Editing 1997 Welsh devolution referendum (section)

== Campaign ==
The official Yes campaign, ''[[Yes for Wales]]'', was supported by Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru, though they also ran their own individual campaigns.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/devolution/wales/briefing/yesno.shtml|title=Welsh Referendum|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref> Labour anti-devolution MPs (including [[Llew Smith]], among others<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/devolution/wales/briefing/dissent.shtml|title=Welsh Referendum|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>) were subject to a tight [[parliamentary whip]] to ensure that the Labour Party was seen to be publicly behind the campaign. ''Yes for Wales'' placed a large emphasis on grassroots involvement in the campaign, with sectoral groups such as "Pensioners say Yes", and local branches throughout Wales.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/special/politics97/devolution/wales/briefing/campaig.shtml|title=Welsh Referendum|website=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

Prominent campaigners for a Yes vote included [[Welsh Labour|Labour]] politicians [[Leighton Andrews]], [[Ron Davies (Welsh politician)|Ron Davies]], [[Alun Michael]], [[Rhodri Morgan]], [[Andrew Davies (Labour politician)|Andrew Davies]], [[Peter Hain]], [[Hywel Francis]], [[Edwina Hart (politician)|Edwina Hart]] and [[Val Feld]]; [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrat]] politicians [[Mike German, Baron German|Michael German]], [[Jenny Randerson]], [[Kirsty Williams]] and [[Peter Black (Welsh politician)|Peter Black]]; [[Plaid Cymru]] politicians [[Dafydd Wigley]], [[Cynog Dafis]] Ieuan Wyn Jones and [[Leanne Wood]]; and academic [[Russell Deacon]].

The official No campaign, ''Just Say NO'', was chaired by [[Nick Bourne]], then-Conservative "Chief Spokesman in Wales". The No campaign lacked the structure and finance of the Yes campaign, and suffered from the fact that the Conservatives' landslide defeat at the 1997 general election meant there were no Conservative MPs (and therefore no MPs supporting the No campaign) in Wales. Additionally, the No campaign in 1997 did not have the support of [[Local authorities in Wales|local authorities]]; the fact that the Conservatives had [[Local Government (Wales) Act 1994|reduced]] layers of local government from two to one in 1994 meant that this was not an issue as it had been in 1979.