Wales Labour Party
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Wales Labour Party | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Leader | Tony Blair (National Assembly Labour Party Leader: Rhodri Morgan) |
| Founded | 1947 |
| Headquarters | Transport House 1 Cathedral Road Cardiff, CF11 9HA |
| Political Ideology | Democratic socialism (Charter) |
| Political Position | Centre-Left |
| International Affiliation | Socialist International |
| European Affiliation | Party of European Socialists |
| European Parliament Group | {{{europarl}}} |
| Colours | Red |
| Website | www.welshlabour.org.uk |
| See also | Politics of the UK |
The Wales Labour Party, also known as Welsh Labour, is the part of the Labour Party which operates in Wales. It is the largest and most successful political party in modern Welsh politics, having won (with its predecessor organisations) the largest share of the vote in at every UK General Election, Welsh Assembly election and European Parliament election since 1922.[1]
The Wales Labour Party has 2 of 4 Welsh seats in the European Parliament, 29 of 40 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament, 29 of 60 seats in the National Assembly for Wales (where it is the party of government), and control of 8 of 22 Welsh local authorities.
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[edit] Structure
The Wales Labour Party is a constituent unit of the Labour Party rather than part of a federal organisation (such as the relationship between the Welsh Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats, for example), and as such does not have an office of Leader. Rhodri Morgan, First Minister of the National Assembly for Wales is regarded as the de facto Leader, although his constitutional position is that of Leader of the National Assembly Labour Party, analogous to the Parliamentary Labour Party.
The Wales Labour Party has autonomy in policy formulation for those areas now devolved to the Welsh Assembly, as well as candidate selection for that body. Party objectives are set by the Welsh Executive Committee (WEC), which performs a similar function to the Labour Party's National Executive Committee (NEC) in respect of devolved responsibilities.
The Welsh Executive Committee is made up of representatives from each section of the party - government, MPs, AMs, MEPs, councillors, trade unions and Constituency Labour Parties (CLPs - the basic unit of organisation throughout the Labour Party).
The party's headquarters in Cardiff organise the party's election campaigns at all levels of government (Community Councils, Unitary Authorities, Welsh Assembly, Westminster and European Parliament), support the CLPs and branches in membership matters and perform secretarial functions to the National Assembly Labour Party (NALP) and the party's policy making process. They also organise the annual conference, the sovereign decision-making body of the party, provide legal and constitutional advice, and arbitrate certain disciplinary matters.
[edit] History
[edit] Beginnings
Although efforts were made as early as 1911 to establish a Welsh version of the Independent Labour Party, it was not until May 1947, with the merger of the South Wales Regional Council of Labour and the constituency parties of north and mid Wales, that the Wales Labour Party was formed (as the Welsh Regional Council of Labour).
The formation of the new organisation reflected the consolidation of industrial and trade union power under Clement Attlee's 1945-1951 Government. The experience of the depression of the 1930s - when Welsh industry was particularly hard hit - had led Labour to develop an alaysis in which the Welsh economy was to be planned and structured on a national basis. An all-Wales party structure was created to reflect this re-alignment. Ironically, the commensurate changes in the machinery of government were not implemented until much later, reflecting a persistent ambivalence within Labour about "the National question".
Welsh Labour's predecessor bodies bequeathed it a formidable electoral inheritance, upon which it was to build still further. In the 1945 General Election the party won 25 of the 36 Welsh constituencies, gaining some 48% of the popular vote. Despite a swing away from Labour in the 1950 and 1951 General Elections in Britain as a whole, Welsh Labour gained both seats and vote share, pursuing a strategy of extending its appeal from its industrial base in the south and north east of Wales into the rural and Welsh speaking areas where the Liberal Party remained strong.
[edit] 1950s
Despite remaining in opposition at Westminster throughout the 1950s, Welsh Labour polled in execess of 50% of the popular vote at each General Election, stacking up apparently impregnable majorities in its south Wales valleys heartlands. Aneurin Bevan, for example, was routinely returned to Parliament with 80% of the vote of his Ebbw Vale consituency, a pattern repeated in to a greater or lesser extent in some 15 seats throughout the area. Welsh Labour showed itself, both by its actions in local government and by its proposals for central government to be a practical, modernising party committed to investment in infrastructure, serious about providing jobs and improving public services. [2]
[edit] 1960s
At the 1964 General Election Welsh Labour polled some 58% of the vote and won 28 seats in Wales. The Wilson government gave Welsh Labour the opportunity to enact its long standing promise (galvanised by the Conservative government's appointment of a Minister of Welsh Affairs in the mid 1950s) to create the post of Secretary of State for Wales and a Welsh Office. The pattern of electoral hegemony seemed set to continue into the 1960s. At the 1966 General Election Welsh Labour's share topped 60%, gaining it all but 4 of Wales's 36 Parliamentary constituencies. Within three months, however, Gwynfor Evans sensationally captured Carmarthen for Plaid Cymru at a by election, and the Nationalists came within a whisker of victory at the 1967 Rhondda West and 1968 Caerphilly by elections, achieving huge swings against Labour of 30% and 40% respectively.
[edit] 1970s
The emergence of Plaid Cymru (and the Scottish National Party) prompted the Wilson Government to establish the Kilbrandon Commission, leading in turn to Welsh Labour to once more consider the case for devolution - this time coming out in favour. Victory in the 1974 General Election pushed devolution onto the political agenga, culminating in the decisive vote against a Welsh Assembly in the 1979 referendum.
The Nationalist threat to the party's industrial heartland fell away in the 1970s. However, both Plaid Cymru and (to a greater extent) the Conservatives gained ground in Welsh-speaking and coastal Wales respectively, where Labour's roots were far more shallow. By the 1979 General Election Welsh Labour held 22 of the 36 Parliamentary seats, albeit with a 48% share.
[edit] 1980s
This relative decline was, however, eclipsed by the dramatic collapse in Labour support at the 1983 General Election. In contrast to the 1950s, where a swing against Labour in Britain was not matched in Wales, Welsh voters showed themselves just as unwilling to endorse Michael Foot's markedly more left-wing manifesto. Welsh Labour polled a mere 37.5% of the popular vote, yielding 20 seats. A rampant Conservative Party, by contrast, captured 14 seats (including three of the four Cardiff constituencies) and exceeded 30% of the vote for the first time since 1910. Welsh Labour's problems were further compounded by a strong SDP-Liberal Alliance performance, gaining 23% of the vote (albeit to little benefit in terms of seats) at what was to be the height of their success.
The miners' strike of 1984-5, appeared to present Welsh Labour with an electoral opportunity, despite the invidious position the nature of the action placed new leader Neil Kinnock in. At the 1987 General Election the party polled 45%, winning 24 seats, with a further two from the Conservatives at by elections in 1989 and 1991.
[edit] 1990s
Equally, however, Conservative policy in Wales could also be deemed to have helped break the traditional compact between Welsh Labour and the Welsh electorate. On the one hand, the party was shown to be ineffective in the face of the psychologically traumatic restructuring (and de-industrialisation) of the Welsh economy. On the other, seemingly perpetual Conservative rule, on the basis of their electoral power outside of Wales, re-ignited the debate within Welsh Labour about devolution.[3]
Under John Smith Labour committed itself to devolution for both Wales and Scotland, a commitment that survived his early death. By 1997, when Welsh Labour captured 34 of Wales's 40 seats, wiping out the Conservatives' Welsh representation and polling 55%, the stage was set for another devolution referendum, this time won by the narrowest of margins.
[edit] The Assembly era
Less than two years later, at the first elections to the new Welsh Assembly Labour was again humbled in its heartlands by Plaid Cymru, losing such totemic seats as Islwyn, Llanelli and Rhondda (but nevertheless winning the largest number of seats). In the run-up to the elections, the party's nominee for First Secretary, Ron Davies had been forced to resign amid an alleged sex scandal. His replacement, Alun Michael, the new Secretary of State for Wales, was seen as a reluctant participant despite also having a long-standing commitment to Welsh devolution, and was widely regarded as being the choice of the UK leadership of the Labour Party. Labour won 28 of the 60 seats (20 being allocated via the Additional Member System) on 37% of the vote and a month later came within two points of being pushed into second place for popular share by the Nationalists in elections to the European Parliament.
As in the 1970s, the Nationalist challenge then fell away, due in part to the replacement in 2000 of Alun Michael with Rhodri Morgan. Under Morgan's leadership, a coalition was formed with the Liberal Democrats that arguably brought a degree of stability to the administration. By 2003 Labour's share increased to 40% (on a marginally increased turnout) and the party gained 30 seats overall, allowing it to govern alone once more. By the 2005 General Election, the party's share fell back to 43% or 29 seats, with the Conservatives regaining a Parliamentary foothold in Wales.
[edit] Policy Differences
Rhodri Morgan's administration has emphasised the difference in approach to public service provision between itself and that of Tony Blair's government. Specifically, Morgan has contrasted his administration's collaborative approach with that of the Blair government's focus on the introduction of competition in public services, a approach which Morgan argues places insufficient emphasis on equality of outcome.[4].
In practice, this has meant foregoing many policies of the Labour government such as Foundation Hospitals, school academies and PFI projects in some areas. Other noted policy initiatives, have included the introduction of free school breakfasts, free access to swimming pools for children during school holidays and the proposed abolition of prescription fees.
[edit] References
- ^ Jones, B, Welsh Elections 1885 - 1997 (1999), Lolfa. See also UK 2001 General Election results by region, UK 2005 General Election results by region, 1999 Welsh Assembly election results, 2003 Welsh Assembly election results and 2004 European Parliament election results in Wales (BBC)
- ^ Walling, A, The Structure of Power in Labour Wales 1951-1964 in The Labour Party in Wales 1900-200 (Ed. Tanner, D, Williams, C and Hopkin, D), (2000), University of Wales Press
- ^ Tanner, D, Facing the New Challenge: Labour and Politics 1970 - 2000 in The Labour Party in Wales 1900-200 (Ed. Tanner, D, Williams, C and Hopkin, D), (2000), University of Wales Press
- ^ Speech by Rhodri Morgan Public Services: Looking to the future for Wales, 7 October 2004. See also Speech to the National Centre for Public Policy, University of Wales Swansea, December 2002
