§ 4. The Problem of Political Autonomy 

1. In what way is Wales represented in the administrative system of the United Kingdom? 

Wales has its own internal administration with a Secretary of State who is a member of the UK cabinet - though some services which are separate for Scotland are not separate for Wales. Wales elects its MPs to the UK House of Commons with each seat won by the candidate who receives more votes than any other. And Wales like Scotland has more seats per million people than England has.

Welsh politicians like Scottish ones have been important in the UK's national affairs. Neil Kinnock, who was leader of the Labour Party from 1983 till 1992, is a Welshman. He represented a Welsh seat in the House of Commons; so too did his two predecessors as leaders of the party. The UK's last Liberal prime minister; Lloyd George (1916-22) was Welsh. 

 2. What political parties gain main support in Wales? 

 In Wales the Labour Party is very strong in main industrial areas where most of the people live. At every general election since 1959 in Wales Labour has had more votes and won more seats than the Conservatives. But for most of this time the Conservatives have been in power in the UK, and therefore in charge of the internal administrations, with the Conservative minister. On the other hand, at three of the four gen­eral elections won by Labour in this period the Conservatives won more seats than Labour in England, so that it was the Welsh as well as the Scot­tish votes that put Labour into office. In 1987 in Wales Labour won twenty-four of the thirty-eight seats - eight more than in 1983.

Wales like Scotland has for a long time had its nationalist party, with aims ranging up to the extreme of complete independence. This party gained enough support in the early 1970s to cause alarm in the major parties, partic­ularly Labour. 

 3. What are the roots of the political autonomy of Wales? 

Wales was conquered and incorporated into a single political and administrative system
with England seven hundred years ago, but the Welsh sense of difference survived and has become more persistent during the present century.

Welsh cultural self-consciousness was awakened in the mid nineteenth century, through the flourishing of literature in the Welsh language and the literary and music festivals. But it was also awakened through the establishment of higher education colleges which emphasised Welsh identity and culture. Welsh society in the 19^th century was divided between the dominant Anglo-Welsh culture of the rich land-owning class, and the real Welsh culture of the ordinary, mainly Welsh-speaking people. Dissent from the Anglo-Welsh landowners, and from mainstream English life, has remained a vital aspect of Welsh identity. Until the Second World War its religious expression was through ‘non-conformism’, attendance at Methodist and Baptist chapels rather than at Anglican churches. Political dissent was expressed in the 19^th century through support for the Liberal Party, and in the 20^th - the Labour Party, rather than the Conservative Party, the party of the ruling English establishment. 

4. What was the reason for the growing national feeling in the 1960s? 

In the 1890s many Welsh demanded autonomy, or ‘home rule’, but the movement                  shrank, and did not revive again until the 1960s, when there was growing disappointment
with both the Conservative and Labour Parties. This was mainly on account of the economic recession in the sec­ond half of the 1950s which hit South Wales, the Welsh industrial region, particularly hard. Between 1957 and 1959 twenty-three Welsh coal mines stopped production. There was also a sense of loss as the closure of mines led to a collapse of close-knit valley communities. In the words of one Welsh historian: ‘The neighbourliness of old communities gave way to the alien impersonality of housing estates or commuter suburbs. Much of the vital culture of the Welsh heartland disappeared with them’. One veteran nation­alist wrote in 1968, ‘We Welsh are not just being denied self-expression as a nation today... We are fighting in the last ditch for our very identity’. Plaid Cymru, the Welsh national party, had attracted 11 per cent of the Welsh vote by 1970, and gained three parliamentary seats following the 1974 elec­tion. 

5. What measures were undertaken to change political situation? 

The London government responded to the rise in Welsh national feeling by delegating some administrative responsibility, most significantly with the appointment in 1964 of a Secretary of State for Wales. But it also used the Royal Family as a symbol of British unity. In 1969 Prince Charles was invested Prince of Wales at a ceremony in Caernarvon Castle. The investiture ceremony itself was only invented in 1911, to channel growing Welsh national feeling back to loyalty to the United King­dom. Not surprisingly, some Welsh find the ceremony symbolic of English rule rather than Welsh identity. Indeed, the 1969 ceremony was completed amid tight police security and fears of Welsh nationalist protest.

A powerful new Welsh Development Agency was founded and given substantial government funding. In 1978-79 a bill was passed by Parliament to increase the autonomy of Scotland and Wales within the Kingdom, and to provide for them to elect national parliaments (though still keeping their seats in the UK House of Commons). But some English Labour MPs did not like these privileges, and the bill was finally passed with a requirement for a referendum in each of the two nations. To bring the bill's provisions into effect there must be not only a majority of those voting, but at least 40 per cent of those registered to vote. A provision for Wales produced 12 per cent ‘Yes’ votes and 4 per cent ‘No’. So the bill failed.  

6. What were the results of these measures? 

Plaid Cyrnru lost some of its credibility and declined in popularity as a result. One reason for the Welsh retreat from devolution was that the government had released economic figures in 1971 which gave weight to the belief that Wales benefited from its integration with the rest of the British economy. Then following the international oil crisis of 1973 there seemed to be improved prospects for the coal industry. However, during the 1980s closures in both the coal and steel industries resumed, and deep aliena­tion from the Conservative government took place. In the 1987 election the Conservatives won only eight out of the thirty-eight Welsh seats. The sense of invasion by the English, many of whom had bought holiday homes, was felt acutely. It had forced up the price of many country cottages beyond the means of local Welsh people. A small militant group set fire to almost 200 of these English-owned homes during the 1980s. While the majority of Welsh people condemn the methods, they do not necessarily disagree with the aims, feeling angry at the way in which the English are taking Wales over. 

7. How significant is Welsh political nationalism? 

Politically, Welsh nationalism has not yet really become significant. Plaid Cymru remains a rural party with little prospect of gaining majority support in Wales. Labour, for which most Welsh people vote, has remained unionists like the Conservatives, in spite of greater sympathy for nationalist feeling. Yet the nationalist issue is unlikely to disappear. An opinion poll in 1987 indicated that 52% of the Welsh might now be in favour of an Assem­bly, a higher level than was registered even at the height of nationalist feel­ing in the early 1970s. 

Questions:

1. What Welsh politicians have been important in the UK's national affairs?

2. What political party is the most popular in Wales?

3. What can you say about the political autonomy of Wales as it is seen today?

4. Is Welsh nationalism likely to disappear? Prove your point of view. 

Additional Reading                                    St. David's Day 

Dewi (‘David’ in English), was the son of a Welsh chieftain. He was brought up as a Christian and went abroad to learn more about the life of a monk Then he returned to Wales and founded many monasteries which became centres of religion and learning in the Welsh countryside. The monks lived a simple life of prayer, growing their own herbs and vegetables and offering generous hospitality to anyone in need. Because of David's holiness and his inspiring teaching, he was made a bish­op. The centre of his bishopric was in the settlement now known as St. David's on the Western tip of the country of Dyfed.

David is thought to have died on 1 March, AD 589, and his shrine at St. David's was a place of pilgrimage in the Middle Ages. Later, when peo­ple of North and South Wales became one nation, he was chosen as the patron saint of Wales.

A legend tells how David suggested that his people should wear a leek in their bonnets during battles so that they could be easily recognized; Welsh Guards are still distinguished by a green and white plume in their black bear­skins. At Windsor, on the Sunday nearest St. David's Day, it is now a tradi­tion that every member of the Brigade of Welsh Guards is given a leek by a member of the Royal Family. However, as St. David's Day is celebrated at the beginning of spring when daffodils are blooming, this flower has become a second, more graceful emblem of Wales. David's own emblem is a dove.

It is said that David had a sweet singing voice. He encouraged his monks to sing as well as possible for the glory of God, and perhaps this was the beginning of the Welsh tradition of fine made-voice choirs.