1997 Welsh devolution referendum

Pre-legislative referendum in Wales April 2022 May 2020 1997 Welsh devolution referendum Do you agree that there should be a Welsh Assembly as proposed by the Government? Wales The Government of Wales Act 1998 passes and the National Assembly for Wales is formed. 1979 1979 Welsh devolution referendum 2011 2011 Welsh devolution referendum Wales 18 September 1997 559419 552698 1116116 2222533 Welsh devolution referendum, 1997.svg unitary authorities Saturation of colour reflects the strength of the vote. The 1997 Welsh devolution referendum 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 (Scotland and Wales) 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. The referendum resulted in a narrow majority in favour, which led to the passing of the Government of Wales Act 1998 and the formation of the National Assembly for Wales in 1999. Background A referendum was held in 1979 (with a parallel referendum in Scotland) proposing the creation of a Welsh Assembly, under James Callaghan's Labour government. The referendum stipulated that a Welsh Assembly would be created if supported by 50% of votes cast and 40% of the total electorate. The Scottish referendum achieved the first condition but not the second, while the Welsh referendum was defeated by almost a 4:1 majority. Indeed, although the Labour Party had committed itself to devolution in 1974 (following the advice of the Royal Commission on the Constitution) several Welsh Labour MPs (including Neil Kinnock) were very much opposed. The 1979 referendum had been such a resounding defeat that it killed off any prospects of devolution in Wales for a generation. The almost wholly anti-devolution, unionist Conservative Party won the 1979 general election (though Welsh Labour remained the largest party in Wales, the Conservatives only won 11 out of 36 seats in Wales)http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/rp2003/rp03-059.pdf UK Election statistics 1945-2003 and remained in government until 1997. Over this time, the Conservative Party became increasingly unpopular in Wales. The Conservatives mostly appointed English MPs representing English constituencies to the post of Secretary of State for Wales, including William Hague and John Redwood.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIwBvjoLyZc - YouTube www.youtube.com) A commitment to the creation of a Welsh Assembly with executive powers was again put into the Labour Party manifesto for the 1992 general election.http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/man/lab92.htm#dem Labour Party 1992 election manifesto https://web.archive.org/web/20131209110043/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/man/lab92.htm#dem 2013-12-09 dead The Labour Party shaped its policy of a Welsh Assembly under the guidance of Shadow Welsh Secretary Ron Davies and Welsh Office spokesmen Win Griffiths and Rhodri Morgan. In March 1996, Ron Davies signed an agreement with Alex Carlile, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, which committed both parties to support a "Yes" vote in a Welsh devolution referendum in the event of a Labour victory at the 1997 general election. The agreement was made in the context of a potential Lib-Lab pact should Labour not win an overall majority. There was no inter-party Constitutional Convention in Wales to define devolution as there had been in Scotland. Labour's initial proposal to elect a Welsh Assembly using the traditional first-past-the-post system was reversed in late-1996 in favour of the Additional-member system. This change was vital in order to gain the support of Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Liberal Democrats in the event of a referendum. Referendum question Unusually for a referendum just as in the 1997 Scottish devolution referendum the electorate was asked to vote on two statements rather than a question which corresponded to the following proposal. The statements were issued both in English and Welsh. Parliament has decided to consult people in Wales on the Government's proposals for a Welsh Assembly: Mae'r Senedd wedi penderfynu ymgynghori pobl yng Nghymru ar gynigion y Llywodraeth ar gyfer Cynulliad i Gymru: I agree there should be a Welsh Assembly cy Yr wyf yn cytuno y dylid cael Cynulliad i Gymru or I do not agree there should be a Welsh Assembly cy Nid wyf yn cytuno y dylid cael Cynulliad i Gymru (To be marked by a single (X)) Campaign The official Yes campaign, Yes for Wales, was supported by Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru, though they also ran their own individual campaigns.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/devolution/wales/briefing/yesno.shtml Welsh Referendum www.bbc.co.uk Labour anti-devolution MPs (including Llew Smith, among othershttps://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/devolution/wales/briefing/dissent.shtml Welsh Referendum www.bbc.co.uk) were subject to a tight parliamentary whip to ensure that the Labour Party was seen to be publicly behind the campaign. Yes for Wales placed a large emphasis on grassroots involvement in the campaign, with sectoral groups such as "Pensioners say Yes", and local branches throughout Wales.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/devolution/wales/briefing/campaig.shtml Welsh Referendum www.bbc.co.uk Prominent campaigners for a Yes vote included Labour politicians Leighton Andrews, Ron Davies, Alun Michael, Rhodri Morgan, Andrew Davies, Peter Hain, Hywel Francis, Edwina Hart and Val Feld; Liberal Democrat politicians Michael German, Jenny Randerson, Kirsty Williams and Peter Black; Plaid Cymru politicians Dafydd Wigley, Cynog Dafis, Ieuan Wyn Jones and Leanne Wood; and academic Russell Deacon. The official No campaign, Just Say NO, was chaired by Nick Bourne, then-Conservative "Chief Spokesman in Wales". The No campaign lacked the structure and finance of the Yes campaign, and suffered from the fact that the Conservatives' landslide defeat at the 1997 general election meant there were no Conservative MPs (and therefore no MPs supporting the No campaign) in Wales. Additionally, the No campaign in 1997 did not have the support of local authorities; the fact that the Conservatives had reduced layers of local government from two to one in 1994 meant that this was not an issue as it had been in 1979. Result 1997 Welsh devolution referendum 559419 1112117 552698 2222533 3999 I agree that there should be a Welsh AssemblyYr wyf yn cytuno y dylid cael Cynulliad i Gymru I do not agree that there should be a Welsh AssemblyNid wyf yn cytuno y dylid cael Cynulliad i Gymru Note: In Wales under the Welsh Language Act 1993 the Welsh language has equal status with the English language. National referendum Agree/Cytuno 559,419 #bfd #000 Disagree/Anghytuno 552,698 #fdd #000 The overall result was declared in the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. The proceeding officer was Professor Eric Sunderland. The results of all 22 local authority areas were announced individually, and the result was close enough that everything in fact hung on the announcement from Carmarthenshire, which carried the Yes vote.https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/devolution/wales/live/index.shtml Welsh Referendum bbc.co.uk 2017-09-18 The difference between the 'agree' and 'disagree' vote was 6,721.https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-40947872 How Welsh devolution has evolved over two decades 18 September 2017 www.bbc.co.ukhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/6993569.stm That's when I ran to the phone 18 September 2007 Results by unitary authority Council Area Turnout Votes Proportion of votes AgreeCytuno DisagreeAnghytuno AgreeCytuno DisagreeAnghytunoAnglesey56.9%15,64915,09550.9%49.1%Blaenau Gwent49.3%15,23711,92856.1%43.9%Bridgend50.6%27,63223,17254.4%45.6%Caerphilly49.3%34,83028,84155.7%44.3%Cardiff46.9%47,52759,58944.4%55.6%Carmarthenshire56.4%49,11526,11965.5%34.5%Ceredigion56.8%18,30412,61459.2%40.8%Conwy51.5%18,36926,52140.9%59.1%Denbighshire49.7%14,27120,73240.5%59.5%Flintshire41.0%17,74628,70738.2%61.8%Gwynedd59.8%35,42519,85964.1%35.9%Merthyr Tydfil49.5%12,7079,12158.2%41.8%Monmouthshire50.5%10,59222,40332.1%67.9%Neath Port Talbot51.9%36,73018,46366.5%33.5%Newport45.9%16,17227,01737.5%62.5%Pembrokeshire52.6%19,97926,71242.8%57.2%Powys56.2%23,03830,96642.7%57.3%Rhondda Cynon Taff49.9%51,20136,36258.5%41.5%Swansea47.1%42,78939,56153.0%47.0%Torfaen45.5%15,75615,85449.8%50.2%Vale of Glamorgan54.3%17,77630,61335.5%64.5%Wrexham42.4%18,57422,44944.3%55.7% See also Referendums in the United Kingdom Referendums (Scotland and Wales) Act 1997 1997 Scottish devolution referendum 2011 Welsh devolution referendum Yes for Wales Senedd Welsh devolution References External links BBC coverage of results BBC coverage of the final referendum result The Devolution Trail: 1997 Welsh Assembly documentary Category:Referendums in Wales Welsh devolution referendum Devolution referendum Category:Senedd Category:Welsh devolution Category:Autonomy referendums Welsh devolution referendum