One Wales
Encyclopedia
One Wales is the coalition agreement
for the National Assembly for Wales
between Labour
and Plaid Cymru
agreed to by Rhodri Morgan
, First Minister of Wales and leader of Welsh Labour, and Ieuan Wyn Jones
, leader of Plaid Cymru, on 27 June 2007. It was negotiated in the wake of the preceding National Assembly election
which resulted in a large Labour plurality, but no majority
. Labour and Plaid Cymru approved the document in separate votes on 6 and 7 July, respectively.
election, four short of an effective majority of 30 (see Speaker Denison's rule
for an explanation of why this is so.) Originally, commentators had predicted a Labour-Welsh Liberal Democrats
coalition, after a previous coalition which had lasted from 2000 until 2003. Liberal Democrat leader Mike German
, who had served as Deputy First Minister of Wales in the previous coalition, favoured the deal, which would have given the Government a majority of two. However, concerns within his party about propping up a weakened Labour party prevented such an agreement. An alternative option, the so-called "rainbow coalition" of Plaid Cymru
, the Liberal Democrats, and the Conservatives
, was negotiated between the leaders of those parties in mid-May, but was shot down at a Liberal Democrat special conference vote on 23 May. The new Assembly formally opened two days later with no clear majority, and Rhodri Morgan was elected First Minister unopposed at the head of a minority government
.
After one month of minority government, talks between Ieuan Wyn Jones and Rhodri Morgan resulted in the One Wales agreement between Labour and Plaid Cymru, which gives the Government a majority of eleven. The agreement was criticised by some members of the Labour Party as too conciliatory towards Plaid Cymru's nationalist
leanings, especially in that it included a provision requiring a referendum
on full law-making powers for the National Assembly for Wales
, in line with the Scottish Parliament
. The Labour party agreed to the plan, however, by a wide margin on 6 July. Plaid Cymru's membership approved the plan on 7 July. Negotiations on cabinet posts in the new government were scheduled to take place starting 9 July, but Morgan fell ill the night before. The next day, he had surgery to insert stents into on two partially-blocked arteries. Morgan was released from the hospital a few days later, and negotiations concluded on 19 July. Three Plaid Cymru AMs are now serving as full ministers alongside six Labour members, with four deputy ministers from Labour and one from Plaid Cymru. The only Labour member to be struck from the government as a result of the deal was Deputy Economy and Transport Minister Huw Lewis
, who had previously opposed the One Wales deal.
In March 2010 the One Wales government parties, Labour and Plaid Cymru AMs refused to cross the PCS union
picket line
. The First Minister
Carwyn Jones
claimed that it was in the Welsh Labour party's political thinking not to cross a picket line. The Welsh Conservative Party
and the Welsh Liberal Democrats
condemned the One Wales government for not attending Assembly business.
over this Assembly term." Under its terms, Ieuan Wyn Jones will become Deputy First Minister and Rhodri Morgan will remain First Minister. Other posts will be divvied up among members of the two parties by Rhodri Morgan in consultation with Ieuan Wyn Jones.
The key policy proposals of the deal focus on increasing the amount of affordable housing in Wales through various incentives and schemes, investing in a comprehensive rail programme to link North Wales
and South Wales
more effectively, instituting a moratorium on community hospital reforms and promising to "agree and implement a new approach to health service reconfiguration" when "there is a local agreement on the way forward", a new commission to tackle climate change
problems and alternative energy
questions, and, most controversially, an agreement to hold a referendum on new law-making powers
for the assembly in the vein of those presently granted to the Scottish Parliament. The text also states Plaid Cymru and Labour have agreed "in good faith to campaign for a successful outcome to such a referendum."
This last section has come under scrutiny from members of the Labour party, including Welsh MPs Paul Murphy, Don Touhig
and also Kim Howells
, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
, who claimed it will lead "nationalists to the gates of independence."
The referendum was held on 3 March 2011. The outcome was 'yes', with 63.49% of the participants for and 36.51% against; 35.2% of the electorate actually participated.
in the British Isles
. According to recent polling by the BBC
, only 20% of Welsh voters favour independence, but 22.4% of Welsh voters supported Plaid Cymru — just one of a number of nationalist parties and candidates at the last Assembly election. This has been put down to more general dissatisfaction with Labour's Tony Blair
in the media, suggesting that any growth in nationalist sentiment might be less important to the electorate's shift away from Labour than Westminster
political scandals.
published the One Wales Delivery Plan 2007-2011 setting out 228 specific commitments in One Wales to be delivered by April 2011. Each section of the plan includes a vision statement and success criteria.
Coalition agreement
In multiparty democracies, a coalition agreement is an agreement between the parties that form the cabinet. It codifies the most important goals and objectives of the cabinet. It is often written by the leaders of the parliamentary parties.-Examples:...
for the National Assembly for Wales
National Assembly for Wales
The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
between Labour
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
and Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru
' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
agreed to by Rhodri Morgan
Rhodri Morgan
Hywel Rhodri Morgan is a Welsh Labour politician who, as First Secretary for Wales, and subsequently First Minister, was leader of the Welsh Assembly Government from 2000 to 2009. A former leader of Welsh Labour, he was the Assembly Member for Cardiff West from 1999 to 2011...
, First Minister of Wales and leader of Welsh Labour, and Ieuan Wyn Jones
Ieuan Wyn Jones
Ieuan Wyn Jones, AM is a Welsh politician, who was the Deputy First Minister in the Welsh Assembly Government from 2007 until 2011. Jones is the current leader of Plaid Cymru and Member of the National Assembly for Wales for the Ynys Môn constituency...
, leader of Plaid Cymru, on 27 June 2007. It was negotiated in the wake of the preceding National Assembly election
National Assembly for Wales election, 2007
The 2007 National Assembly election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland, and the Scottish Parliament election took place...
which resulted in a large Labour plurality, but no majority
Majority
A majority is a subset of a group consisting of more than half of its members. This can be compared to a plurality, which is a subset larger than any other subset; i.e. a plurality is not necessarily a majority as the largest subset may consist of less than half the group's population...
. Labour and Plaid Cymru approved the document in separate votes on 6 and 7 July, respectively.
History
On 3 May 2007, Labour won 26 of 60 seats in the 2007 National Assembly for WalesNational Assembly for Wales
The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
election, four short of an effective majority of 30 (see Speaker Denison's rule
Speaker Denison's rule
Speaker Denison's rule is a constitutional convention established by 19th century Speaker of the British House of Commons, John Evelyn Denison, as to how the Speaker decides on his casting vote in the event of a tie....
for an explanation of why this is so.) Originally, commentators had predicted a Labour-Welsh Liberal Democrats
Welsh Liberal Democrats
The Welsh Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties of the federal Liberal Democrats and operate within Wales, the others being the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England....
coalition, after a previous coalition which had lasted from 2000 until 2003. Liberal Democrat leader Mike German
Mike German
Michael James German, Baron German, OBE , usually known as Mike German, is a member of the House of Lords and former member of the National Assembly for Wales for the South Wales East Region. He was leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats from 2007–08...
, who had served as Deputy First Minister of Wales in the previous coalition, favoured the deal, which would have given the Government a majority of two. However, concerns within his party about propping up a weakened Labour party prevented such an agreement. An alternative option, the so-called "rainbow coalition" of Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru
' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...
, the Liberal Democrats, and the Conservatives
Welsh Conservative Party
The Welsh Conservatives & Unionists , informally the Welsh Conservatives or Welsh Tories, are the part of the Conservative Party which operates in Wales...
, was negotiated between the leaders of those parties in mid-May, but was shot down at a Liberal Democrat special conference vote on 23 May. The new Assembly formally opened two days later with no clear majority, and Rhodri Morgan was elected First Minister unopposed at the head of a minority government
Minority government
A minority government or a minority cabinet is a cabinet of a parliamentary system formed when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in the parliament but is sworn into government to break a Hung Parliament election result. It is also known as a...
.
After one month of minority government, talks between Ieuan Wyn Jones and Rhodri Morgan resulted in the One Wales agreement between Labour and Plaid Cymru, which gives the Government a majority of eleven. The agreement was criticised by some members of the Labour Party as too conciliatory towards Plaid Cymru's nationalist
Welsh independence
Welsh independence is a political ideal advocated by some people in Wales that would see Wales secede from the United Kingdom and become an independent sovereign state. This ideology is promoted mainly by the Welsh nationalist party, Plaid Cymru.-History:...
leanings, especially in that it included a provision requiring a referendum
Referendum
A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. This may result in the adoption of a new constitution, a constitutional amendment, a law, the recall of an elected official or simply a specific government policy. It is a form of...
on full law-making powers for the National Assembly for Wales
National Assembly for Wales
The National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
, in line with the Scottish Parliament
Scottish Parliament
The Scottish Parliament is the devolved national, unicameral legislature of Scotland, located in the Holyrood area of the capital, Edinburgh. The Parliament, informally referred to as "Holyrood", is a democratically elected body comprising 129 members known as Members of the Scottish Parliament...
. The Labour party agreed to the plan, however, by a wide margin on 6 July. Plaid Cymru's membership approved the plan on 7 July. Negotiations on cabinet posts in the new government were scheduled to take place starting 9 July, but Morgan fell ill the night before. The next day, he had surgery to insert stents into on two partially-blocked arteries. Morgan was released from the hospital a few days later, and negotiations concluded on 19 July. Three Plaid Cymru AMs are now serving as full ministers alongside six Labour members, with four deputy ministers from Labour and one from Plaid Cymru. The only Labour member to be struck from the government as a result of the deal was Deputy Economy and Transport Minister Huw Lewis
Huw Lewis
Huw Lewis AM is a Welsh Labour Co-operative politician. Born in Merthyr Tydfil, Glamorgan, Lewis has represented the Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency since the National Assembly for Wales was established in 1999.-Early life:...
, who had previously opposed the One Wales deal.
In March 2010 the One Wales government parties, Labour and Plaid Cymru AMs refused to cross the PCS union
Public and Commercial Services Union
The Public and Commercial Services Union is the sixth largest trade union in the United Kingdom. Most of its members work in government departments and other public bodies although some work for private companies.- Membership and organisation :...
picket line
Strike action
Strike action, also called labour strike, on strike, greve , or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became important during the industrial revolution, when mass labour became...
. The First Minister
First Minister for Wales
The First Minister of Wales is the leader of the Welsh Government, Wales' devolved administration, which was established in 1999. The First Minister is responsible for the exercise of functions by the Cabinet of the Welsh Government; policy development and coordination; relationships with the...
Carwyn Jones
Carwyn Jones
Carwyn Howell Jones is a Welsh politician and the First Minister of Wales. The third official to lead the Welsh Government, Jones has been Assembly Member for Bridgend since 1999. In the coalition government of Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru, he was appointed Counsel General for Wales and Leader of...
claimed that it was in the Welsh Labour party's political thinking not to cross a picket line. The Welsh Conservative Party
Welsh Conservative Party
The Welsh Conservatives & Unionists , informally the Welsh Conservatives or Welsh Tories, are the part of the Conservative Party which operates in Wales...
and the Welsh Liberal Democrats
Welsh Liberal Democrats
The Welsh Liberal Democrats are one of the three state parties of the federal Liberal Democrats and operate within Wales, the others being the Scottish Liberal Democrats and the Liberal Democrats in England....
condemned the One Wales government for not attending Assembly business.
Content
The first page of the agreement states it "delivers a progressive, stable and ambitious programme for governmentover this Assembly term." Under its terms, Ieuan Wyn Jones will become Deputy First Minister and Rhodri Morgan will remain First Minister. Other posts will be divvied up among members of the two parties by Rhodri Morgan in consultation with Ieuan Wyn Jones.
The key policy proposals of the deal focus on increasing the amount of affordable housing in Wales through various incentives and schemes, investing in a comprehensive rail programme to link North Wales
North Wales
North Wales is the northernmost unofficial region of Wales. It is bordered to the south by the counties of Ceredigion and Powys in Mid Wales and to the east by the counties of Shropshire in the West Midlands and Cheshire in North West England...
and South Wales
South Wales
South Wales is an area of Wales bordered by England and the Bristol Channel to the east and south, and Mid Wales and West Wales to the north and west. The most densely populated region in the south-west of the United Kingdom, it is home to around 2.1 million people and includes the capital city of...
more effectively, instituting a moratorium on community hospital reforms and promising to "agree and implement a new approach to health service reconfiguration" when "there is a local agreement on the way forward", a new commission to tackle climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
problems and alternative energy
Alternative energy
Alternative energy is an umbrella term that refers to any source of usable energy intended to replace fuel sources without the undesired consequences of the replaced fuels....
questions, and, most controversially, an agreement to hold a referendum on new law-making powers
Contemporary Welsh Law
Contemporary Welsh Law is a term applied to the body of primary and secondary legislation generated by the National Assembly for Wales, according to devolved authority granted in the Government of Wales Act 2006. Each piece of Welsh legislation is known as an Act of the Assembly. The first Assembly...
for the assembly in the vein of those presently granted to the Scottish Parliament. The text also states Plaid Cymru and Labour have agreed "in good faith to campaign for a successful outcome to such a referendum."
This last section has come under scrutiny from members of the Labour party, including Welsh MPs Paul Murphy, Don Touhig
Don Touhig
James Donnelly Touhig, Baron Touhig, PC, KSS is a British Labour Co-operative politician from Wales. He was the Member of Parliament for Islwyn from 1995 until his retirement in 2010.-Early life:...
and also Kim Howells
Kim Howells
Kim Scott Howells is a British Labour Party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Pontypridd from 1989 to 2010, and held a number of ministerial positions within the Government.-Biography:...
, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office
Foreign and Commonwealth Office
The Foreign and Commonwealth Office, commonly called the Foreign Office or the FCO is a British government department responsible for promoting the interests of the United Kingdom overseas, created in 1968 by merging the Foreign Office and the Commonwealth Office.The head of the FCO is the...
, who claimed it will lead "nationalists to the gates of independence."
The referendum was held on 3 March 2011. The outcome was 'yes', with 63.49% of the participants for and 36.51% against; 35.2% of the electorate actually participated.
Analysis
The agreement has been seen variously as a first step towards independence, a sell-out on Plaid's part that props up a Labour government, and part of a wider shift towards nationalismNationalism
Nationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
in the British Isles
British Isles
The British Isles are a group of islands off the northwest coast of continental Europe that include the islands of Great Britain and Ireland and over six thousand smaller isles. There are two sovereign states located on the islands: the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and...
. According to recent polling by the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, only 20% of Welsh voters favour independence, but 22.4% of Welsh voters supported Plaid Cymru — just one of a number of nationalist parties and candidates at the last Assembly election. This has been put down to more general dissatisfaction with Labour's Tony Blair
Tony Blair
Anthony Charles Lynton Blair is a former British Labour Party politician who served as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2 May 1997 to 27 June 2007. He was the Member of Parliament for Sedgefield from 1983 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007...
in the media, suggesting that any growth in nationalist sentiment might be less important to the electorate's shift away from Labour than Westminster
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom, British Crown dependencies and British overseas territories, located in London...
political scandals.
One Wales Delivery Plan 2007-2011
The Welsh Assembly GovernmentWelsh Assembly Government
The Welsh Government is the devolved government of Wales. It is accountable to the National Assembly for Wales, the legislature which represents the interests of the people of Wales and makes laws for Wales...
published the One Wales Delivery Plan 2007-2011 setting out 228 specific commitments in One Wales to be delivered by April 2011. Each section of the plan includes a vision statement and success criteria.
See also
- Politics of the United KingdomPolitics of the United KingdomThe politics of the United Kingdom takes place within the framework of a constitutional monarchy, in which the Monarch is the head of state and the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government...
- Nick BourneNick BourneNicholas Henry Bourne is a Welsh Conservative politician. He served as the Leader of the Welsh Conservative Party and as a member of the National Assembly for Wales for the Mid and West Wales electoral region from August 1999 until May 2011...
, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives and Leader of the OppositionOpposition (parliamentary)Parliamentary opposition is a form of political opposition to a designated government, particularly in a Westminster-based parliamentary system. Note that this article uses the term government as it is used in Parliamentary systems, i.e. meaning the administration or the cabinet rather than the state...
designate in the Assembly. - Scottish parliamentary election, 2007 on the same day as the Welsh one, resulting in a Scottish National PartyScottish National PartyThe Scottish National Party is a social-democratic political party in Scotland which campaigns for Scottish independence from the United Kingdom....
minority government.