Editing 1997 Welsh devolution referendum (section)

==Background==
A [[1979 Welsh devolution referendum|referendum was held in 1979]] (with a [[1979 Scottish devolution referendum|parallel referendum]] in Scotland) proposing the creation of a Welsh Assembly, under [[James Callaghan]]'s Labour government. The referendum stipulated that a Welsh Assembly would be created if supported by 50% of votes cast and 40% of the total electorate. The Scottish referendum achieved the first condition but not the second, while the Welsh referendum was defeated by almost a 4:1 majority. Indeed, although the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] had committed itself to devolution in 1974 (following the advice of the [[Royal Commission on the Constitution (United Kingdom)|Royal Commission on the Constitution]]) several Welsh Labour [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MPs]] (including [[Neil Kinnock]]) were very much opposed.

The 1979 referendum had been such a resounding defeat that it killed off any prospects of devolution in Wales for a generation. The almost wholly anti-devolution, unionist [[Conservative Party (UK)|Conservative Party]] won the [[1979 United Kingdom general election|1979 general election]] (though [[Welsh Labour]] remained the largest party in Wales, the [[Welsh Conservative Party|Conservatives]] only won 11 out of 36 seats in Wales)<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons/lib/research/rp2003/rp03-059.pdf| title=UK Election statistics 1945-2003 }}</ref> and remained in government until [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997]]. Over this time, the Conservative Party became increasingly unpopular in Wales. The Conservatives mostly appointed [[England|English]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|MPs]] representing English constituencies to the post of [[Secretary of State for Wales]], including [[William Hague]] and [[John Redwood]] (who famously attempted to mime the words to the [[Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau|Welsh national anthem]] at the 1993 Welsh Conservative Party conference.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RIwBvjoLyZc|title=- YouTube|website=www.youtube.com}}</ref>)

A commitment to the creation of a Welsh Assembly with executive powers was again put into the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] manifesto for the [[1992 United Kingdom general election|1992 general election]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/man/lab92.htm#dem |title=Labour Party 1992 election manifesto |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209110043/http://www.politicsresources.net/area/uk/man/lab92.htm#dem |archive-date=2013-12-09 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The Labour Party shaped its policy of a Welsh Assembly under the guidance of [[Shadow Cabinet|Shadow]] Welsh Secretary [[Ron Davies (Welsh politician)|Ron Davies]] and [[Welsh Office]] spokesmen [[Win Griffiths]] and [[Rhodri Morgan]]. In March 1996, Ron Davies signed an agreement with [[Alex Carlile]], the Leader of the Welsh [[2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election|Liberal Democrats]], which committed both parties to support a "Yes" vote in a Welsh devolution referendum in the event of a Labour victory at the [[1997 United Kingdom general election|1997 general election]]. The agreement was made in the context of a potential Lib-Lab pact should Labour not win an overall majority.

There was no inter-party Constitutional Convention in Wales to define devolution [[Scottish Constitutional Convention|as there had been in Scotland]]. Labour's initial proposal to elect a Welsh Assembly using the traditional [[first-past-the-post]] system was reversed in late-1996 in favour of the [[Additional Member System]]. This change was vital in order to gain the support of [[Plaid Cymru]] and the [[Welsh Liberal Democrats]] in the event of a referendum.