Plaid Cymru

Plaid Cymru Party of Wales
Party leader	Adam Price
founding	August 5, 1925
Headquarters	Cardiff
Youth organization	Cymru X
Alignment	Separatism social democracy democratic socialism republicanism
Colours)	green
British House of Commons	3/650
British House of Lords	1/784
Welsh Parliament	10/60
Local government in Wales	206/1253
Number of members	7,863
European party	European Free Alliance (EFA)
Website	www.plaidcymru.org

Plaid Cymru [ plaɪd ˈkəmɾi ] ( English : The Party of Wales , German : Welsh Party ) is a center-left party in Wales , which describes itself as social democratic and Welsh national. It is often referred to simply as a plaid . The party leader is Adam Price .

The party is represented by four MPs in the British House of Commons . All four were elected in West Welsh constituencies. Plaid Cymru is traditionally a stronghold in the west and northwest of Wales, the parts of the country with the highest proportion of Welsh- speaking people . Plaid Cymru has close ties with the Scottish National Party .

Party history

The party was founded on August 5, 1925 by members of the Byddin Ymreolwyr Cymru , a Home Rule advocate party in North Wales, and the Y Mudiad Cymreig (the Welsh Movement), a South Welsh group that wanted the Welsh language to be the only official language. At first it was called Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru (National Party of Wales), but soon left out the middle part.

The party won its first seat in the lower house in 1966 in Carmarthen in the west. Since it was founded, Plaid Cymru has campaigned for more federalism . This request was fulfilled after a referendum in 1997 in which the voters voted by a narrow majority in favor of the creation of a Welsh National Assembly . In this, Plaid Cymru was initially the largest opposition party. When Plaid Cymru gave up the demand for state independence for Wales in January 2000, a small group split off and founded the party Cymru Annibynnol (Independent Wales).

Since 2007 Plaid Cymru was part of a coalition government with Labor in the Welsh regional government . The coalition agreement was entitled "One Wales". In 2011, Plaid Cymru under Ieuan Wyn Jones suffered a severe defeat in the election to the Welsh National Assembly . Leanne Wood was a trade unionist and declared a socialist at the head of the party until September 28, 2018.

Europe

Plaid Cymru is a member of the European Free Alliance . In the European Parliament , the party was up to the withdrawal from the EU of the United Kingdom represented by a deputy who the Greens / European Free Alliance - Group belonged (G / EFA). Plaid Cymru spoke out against Brexit .

Political goals

The political goals of Plaid Cymru are as follows:

1. The constitutional advancement of Wales towards national independence within the European Union.
2. Securing economic prosperity, social justice and environmental hygiene on the basis of decentralized socialism.
3. Building a national community based on equal citizenship, respect for different traditions and cultures and the equality of all individuals.
4. The creation of a bilingual society through a promotion of the revitalization of the Welsh language.
5. Achieve membership in the United Nations.

Party leader ( leader )

Surname	Term of office (beginning)	Term of office (end)
Lewis Valentine	1925	1926
Saunders Lewis	1926	1939
John Edward Daniel	1939	1943
Abi Williams	1943	1945
Gwynfor Evans	1945	1981
Dafydd Wigley, Baron Wigley	1981	1984
Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Baron Elis-Thomas	1984	1991
Dafydd Wigley, Baron Wigley	1991	2000
Ieuan Wyn Jones	March 16, 2000	March 16, 2012
Leanne Wood	March 16, 2012	28th September 2018
Adam Price	28th September 2018

Election results

Percentage results and total seats refer to Wales. Up to 1997 all elections took place according to majority voting , afterwards proportional representation was applied in elections to the National Assembly and the European Parliament .

year	choice	Share of votes	Seats
1929	General election 1929	<0.1%	0/36
1935	General election 1935	00.2%	0/36
1945	General election 1945	01.2%	0/36
1950	General election 1950	01.2%	0/36
1951	General election 1951	00.7%	0/36
1955	General election 1955	03.1%	0/36
1959	General election 1959	05.2%	0/36
1964	General election 1964	04.8%	0/36
1966	General election 1966	04.3%	0/36
1970	General election 1970	11.5%	0/36
1974	General election Feb. 1974	10.8%	2/36
1974	General election Oct. 1974	10.8%	3/36
1979	General election 1979	8.1%	2/36
1979	European elections 1979	11.7%	0/4
1983	General election 1983	7.8%	2/38
1984	European elections 1984	12.2%	0/4
1987	General election 1987	7.3%	3/38
1989	European elections 1989	12.9%	0/4
1992	General election 1992	9.0%	4/38 *
1994	European elections 1994	17.1%	0/5
1997	General election 1997	9.9%	4/40 *
1999	Election to the National Assembly for Wales 1999	30.6%	17/60
1999	European elections 1999	29.6%	2/5
2001	General election 2001	20.1%	4/40
2003	Election to the National Assembly for Wales 2003	19.7%	12/60
2004	2004 European elections	17.1%	1/4
2005	General election 2005	12.6%	3/40
2007	Election to the National Assembly for Wales 2007	21.0%	15/60
2009	European elections 2009	18.5%	1/4
2010	General election 2010	11.3%	3/40
2011	Election to the National Assembly for Wales 2011	17.9%	11/60
2014	European elections 2014	15.3%	1/4
2015	General election 2015	12.1%	3/40
2016	Election to the National Assembly for Wales 2016	20.8%	12/60
2017	General election 2017	10.4%	4/40
2019	European elections 2019	22.4%	1/4
2019	General election 2019	9.9%	4/40

* a seat by a candidate with the support of the Green Party

literature

• Andrew Edwards: Labor's crisis. Plaid Cymru, the conservatives, and the decline of the Labor Party in north-west Wales, 1960-74 (= Studies in Welsh history , Vol. 32). University of Wales Press, Cardiff 2011, ISBN 978-0-7083-2425-7 .

Web links

Commons : Plaid Cymru  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Website (English and Welsh)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ BBC: Wales vote share after 40 of 40 seats , June 9, 2017.
2. ↑ Christian Bunke: Small ones catch up - Great Britain: Left parties benefit from the bad image of the established politicians , Junge Welt, April 10, 2012.
3. ^ Stay in EU to solve its problems, Plaid Cymru says , BBC, February 10, 2016, accessed May 22, 2017.
4. ↑ 2017 Action Plan , accessed June 13, 2017.