Wales Politics

Wales is one of the four constituent countries of the UK. Since the late 1990s Wales is under a system of devolution (or home rule). The Government of Wales Act 1998 established devolution in Wales and the National Assembly for Wales was put in charge of certain executive and legislative matters.
In 1969, following the strengthening support emergence for Plaid Cymru and the Scottish National Party (SNP), the Government set up the Royal Commission on the Constitution which investigated the UK’s constitutional arrangements and eventually proposed some devolution of power in a White Paper of 1974. At that time however the idea was comprehensively rejected by the people when it was put to a referendum.

It was the election of a new Labour Government in 1997 which re-invigorated moves towards welsh devolution amd in 1999 the National Assembly for Wales (Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru) was created. Further authority in relation to specific areas of Welsh Law was devolved to the Welsh Assembly in 2007.

Back to All European Country Guides