Plaid Cymru

Dafydd Wigley

The party aims to:

• Secure self-government for Wales and a democratic Welsh state, based on socialist principles.

• To safeguard the culture, language, traditions, environment and economic life of Wales, through decentralist socialist principles.

• To secure for Wales the right to become a member of the United Nations Organisation.

The party now has about 7,500 members and is almost entirely dependent on voluntary contributions for finance.

History And Elections

Following the party's foundation in August 1925, Plaid fielded its first Parliamentary candidate in the General Election of May 1929. Standing in Caernarfon, he came fourth with 609 votes.

Gwynfor Evans was the first member of PC to win a Parliamentary seat. In the 1966 by-election, he won Carmarthen, having led the party since 1945. In 1991, he stepped down and Daffydd Wigley, MP for Caernarfon since 1974, has been party leader ever since.

In the February 1974 election, Plaid gained a seat in Meirionnydd as well as Caernarfon; in the October 1974 election, they also won Carmarthen back, having lost it in the general election of 1970. In the mid-1970s, it made further gains at local government level too.

By 1979, Plaid Cymru joined forces with the Scottish National Party to lobby the Labour Government to legislate in favour of devolution. The defeat of the devolution referendum and the change of government that year pushed the issue of Scottish and Welsh independence back down the political agenda in the early 1980s. Meanwhile, at their conference in 1981, PC changed its aims to incorporate 'community socialism' and successfully campaigned for a Welsh TV channel.

In the 1987 election, PC gained Ynys Mon (Anglesey) and in 1989, won 12.9% of the Welsh vote in the European Elections. Echoing the Scottish National Party's protest campaigns, PC also resisted the poll tax and opposed the construction of a military radar base in west Wales in the early 1990s. With help from the local Green Party, Plaid Cymru won 8.8% of the vote in Wales at the 1992 General Election, 1.6% higher than in 1987. It retained all three previously held seats, and gained Ceredigion.

Plaid Cymru won just over 100 council seats in the last Welsh local elections in 1995.

The 1997 Election

Plaid Cymru MPs

In terms of share of the vote, Plaid Cymru is the second largest party in Wales. However, of the 40 Welsh seats in existence under the new boundaries, there are currently only 4 Plaid MPs:

Party Headquarters:
Ty Gwynfor
18 Park Grove
Cardiff
CF1 3BN

Tel: 01222 646000
Fax: 01222 646001

Plaid Cymru Home Page
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