Referendum in Wales 1997
On September 18, 1997, a referendum was held in Wales ( Welsh Refferendwm datganoli i Gymru , English Welsh devolution referendum ), in which the voters could comment on the question of whether a separate Welsh regional parliament should be set up. With a very narrow majority, the voters decided to set up such a parliament .
prehistory
A first referendum on the establishment of a Welsh Parliament had already taken place in 1979 . In contrast to Scotland, where a narrow majority of voters voted for a Scottish parliament in a similar referendum in 1979 , the Welsh people voted against a Welsh parliament with a large majority of 79.4% of the vote. In the following years there was little development towards greater Welsh autonomy.
In 1983 the Welsh Liberal Party included the goal of self-government in Wales in its manifesto. The Conservative Party , on the other hand, advocated a unionist policy and spoke out against devolution , as it saw the beginning of the collapse of the United Kingdom . The Labor Party has long been skeptical of the idea of decentralizing the United Kingdom, but in 1992, while still an opposition party, included the goal of creating a Welsh parliament in its program. Leading Welsh Labor politicians were Ron Davies and Rhodri Morgan . Unlike Scotland, there was no major coalition between different parties to jointly pursue the goal of Welsh self-government within the UK, but the Labor Party was the dominant and driving force in this matter. In March 1996, an agreement was reached between the Welsh leader of the Labor Party and the Liberal Democrats in Wales, Ron Davies and Alex Carlile, to jointly support a 'yes' vote in a future referendum on the establishment of a Welsh Parliament. After the Labor Party had approved an Additional Member System suffrage instead of the first-past-the-post originally envisaged , the Liberal Party and the separatist regional party Plaid Cymru also joined the referendum supporters.
Conducting the referendum and results
After Labor won the 1997 general election in a landslide victory on May 1, 1997, the promised referendum was scheduled for September 18, 1997. A week earlier, the referendum took place in Scotland , which ended with a convincing victory for supporters of self-government. The two statements that were presented to the Welsh in English and in Welsh at the same time and which had to be ticked alternatively were:
"I agree that there should be a Welsh Assembly / I do not agree that there should be a Welsh Assembly.
Yr wyf yn cytuno y dylid cael cynulliad i Gymru / Nid wyf yn cytuno y dylid cael cynulliadi Gymru "
“I am in favor of a Welsh Parliament. / I am against the formation of a Welsh Parliament. "
Supporters of the self-government of Wales rallied under the slogan Yes for Wales ("Yes to Wales"). Behind it stood the Labor Party, the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru. Even a few conservatives like Sir Wyn Roberts , who worked in the British government's Welsh Office between 1979 and 1995 , supported the Yes campaign. The opponents of devolution competed under the slogan " Just Say No ". Behind it were mainly Conservative Party activists, but also some dissidents from the Labor Party.
The result of the referendum was very close and on election evening everything depended on the results from Carmarthenshire , which were the last to arrive. Ultimately, the supporters won with 559,419 (50.3%) against 552,698 (47.7%) votes. The turnout was 50.1%.
| Unitary Authority | Yes votes (%) | No votes (%) |
|---|---|---|
| Anglesey | 50.9% | 49.1% |
| Blaenau Gwent | 56.1% | 43.9% |
| Bridgend | 54.4% | 45.6% |
| Caerphilly | 55.7% | 44.3% |
| Cardiff | 44.4% | 55.6% |
| Carmarthenshire | 65.5% | 34.5% |
| Ceredigion | 59.2% | 40.8% |
| Conwy | 40.9% | 59.1% |
| Denbighshire | 40.5% | 59.5% |
| Flintshire | 38.2% | 61.8% |
| Gwynedd | 64.1% | 35.9% |
| Merthyr Tydfil | 58.2% | 41.8% |
| Monmouthshire | 32.1% | 67.9% |
| Neath Port Talbot | 66.5% | 33.5% |
| Newport | 37.5% | 62.5% |
| Pembrokeshire | 42.8% | 57.2% |
| Powys | 42.7% | 57.3% |
| Rhondda Cynon plate | 58.5% | 41.5% |
| Swansea | 53.0% | 47.0% |
| Torfaen | 49.8% | 50.2% |
| Vale of Glamorgan | 35.5% | 64.5% |
| Wrexham | 44.3% | 55.7% |
| Wales total | 50.3% | 49.7% |
As a result of the referendum result, the Government of Wales Act , which regulated Welsh self-government, became law in 1998. On May 6, 1999, the first election for the newly created Welsh National Assembly took place.
Individual evidence
- ^ A b Richard Dewdney: Results of Devolution Referendums (1979 & 1997): Research Paper No 97/113. (pdf) House of Commons Library, November 10, 1997, accessed May 17, 2013 .
- ^ Vaughan Roderick: Welsh Devolution, art 4. You decide: The Referendum. BBC News, accessed June 8, 2013 .
- ^ Vaughan Roderick: Welsh Devolution: Part 5. Yeah or Nay: The two campaigns. BBC, accessed June 8, 2013 .
- ↑ a b Welsh Referendum Live - The Final Result. BBC, accessed June 9, 2013 .
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