Plaid Cymru is a centre-left to left-wing,Welsh nationalist political party in Wales,committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. It campaigns on a platform of social democracy and civic nationalism. The party is a strong supporter of the European Union and is a member of the European Free Alliance (EFA). The party holds 4 of 32 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament,12 of 60 seats in the Senedd,and 202 of 1,231 principal local authority councillors. Plaid was formed in 1925 under the name Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru and Gwynfor Evans won the first Westminster seat for the party at the 1966 Carmarthen by-election.
Ronald Davies is a retired Welsh politician,former Secretary of State for Wales,former Member of Parliament and former member of the Welsh Assembly. He describes himself as a politician belonging to the "traditional left" who had "spent his life looking for a socialist progressive party". He was a member of the Labour Party,and then of Forward Wales (2004–2009);he was subsequently an independent candidate and eventually joined Plaid Cymru in 2010.
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.
Dafydd Wynne Wigley,Baron Wigley,is a Welsh politician who served as the leader of Plaid Cymru from 1981 to 1984 and again from 1991 to 2000. He served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Caernarfon from 1974 to 2001 and as the Member of the Welsh Assembly for Caernarfon from 1999 to 2003. In 2010,Wigley was granted life peerage,taking his seat in the House of Lords in 2011.
Robert Griffiths is a Welsh communist activist and the current general secretary of the Communist Party of Britain. He was elected by the party's executive committee in January 1998 to replace Mike Hicks.
Carwyn Howell Jones is a Welsh politician who served as First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour from 2009 to 2018. He served as Counsel General for Wales from 2007 to 2009. Jones served as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Bridgend from 1999 to 2021.
Gwynoro Glyndwr Jones is a Welsh politician who served as a Labour Member of Parliament. He was a schools inspector for 18 years;he has also been a broadcaster,political commentator and journalist. As a politician,he is best remembered for his long struggle to hold the mainly Welsh-speaking constituency of Carmarthen for the Labour Party against Plaid Cymru leader Gwynfor Evans,about which he wrote a book in the Welsh language.
John Griffiths is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative politician who previously served as Minister for Environment and Sustainable Development from 2011 to 2013. Griffiths has represented the constituency of Newport East in the Senedd since 1999.
Lynne Neagle is a Welsh Labour &Co-operative politician serving as Cabinet Secretary for Education since 2024. Born in Merthyr Tydfil,Glamorgan,Wales,Neagle has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for the constituency of Torfaen since the Senedd was established in 1999.
Janet Marion Davies is a Plaid Cymru Welsh politician. She was the National Assembly for Wales Member for South Wales West from 1999 to 2007,retiring at the 2007 election.
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.
Plaid Cymru originated in 1925 after a meeting held at that year's National Eisteddfod in Pwllheli,Caernarfonshire. Representatives from two Welsh nationalist groups founded the previous year,Byddin Ymreolwyr Cymru and Y Mudiad Cymreig,agreed to meet and discuss the need for a "Welsh party". The party was founded as Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru,the National Party of Wales,and attracted members from the left,right and centre of the political spectrum,including both monarchists and republicans. Its principal aims include the promotion of the Welsh language and the political independence of the Welsh nation.
The 2016 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 5 May 2016,to elect members (AMs) of the National Assembly for Wales,now known as the Senedd. It was the fifth election for the National Assembly,the third election taken under the rules of the Government of Wales Act 2006 and the first since the Wales Act 2014.
Gerald Jones is a Welsh Labour Party politician,serving as Assistant Government Whip who has been the Member of Parliament (MP) for Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare,previously Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney since 2015. He was Shadow Minister for Scotland from 2023-2024 and previously served as a Shadow Wales Office minister.
Dawn Alison Louise Bowden is a British Labour Party politician and trade unionist serving as Minister for Social Care since 2024. She previously served as Chief Whip of the Welsh Government from 2021 to 2023 and Deputy Minister for Arts and Sport from 2021 to 2024. Bowden has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney since 2016.
The fourth Morgan government was a Labour–Plaid Cymru coalition government led by First Minister for Wales,Rhodri Morgan.
The 2021 Senedd election took place on Thursday 6 May 2021 to elect 60 members to the Senedd. It was the sixth devolved general election since the Senedd was established in 1999. The election was held alongside the Scottish Parliament election,English local elections,London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election.
The 2009 Welsh Labour leadership election was held following the resignation of Rhodri Morgan,who stepped down after nine years as First Minister of Wales. Morgan had made clear his intent to resign in 2009 as far back as 2005. As Morgan had been elected unopposed in 2000,this was the first contested election for the Welsh Labour leadership for more than a decade.
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.
