014 15.3% 111,695
1 / 4

UK general elections

Year Percentage of vote in Wales No. of total votes Seats won
1929 0.003% 609
0 / 36
1931 0.2% 2,050
0 / 36
19350.3% 2,534
0 / 36
19451.2% 16,017
0 / 36
19501.2% 17,580
0 / 36
19510.7% 10,920
0 / 36
19553.1% 45,119
0 / 36
19595.2% 77,571
0 / 36
19644.8% 69,507
0 / 36
19664.3% 61,071
0 / 36
197011.5% 175,016
0 / 36
1974 (Feb)10.8% 171,374
2 / 36
1974 (Oct)10.8% 166,321
3 / 36
19798.1% 132,544
2 / 36
19837.8% 125,309
2 / 38
19877.3% 123,599
3 / 38
1992*9% 156,796
4 / 38
19979.9% 161,030
4 / 40
200114.3% 195,893
4 / 40
200512.6% 174,838
3 / 40
201011.3% 165,394
3 / 40
201512.1% 181,694
3 / 40

* Six seats contested on a joint Plaid Cymru/Green Party ticket

Welsh Assembly elections

Year Percentage of vote (constituency) Percentage of vote (regional) Seats won (constituency) Seats won (regional)
199928.4% (290,572) 30.6% (312,048)
9 / 40
8 / 20
200321.2% (180,185) 19.7% (167,653)
5 / 40
7 / 20
200722.4% (219,121) 21.0% (204,757)
7 / 40
8 / 20
201119.3% (182,907) 17.9% (169,799)
5 / 40
6 / 20

European Free Alliance

Name
and Portrait		 Party Office Constituency
(if any)		 Notes

Jill Evans		 EU Parliament
Group Leader		 Wales in the EU

Plaid retains close links with the Scottish National Party (SNP), with both parties' MPs co-operating closely with one another. They work as a single parliamentary group within Westminster, and were involved in joint campaigning during the 2005 general election campaign. Both Plaid and the SNP, along with Mebyon Kernow of Cornwall,[61] 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.

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Plaid Cymru.

References

  1. ↑ Steven Morris. "Plaid Cymru membership increases by 23%". the Guardian.
  2. 1 2 Hamilton, Paul (2008). "Nationalism and Environmentalism". Nations and Nationalism: A Global Historical Overview (ABC-CLIO) 3: 881
  3. ↑ Frans Schrijver (2006). Regionalism After Regionalisation: Spain, France and the United Kingdom. Amsterdam University Press. pp. 261–290. ISBN 978-90-5629-428-1.
  4. 1 2 Schrijver, Frans (2006). "Regionalism After Regionalisation: Spain, France and the United Kingdom". Amsterdam University Press: 330
  5. ↑ Siaroff, Alan (2000). "Comparative European Party Systems: An Analysis of Parliamentary Elections Since 1945". Garland: 467
  6. 1 2 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): 194
  7. ↑ Driver, Stephen (2011). "Understanding British Party Politics". Polity Press: 176
  8. ↑ Wolfram Nordsieck. "Parties and Elections in Europe". parties-and-elections.eu.
  9. ↑ Dunphy, Richard (2004). "Contesting capitalism?: Left parties and European integration". Manchester University Press: 157
  10. ↑ McEwen, Nicola; Parry, Richard (2005). "Devolution and the preservation of the United Kingdom welfare state". The Territorial Politics of Welfare (Routledge): 53
  11. ↑ "Lords by party and type of peerage". UK Parliament.
  12. 1 2 Edkins, Keith Local Council Political Compositions at Gwydir.demon.co.uk, 18 February 2012. Retrieved 1 March 2012.
  13. ↑ "Plaid Cymru, n.". OED Online. Oxford University Press. September 2014. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
  14. ↑ "Plaid Cymru conference calls for independence for Wales". BBC News. 10 September 2011.
  15. ↑ "Plaid Cymru Constitution" (PDF). February 2013. Retrieved 8 April 2014.
  16. ↑ "Plaid Cymru want independent Wales". Thisissouthwales.co.uk. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  17. ↑ Morgan, Kenneth O. (1981). Rebirth of a nation: Wales, 1880–1980. History of Wales 6 (reprint 2002 ed.). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p. 206. ISBN 0-19-821760-9. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  18. 1 2 Philip, Alan Butt (1975). The Welsh Question: Nationalism in Welsh Politics, 1945–1970. Cardiff: University of Wales Press. ISBN 0-7083-0537-7.
  19. 1 2 McAllister, Laura (2001). Plaid Cymru: the Emergence of a Political Party. Bridgend: Seren. ISBN 1-85411-310-0.
  20. ↑ 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."
  21. ↑ 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.
  22. ↑ 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. Retrieved 9 February 2011.
  23. ↑ Inspector Williams the Spy Catcher at South Wales Police website. Retrieved 29 September 2006. Archived 12 November 2009 at the Wayback Machine.
  24. ↑ 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."
  25. ↑ Davies, J, A History of Wales, (1990, rev. 2007), Penguin
  26. ↑ Morgan, K. O., Rebirth of a Nation, (1981), OUP
  27. ↑ Francis, H. and Smith, D., The Fed: A History of the South Wales Miners in the Twentieth Century, (1980), University of Wales
  28. ↑ 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
  29. ↑ "Plaid pioneer Gwynfor Evans dies". BBC News. 21 April 2005. 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.
  30. ↑ "Morgan is more popular — Michael". BBC News. 17 February 1999. 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.
  31. ↑ "'Wigley downfall' plot denied". BBC News. 14 July 2000. 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.
  32. ↑ "Moderate with a hard act to follow". BBC News. 4 April 2003. 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.
  33. ↑ "Elfyn Llwyd — Plaid Cymru parliamentary leader ePolitix interview". Epolitix.com. 6 September 2006. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  34. ↑ "Election 2005 results, Wales". BBC News. 1 June 2005. Retrieved 20 April 2010.
  35. ↑ "Plaid image change 'a new start'". BBC News. 24 February 2006. Retrieved 6 May 2016.
  36. ↑ "First ethnic minority AM elected". BBC News. 4 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.
  37. ↑ "Details of Labour–Plaid agreement". BBC News. 27 June 2007. 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".
  38. ↑ "Jones confirmed as deputy leader". BBC News. 11 July 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.
  39. ↑ "Plaid plans review of election catastrophe". Wales Online. 10 May 2011
  40. ↑ "Plaid Cymru agrees new constitution at special Aberystwyth conference". BBC News. 16 February 2013.
  41. ↑ "Ieuan Wyn Jones to stand down as Plaid Cymru leader". UK: BBC News. 13 May 2011.
  42. ↑ "Plaid Cymru leadership: Profiles of the three candidates". BBC News. 27 January 2012.
  43. ↑ "Simon Thomas yn tynnu’n ôl o ras arweinyddiaeth Plaid". Golwg360. 15 March 2012.
  44. ↑ "Leanne Wood yw arweinydd newydd Plaid Cymru". BBC Newyddion. 6 February 2012.
  45. ↑ "Plaid Cymru elect Leanne Wood as new leader". BBC News. 15 March 2012.
  46. ↑ "Leanne Wood becomes first female leader of Plaid Cymru - Wales News". WalesOnline. 23 March 2012. Retrieved 13 August 2012.
  47. ↑ "New Plaid Cymru Leader Unveils Economic Commission". Plaid Cymru. 21 March 2012.
  48. ↑ "Adam Price: WDA was 'thrown away' and Wales needs new economic powerhouse". BBC WAles. 25 March 2012.
  49. ↑ "Plaid leader Leanne Wood turns down pay rise". Daily Post. 1 May 2012.
  50. ↑ "Leanne Wood am sefyll mewn sedd etholaeth yn 2016". Golwg 360. 12 November 2012.
  51. ↑ "Leanne Wood i ymladd etholaeth Rhondda yn 2016". BBC Cymru. 15 March 2013.
  52. ↑ "Ex-Plaid Cymru MP Adam Price to stand for Welsh assembly". BBC Cymru. 12 July 2013.
  53. ↑ "Lindsay Whittle chosen as Caerphilly Assembly candidate". Caerphilly Observer. 16 September 2013.
  54. ↑ "Ieuan Wyn am sefyll i lawr yn syth". BBC Cymru.
  55. ↑ "Canlyniadau'r etholiad ar gyfer Ynys Môn". National Assembly for Wales]].
  56. ↑ Join us today Plaid Cymru Credit Union (retrieved 7 March 2015)
  57. ↑ Credit unions in membership of ABCUL Association of British Credit Unions (retrieved 1 November 2014)
  58. ↑ Credit Union Guide Financial Services Compensation Scheme (retrieved 2 April 2015)
  59. ↑ 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.
  60. ↑ "Jill Evans MEP". Plaid Cymru website. Plaid Cymru. 2 November 2012. Retrieved 2 November 2012.
  61. ↑ "Member parties". European Free Alliance. 2013. Retrieved 17 October 2014.

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