Liberal Democrats

History:

Formed on the 6th of June 1859, when Whigs, Peelites and Radicals met at Willis’s Rooms in St. James Street, London, to unite in opposition to the Conservatives. They governed Britain for the next 60 years, with Asquith, Gladstone and Lloyd George dominating the era. The strains of the First World War left the party in disarray.

In 1957 there were only 5 MP’s and just 110 constituencies had been contested by the party at the previous general election. In 1958, the Liberals won their first by-election for over 30 years, at Torrington in Devon.

In 1988 the Liberal Democrats were formed. The liberal party formally merged with the Social Democrats. They were first known as the Social Liberal Democrats (SLA), but then changed to Liberal Democrats.

Since the merger in 1988, The Liberal Democrats have regularly scored 20% of the vote in local elections and higher in council by-elections.

After Labour was elected in 1997, Senior Liberal Democrats have been invited to sit in on Labour cabinet meetings.

Organisation:

The Liberal Democrats are a federal structure. It is a compromise between the centralised structure of the Social Democrat Party and the federal structure of the Liberal party.

The central decision-making body of the party is not all-powerful. Power is devolved to area and Local parties.

The state parties are responsible for the operation of local parties.

Policy Making:

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Twice a year, in spring and autumn, elected representatives from Liberal Democrat constituency parties assemble at the party conference to establish federal party policy- the liberal democrat priorities for U.k. government.

Federal policy covers those areas that would fall within the remit of the federal institutions of a properly federal United Kingdom.

Every year, conference representatives elect a Federal Policy Committee, which is responsible for the production of papers that are debated by Conference, and is responsible for election manifestos. Party members discuss policy papers in local and regional meetings, and their representatives then debate and vote on ...

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Federal policy covers those areas that would fall within the remit of the federal institutions of a properly federal United Kingdom.

Electing a Leader:

Secret ballot involving all party members.

Plaid Cymru

History:

Remained a small party from its formation in August 1925 until the 1950s. During this period the dominant figure within the Party was Saunders Lewis who was President from 1926 until 1939.
Under the guidance of the Party's General Secretary, J E Jones, Plaid Cymru evolved into a professional political party. Its annual summer schools providing a focus for its members to learn and debate, while its two newspapers Y Ddraig Goch and The Welsh Nation helped to spread the message further a field.

The party contested its first ever-parliamentary election at the General Election of May 1929. The party's candidate, the Reverend Lewis Valentine, polled 609 votes ('the gallant six hundred'), in the Caernarfon constituency. Just over forty years later Plaid Cymru was to take and hold this seat with a convincing majority.
The 'gallant six hundred' was the first of a growing flood of supporters for the party. After World War II, the presidency of Gwynfor Evans proved a catalyst to the Party's development. In the General Election of 1950 Plaid Cymru fielded seven candidates, by 1964 this had grown to 23. Today Plaid contests every single seat for the European Parliament, Westminster, and the National Assembly along with an ever-increasing number of local council seats.
On the 14th July 1966 a by-election was held in Carmarthen. Its victor was Gwynfor Evans, President of Plaid Cymru. Another important milestone had been reached. Wales now had its first independent voice at Westminster, an MP whose only concern would be to fight for the best deal for Wales and its entire people. Membership of the Party grew rapidly during the late 1960s. Constituency organisations were formed in many new areas, and Plaid came within a whisker of breaking the Labour stranglehold in two key valley by-elections at Rhondda West in 1967 and Caerffili in 1968. In 1970, the party contested all seats in Wales for the first time and polled over 175,000 votes in total.
The party's conference in 1981 incorporated the concept of 'community socialism' into its formal aims, and elected Caernarfon MP, Dafydd Wigley as President in succession to Gwynfor Evans. After a strenuous campaign in which Evans threatened to fast to death, the party forced the Government into a major concession and secured a Welsh-medium television channel. In 1987 Election, the current leader of Plaid Cymru, Ieuan Wyn Jones, captured Ynys Mon from the Conservatives.
During 1990, Plaid Cymru played a leading role in resisting the Poll Tax and successfully opposed the construction of a giant military radar base at St David's in west Wales. The party also stepped up its bid to secure self-government for Wales in the European Union. In 1991, Plaid scored its best performance since the 1970s in Wales' district and community council elections.
In May 1999 the people of Wales voted in the first ever Welsh General Election. The results for Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales were stunning. The party won seats in north, south and west - in every single region. Rhondda, Islwyn and Llanelli were snatched from Labour. Overall Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales won 17 seats and nearly 30% of the vote. Its position as the second largest party in Welsh politics was confirmed and Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales is now well on course to forming the next Welsh government in the next elections in 2003.

Organisation:

Total membership of the party is about 15,000.. Members of Plaid Cymru join the party either via its national office in Cardiff or through one of over 220 local branch organisations.

At local level the structure of the party is organised into branches and rhanbarthau - committees made up of branch delegates with boundaries corresponding to Westminster constituencies or local government boundaries.

At national level the party structure includes:

The Annual Conference - which decides policies and changes in the party's Constitution
The National Council - which frames policies between conferences, approves election manifestos, and amends Standing Orders. This body is made up mainly of rhanbarth and branches delegates,
The National Executive Committee - which controls party management and finance, and guides policy formation and strategy. It has around 25 members
Sections for women, young members, students, trade unionists and local councillors, all of which play a significant role in the national work of the party.

Policy:

To promote the constitutional advancement of Wales with a view to attaining Full National Status for Wales within the European Union.
To ensure economic prosperity, social justice and the health of the natural environment, based on decentralist socialism.
To build a national community based on equal citizenship, respect for different traditions and cultures and the equal worth of all individuals, whatever their race, nationality, gender, colour, creed, sexuality, age, ability or social background.
To create a bilingual society by promoting the revival of the Welsh language.
To promote Wales's contribution to the global community and to attain membership of the United Nations.