Welsh Labour

Ignoring Welsh farmers’ protests is a dangerous move for politicians

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Plaid Cymru, SFS, Risk, Agriculture, Trust, Bias, Perception, Research, Policy, Politics, City, Farmer, Welsh Labour, Brexit, Conservatism, Government

The tactics appear to have worked, with under-pressure ministers reportedly working on an update to the policy.

Key Points: 
  • The tactics appear to have worked, with under-pressure ministers reportedly working on an update to the policy.
  • We find the same in our new polling about the Welsh government – something that should be considered in the debate over the SFS.

A Europe-wide divide

  • This is only the latest manifestation of “rural resentment” – beliefs that rural communities are economically, socially and politically marginalised.
  • These sentiments have been associated with support for former US president Donald Trump and radical right parties across Europe.
  • Political discourse in recent years has focused more on heavily Brexit-voting urban areas in the north of England.
  • The real divide is political, but not party political.

Anti-Labour or anti-politics?

  • In Wales, there are some differences but party supporters are still very happy to criticise governments run by parties they support.
  • The most robust association we found in the cross-country study was between the perception of bias and trust in politics.
  • This carries over into the Welsh study: lower trust in Welsh politics is associated with urban bias perceptions, particularly with stronger perceptions.

Risk or opportunity?

  • For now, Welsh Labour has a huge poll lead over its rivals, which may cushion against electoral punishment even if it ploughs ahead with the SFS.
  • What’s more, the risk of allowing perceptions of anti-rural bias to fester is that it brings the wider political system (including the Welsh devolved institutions) into disrepute.


Lawrence McKay receives funding from the British Academy to research urban-rural divides in Western Europe (grant number: PF22\220092)
Davide Vampa receives funding from the British Academy for the project “Exploring the Emergence of New Territorial Divides after Devolution: An Analysis of the Socio-Political Gap between Capital Cities and Peripheral Areas in Scotland and Wales” (grant number: SRG23\230264)

Plaid Cymru's new leader faces tough challenges ahead of next elections

Retrieved on: 
Monday, July 17, 2023
Plaid Cymru, Plaid, Culture, Rhun ap Iorwerth, Policy, Iorwerth, The National (Scotland), Research, COVID, Movement, Government, Bullying, Intention, Time, SNP, NHS, Welsh Labour, Drug, Senedd, Welsh, Labour

Rhun ap Iorwerth was appointed as Plaid Cymru’s new leader mid-June 2023.

Key Points: 
  • Rhun ap Iorwerth was appointed as Plaid Cymru’s new leader mid-June 2023.
  • He replaced Adam Price, who stood down in response to a damaging report which found evidence of a culture of sexual harassment, bullying and misogyny in the party.
  • This is a major undertaking for any political party, but particularly for an organisation which is not large, or especially well-resourced.
  • This is a trend confirmed by its performance in the 2019 general election and the 2021 Senedd election.

Welsh independence

    • In the 2021 Senedd election, Plaid Cymru put its call for Welsh independence front and centre of its campaign and promised to hold a referendum within five years if it became the party of government.
    • But such a strategy misjudged the priorities of Welsh voters at the time, which was recovery from the COVID pandemic, rather than major constitutional change.
    • Welsh independence is still only supported by a minority of voters.

Scotland’s example

    • Many of those who do support Welsh independence, are also Labour voters.
    • And there is no sign that they are willing to ditch their allegiance and switch to supporting Plaid Cymru instead.
    • This is in spite of the difficulties that the Welsh Labour-led Welsh government is facing in the areas it is responsible for, such as the NHS.
    • In having to compete against such an opponent, Rhun ap Iorwerth’s Plaid Cymru faces an electoral challenge that is unique among Europe’s pro-independence parties.

UK Election Statistics: 1918-2019 - A century of elections

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, February 27, 2020
Political ideologies, Political parties, Social democratic parties, European Parliament, Ulster Unionist Party, United Kingdom general election, Scottish Conservatives, Plaid Cymru, Democratic Unionist Party, Social Democratic and Labour Party, Elections in the United Kingdom, Welsh Labour

House of Commons LibraryUK Election Statistics: 1918-2019 - A century of elections This paper presents an overview of election results since 1918.

Key Points: 


House of Commons Library

UK Election Statistics: 1918-2019 - A century of elections

    • This paper presents an overview of election results since 1918.
    • It provides summary results for all elections from 1918 to 2019, focusing on elections to the House of Commons.
    • It provides summary results for all elections from 1918 to 2019, focusing on elections to the House of Commons.

General Elections


    The graph below provides data on share of votes by party in UK General Elections from 1918 to 2019. This graph and supporting reference table is available in the Briefing Paper on p. 6. Results for each individual UK constituency at every General Election from 1918 to 2019 may be found in a further Library Briefing on General Election Results  

Conservative

    • The Conservatives best result in terms of seats won since 1945 was at the 1983 General Election, when 397MPs were elected.
    • At the 1997 General Election, there were 165 Conservative MPs elected and the party received 30.7% of the vote.
    • This was its worst performance in terms of share of the vote and seats won since 1918.
    • In 2019, the Party won 365 seats.

Labour

    • The first Labour majority government was elected in 1945.
    • The highest share of the vote received by Labour in a general election was 48.8% in 1951, when the Conservatives won the most seats despite polling fewer votes.
    • Labours worst general election performance of the post-war years was in 1983, with 27.6% of the vote and209 seats.
    • In 2019, Labour won 202 seats, their lowest number since 1935.

Liberal Democrats

    • The Liberal Party contested the 1983 and 1987 elections in alliance with the Social Democratic Party (SDP), before the two parties merged in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrat Party.
    • In 2010, there were 57 Liberal Democrat MPs, but their number fell to 8 in 2015.
    • In 2017 the number of Liberal Democrat MPs rose to 12, before decreasing to 11 in 2019.

Scottish National Party


    The Scottish National Party (SNP) won its first seat at a general election in 1970. The May 2015 election, when the party received 50% of the vote in Scotland and won 56 seats, was the SNP's best performance. In 2019, the SNP won 48 seats and 45% vote share. This was 8 percentage points up on 2017, although it did not return to its previous height of 50% in 2015.

Plaid Cymru


    Plaid Cymru won its first seats in a general election in February 1974. The most seats won by Plaid Cymru at a general election is four, in 1992, 1997, 2001, 2017 and 2019. 

UKIP & Brexit Party

    • The Eurosceptic parties received their highest share of votes (with 12.6% of the total vote) in 2015 when the UK Independence Party (UKIP) won its first ever seat.
    • It is likely that it lost some of its support to the Conservatives and the Brexit Party, headed by its former leader, Nigel Farage.
    • The Brexit Party won 2% of the vote across the UK did not win any seats in 2019.

Green Party


    The Green Party won a House of Commons seat for the first time at the 2010 General Election, this seat (Brighton Pavilion) remained the only Green seat after the 2015, 2017 and 2019 General Elections. In 2019, the party increased their vote share compared to 2017, but did not equal the record 3.8% vote share they won at the 2015 General Election. 

Ulster Unionists


    Since the Northern Ireland House of Commons (Stormont) was established in 1921, the Ulster Unionists dominated elections to Westminster as well as to the devolved Northern Ireland Parliament. The Ulster Unionists took the Conservative whip at Westminster until 1972. In this paper, Ulster Unionist general election candidates are listed as Conservatives for elections up to 1970 but are listed separately from 1974.

Democratic Unionist Party


    The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) has replaced the Ulster Unionist as the main Northern Ireland unionist party in 2001. In 2019, the DUP won eight seats, two fewer than in 2017. Unionists now have fewer Westminster seats than Nationalists for the first time since Northern Ireland's establishment in 1922.

Sinn Féin


    Sinn Féin won seven seats at the 2019 General Election, the same as in 2017. This is its highest number since the establishment of Northern Ireland in 1922. The Party maintained its number of seats inspite of 7 percentage points lower vote share in 2019 compared to 2017.

Social Democratic and Labour Party


    The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) gained two seats in 2019. This was a recovery from failing to win any seats in the House of Commons in 2017, for the first time since its formation in 1970. 

Speaker of the House of Commons

    • The Speaker of the House of Commons now contests general elections as the Speaker seeking re-election rather than as a party candidate.
    • Byconvention the main parties do not put up candidates against the Speaker.
    • In this paper, the Speaker is listed under Other for elections from 1997 onwards.
    • For elections before 1997, the Speaker is listed under the party for which he or she was formerly a Member.

Characteristics of MPs

    Gender


      220 female MPs were elected at the 2019 General Election (34% of all MPs). In total, 546 women have been elected to the House of Commons since 1918. Section 2.6 (p. 28) in the Briefing Paper includes a table which shows Women MPs elected at General Elections by party 1918-2019

    Ethnicity

    UK Election Statistics: 1918-2018 - 100 years of elections

    Retrieved on: 
    Thursday, December 13, 2018
    Political parties, Politics, European Parliament, United Kingdom general election, Ulster Unionist Party, Scottish Conservatives, Plaid Cymru, Democratic Unionist Party, Welsh Labour, Elections in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom by-election records

    Thursday, December 13, 2018This paper presents an overview of election results since 1918. It provides summary results for all elections from 1918 to 2018, focusing on elections to the House of Commons.

    Key Points: 


    House of Commons Library

    UK Election Statistics: 1918-2018 - 100 years of elections

    • It provides summary results for all elections from 1918 to 2018, focusing on elections to the House of Commons.
    • It provides summary results for all elections from 1918 to 2018, focusing on elections to the House of Commons.

    General Elections


      The graph below provides data on share of votes by party in the UK General Election from 1918 to 2017. This graph and supporting reference table is available in the Briefing Paper on p. 6.    

    Conservatives


      The Conservative’s best result in terms of seats won since 1945 was at the 1983 General Election, when 397 MPs were elected. Its highest share of the vote was 49.7% in 1955. At the 1997 General Election, there were 165 Conservative MPs elected and the party received 30.7% of the vote. This was its worst performance in terms of share of the vote and seats won since 1918.

    Labour


      The first Labour majority government was elected in 1945. The highest share of the vote received by Labour in a general election was 48.8% in 1951, when the Conservatives won the most seats despite polling fewer votes. Labour’s worst general election performance of the post-war years was in 1983, with 27.6% of the vote and 209 seats. In 1997, Labour's 418 seats were the highest ever number for a single party.

    Liberal Democrats

    • The Liberal Party contested the 1983 and 1987 elections in alliance with the Social Democratic Party (SDP), before the two parties merged in 1988 to form the Liberal Democrat Party.
    • 62 Liberal Democrat MPs were elected in 2005, the highest number for the Party and its predecessors since 1923 (when the Liberals won 158 seats).In 2017 the number of Liberal Democrat MPs rose to 12 from 8 in 2015.

    Scottish National Party


      The Scottish National Party (SNP) won its first seat at a general election in 1970. The May 2015 election, when the party received over 50% of the vote in Scotland and won 56 seats, was the SNPs greatest victory. In 2017, the SNP won 35 of Scotland’s 59 seats with 37% of the Scottish vote, a decrease of over 13 percentage points compared to 2015.

    Plaid Cymru


      Plaid Cymru won its first seats in a general election in February 1974. The most seats won by Plaid Cymru at a general election is four, in 1992, 1997, 2001 and 2017.

    UKIP


      In 2017, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) lost its only seat that the party won in 2015. UKIP's vote share declined from 12.6% to 1.8%. This was their lowest vote share since 2001. In 2017, UKIP did not finish second in any constituency, down from 120 second places in 2015.  

    Green Party


      The Green Party won a House of Commons seat for the first time at a 2010 General Election, this seat (Brighton Pavilion) remained the only Green seat after the 2015 and 2017 General Elections. In 2017, the party lost more than half its vote share compared with the 2015 election.

    Ulster Unionists


      Since Northern Ireland House of Commons (Stormont) was established in 1921 The Ulster Unionists dominated elections to Westminster as well as to the devolved Northern Ireland Parliament. The Ulster Unionists took the Conservative whip at Westminster until 1972. In this paper, Ulster Unionist general election candidates are listed as Conservatives for elections up to 1970 but are listed separately from 1974.

    Democratic Unionist Party


      The Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) have replaced the Ulster Unionist as the main Northern Ireland unionist party in 2001. In 2017, the DUP gained two seats for a total of ten seats won, its highest ever number of MPs since its formation in 1971.

    Sinn Féin


      Sinn Féin increased its share of the vote at every general election between 1992 and 2010, when they held five seats, in 2015 it reduced to four.

    Social Democratic and Labour Party


      The Social Democratic and Labour Party (SDLP) failed to win a seat in 2017. This is the first time since its formation in 1970 that the party has not won a seat in the House of Commons.

    Speaker of the House of Commons

    • The Speaker of the House of Commons now contests general elections as the Speaker seeking re-election rather than as a party candidate.
    • Byconvention the main parties do not put up candidates against the speaker.

    Characteristics of MPs

      Gender


        208 female MPs were elected at the 2017 General Election (32% of all MPs). In total, 489 women have been elected to the House of Commons since 1918. Section 2.6 (p. 28) in the Briefing Paper includes a table which shows Women MPs elected at General Elections by party 1918-2017

      Ethnicity