Wales outpacing Scotland in move toward nationhood
In May 1998 the Government of Wales Bill was ahead of Scotland's, Plaid Cymru wanted a cabinet and its own oath, and Senedd was one possible name.
As printed in the Celtic Mirror, May 1998
The Government of Wales Bill, now being considered by the British House of Commons, will soon be complete. It will then go to the House of Lords and should become law by July. The Bill is further advanced than the legislation for Scotland, and the Welsh assembly is expected to be in operation before the Scottish parliament.
The formal title by which the assembly is to be known is itself a matter of controversy. Among the titles proposed are The National Assembly for Wales, The National Assembly of Wales, The Welsh Assembly and the Senedd.
Elections are planned for May 1999, and functions currently exercised by the Welsh Office will be immediately transferred to the assembly. Procedural matters will be resolved by an all-party commission of the Welsh Office before the assembly's first session. The commission will have a statutory basis after the Bill becomes law, but is already meeting in shadow form. Rules formulated by the commission will govern the first assembly session, but may be changed by the assembly. The Secretary of State will preside over the first session until a presiding officer or speaker is elected.
The Scottish parliament, in contrast, will first consider procedural matters and start assuming powers in the fall of 1999.
The powers and functions of the Welsh assembly are not specified in the bill, but will be drafted later as transfer orders, a legislative process for transferring the functions from the Secretary of State to the assembly. These orders, which will be debated and voted on separately from the bill, will include and codify provisions from statutes affecting Wales that have been enacted piecemeal from as far back as the 19th century.
The bill proposes a series of cabinet-style committees to administer each function transferred to the assembly. The major administrative divisions are as follows: agriculture, forestry, fisheries and food; ancient monuments and historic buildings; tourism; town and country planning; economic development; education and training; the Welsh language; culture, including museums, galleries and libraries; water and flood defence; transport; local government; social services; the environment; health and health services; housing; industry.
Committee leaders (to be known as Assembly Secretaries) will form a mini-cabinet (to be known as the Executive Committee) chaired by the First Secretary. The majority party would control the assembly through the Executive Committee and a majority on each committee.
The Welsh business community has objected to this structure, and Welsh Secretary Ron Davies is looking into the possibility of switching to a Westminster-style cabinet system in which decisions would be made by ministers and not by committees. Dafydd Wigley, president of Plaid Cymru, says the party has always favored and has campaigned for a cabinet system because it will avoid delays in decision making, will place responsibility on a specific person (i.e., the minister), and will give cabinet rank to leaders in such vital areas as industry, agriculture and the environment when they go to Brussels to speak for, and represent, Wales.
Plaid Cymru is also striving to include in the bill a clause that will allow members of the assembly not to swear allegiance to the British monarch. Though Tory spokesmen referred to it as the "Gerry Adams clause," Wigley pointed out that the amendment's purpose was simply to enable the assembly to decide for itself what sort of oath of allegiance it wanted: "This is another area over which the assembly should be master of its own house.... It is basic that members of the assembly should see their loyalty to their constituents who have elected them rather than to Westminster and I say Westminster as much as the monarchy." Other Welsh politicians have also expressed support for the amendment.
In response to an invitation from Plaid Cymru to those interested in serving in the Welsh assembly to present themselves for interviews with the Executive Council and training, more than 200 applicants have come forward for the 60 seats. According to Wigley, "There certainly is no lack of enthusiasm." It is expected that all constituencies will have elected their candidates by mid-June, at which time the party will choose the candidates for the lists in regional constituencies. Plaid Cymru's full slate will be in place by late summer.
The Scottish National Party also reported that more than 200 party members have asked for candidate application forms for the Scottish parliament. Fiona Hyslop, Convener of the SNP Election Committee, reported increased interest on the part of Scots living abroad in returning to Scotland to stand for the new parliament. Like Plaid Cymru, the SNP also has a vetting process to ensure high-caliber candidates.
From assembly to Senedd
The bill did become law more or less on the schedule this report predicted. The Government of Wales Act 1998 received royal assent on 31 July 1998, ten months after Welsh voters had approved devolution in September 1997 by the thinnest of margins, 50.3 percent.
Wales did not quite win the race to open first, either. Both countries voted on the same day, 6 May 1999. The Scottish Parliament met for the first time on 12 May and took over its powers on 1 July 1999, when Queen Elizabeth II opened it with 129 members. The Welsh assembly began with 60. Labour won 28 of them, three short of a majority; Plaid Cymru took 17 on the best Wales-wide vote share in its history to that point, the Conservatives 9 and the Liberal Democrats 6. Alun Michael became the first First Secretary.
The committee model Ron Davies was already doubting did not last. The Government of Wales Act 2006, given royal assent on 25 July 2006, separated the Welsh Government from the assembly and handed the assembly limited law-making powers from May 2007. A referendum on 3 March 2011 gave it the right to pass laws without going back to Westminster.
Then the name argument in the second paragraph came back around. On 6 May 2020 the National Assembly for Wales became Senedd Cymru, the Welsh Parliament. Senedd, one of the four options floated in 1998, had won. In June 2022 members voted by 40 to 14 to enlarge the chamber to 96 seats.
The first election to that larger Senedd, on 7 May 2026, produced a result Dafydd Wigley's 200 hopefuls could only have dreamed about. Plaid Cymru won 44 of the 96 seats and formed a minority government, with Rhun ap Iorwerth as First Minister. Reform UK took 33 seats, Labour 9, the Conservatives 7, the Greens 2 and the Liberal Democrats 1. Twenty-eight years after this report, Plaid holds the office it was arguing about.
Questions readers ask
When was the Welsh Assembly created?
Welsh voters narrowly approved an assembly in a referendum on 18 September 1997, with 50.3 percent voting yes. The Government of Wales Act 1998 received royal assent on 31 July 1998, the first 60 members were elected on 6 May 1999, and the National Assembly for Wales was formally established that month.
When did the Welsh Assembly become the Senedd?
The Senedd and Elections (Wales) Act 2020 received royal assent on 15 January 2020, and on 6 May 2020 the National Assembly for Wales was renamed Senedd Cymru, or the Welsh Parliament. Senedd had been one of four names suggested for the body in 1998, alongside National Assembly for Wales and Welsh Assembly.
How many members does the Senedd have?
The Senedd began in 1999 with 60 members. In June 2022 members voted 40 to 14 to expand it, and the first election to a 96-member Senedd was held on 7 May 2026. Plaid Cymru won 44 seats and formed a minority government, and Rhun ap Iorwerth became First Minister.
Who was the first First Secretary of Wales?
Alun Michael of Labour became First Secretary after the first assembly election on 6 May 1999, when Labour won 28 of the 60 seats, three short of a majority. Plaid Cymru won 17 seats, the Conservatives 9 and the Liberal Democrats 6. The 1998 bill had created the First Secretary post to chair the assembly's executive committee.
