Plaid Cymru is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.
The 2003 National Assembly for Wales election was the second general election to the National Assembly for Wales. It was held on 1 May 2003. The election was characterised by a resurgence for the Labour Party, whilst Plaid Cymru saw a reduction in support and the number of Assembly Members they returned. Having won thirty seats, one short of a majority, Labour chose to govern in minority without a coalition partner.
Ieuan Wyn Jones is a Welsh politician who was the Deputy First Minister in the Welsh Government from 2007 to 2011. He was the Member of the National Assembly for Wales for the Ynys Môn constituency from 1999 to 2013, and he was also leader of Plaid Cymru from 2000 to 2012. Jones served as Member of Parliament for Ynys Môn constituency from 1987 to 2001, when he retired to focus on his work in the Welsh Assembly. In 2007, Jones was named Wales' "Politician of the Year" by the BBC Wales am.pm programme. He resigned from the Welsh Assembly on 20 June 2013. In 2017 he unsuccessfully sought to return to the House of Commons for his former constituency.
The Welsh devolution referendum of 1997 was a pre-legislative referendum held in Wales on 18 September 1997 over whether there was support for the creation of a National Assembly for Wales, and therefore a degree of self-government. The referendum was a Labour manifesto commitment and was held in their first term after the 1997 election under the provisions of the Referendums Act 1997. This was the second referendum held in Wales over the question of devolution: the first referendum was held in 1979 and was defeated by a large majority.
Elin Jones is a Welsh politician who has served as the Llywydd of the Senedd since 2016. A member of Plaid Cymru, Jones has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Ceredigion since 1999.
Leanne Wood is a Welsh politician who served as the leader of Plaid Cymru from March 2012 to September 2018, and served as a Member of the Senedd (MS) from 2003 to 2021.
One Wales was the coalition agreement for the National Assembly for Wales between Labour and Plaid Cymru agreed to by Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of Wales and leader of Welsh Labour, and Ieuan Wyn Jones, leader of Plaid Cymru, on 27 June 2007. It was negotiated in the wake of the preceding National Assembly election which resulted in a large Labour plurality, but no majority. Labour and Plaid Cymru approved the document in separate votes on 6 and 7 July, respectively.
The Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Welsh Language is a member of the Cabinet in the Welsh Government. The current officeholder is Jeremy Miles MS.
The Welsh Shadow Cabinet is formed from members of the official opposition in the Senedd, the largest party not part of the Welsh Government, to scrutinise ministers in the Welsh Cabinet. It is led by the Leader of the Opposition, who typically appoints members of the Senedd (MSs) from their party as shadow ministers with portfolios which mirror ministerial posts in the Cabinet who scrutinise ministers and can propose their own alternative policies. Other opposition parties in the Senedd also appoint frontbench teams of spokespeople who perform the same function. These are also sometimes styled as "shadow cabinets" by their parties, though unlike the Shadow Cabinet they have no official recognition. Since 2021, the Shadow Cabinet has been formed from members of the Welsh Conservatives led by Andrew RT Davies, who have alternated with Plaid Cymru as the official opposition in the Senedd since its establishment as the National Assembly for Wales in 1999.
Rhun ap Iorwerth is a Welsh journalist and politician serving as the Leader of Plaid Cymru since June 2023. He has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Ynys Môn since 2013.
The 2012 Plaid leadership election was held following the resignation of Ieuan Wyn Jones following the 2011 Assembly Elections. Following the election Jones originally stated that he would resign in the first half of the Assembly term. Nominations officially opened on 3 January 2012.
The 2018 election for the leader of the Welsh political party Plaid Cymru began on 7 August. Voting closed at midnight on 27 September. Adam Price was declared the winner on 28 September, defeating the two other candidates.
In the Senedd, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the Official Opposition, the largest political party that is not in the Welsh Government. The Leader of the Opposition leads and appoints members of the Shadow Cabinet and as such is sometimes styled as the Shadow First Minister of Wales.
Dafydd Wigley became Leader of the Opposition and Shadow First Secretary of Wales after the creation of the National Assembly for Wales on 12 May 1999, following the first assembly election held on 6 May. Members of his shadow cabinet were elected by Plaid Cymru's assembly members and announced on 18 May.
Ieuan Wyn Jones became Leader of the Opposition in Wales after being elected as President of Plaid Cymru, the Official Opposition in the National Assembly for Wales, on 3 August 2000. Jones had previously served in these roles in an acting capacity on the behalf of his predecessor Dafydd Wigley from December 1999 to February 2000. He formed his shadow cabinet on 9 August and, like his predecessor, appointed himself Shadow First Secretary of Wales and Shadow Assembly Secretary for Finance. Members of his shadow cabinet were initially known as shadow assembly secretaries until October 2000. From that month, members were known as shadow ministers, with Jones's titles also changing to Shadow First Minister of Wales and Shadow Minister for Finance, after a similar change was made to the names of ministerial posts in Rhodri Morgan's coalition government between Labour and the Liberal Democrats. Jones's shadow cabinet was dissolved after the formation of a coalition government between Plaid Cymru and Morgan's Labour Party on 19 July 2007.
Rod Richards, the leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the National Assembly for Wales, formed his frontbench team of party spokespeople on 13 May 1998. Richards had led his party into the 1999 National Assembly for Wales election after being elected as leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in 1998.
Mike German, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrat Group in the National Assembly for Wales, formed his second frontbench team of party spokespeople on 8 May 2003 after the dissolution of his party's coalition government with Rhodri Morgan's Welsh Labour following the 2003 National Assembly for Wales election. Richards had already formed a frontbench team before entering coalition, when his party became an opposition party after the 1999 National Assembly for Wales election before forming the coalition with Labour in October 2000.
Mike German, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrat Group in the National Assembly for Wales, formed his frontbench team of party spokespeople on 13 May 1999. German had led his party into the 1999 National Assembly for Wales election after being elected as leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrat Group in 1998. This was his first frontbench team in the assembly, with it dissolving after the party entered government in October 2000. He formed a second frontbench team after his party returned to opposition in May 2003.
Kirsty Williams, the leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, formed her frontbench team of party spokespeople in the National Assembly for Wales on 11 December 2008 after she was elected to succeed Mike German as party leader on 8 December. She reshuffled her frontbench team after the 2011 National Assembly for Wales election before her party's seat share was reduced from five to one at the 2016 National Assembly for Wales election, with Williams becoming the party's sole assembly member (AM).
Nick Bourne, the leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the National Assembly for Wales, formed his frontbench team of party spokespeople between 18 August and 25 August 1999 after he was elected unopposed to succeed Rod Richards as group leader on 18 August, having already served as acting leader since 11 August. He made a minor reshuffle to his frontbench team in 2000 and made further changes to the team after the 2003 and 2007 National Assembly elections. Bourne's party became the official opposition after the 2007 Welsh government formation in July 2007, with Bourne leading a shadow cabinet as the leader of the opposition.
