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party_name = Plaid Cymru — The Party of Wales | party_articletitle = Plaid Cymru | party_logo = | leader = Ieuan Wyn Jones | foundation = August 5 , 1925 | ideology = Nationalism , Welsh Nationalism , Social Democracy | international = ''none''| european = European Free Alliance | europarl = Greens-EFA | colours = Yellow | headquarters = 18 Park Grove, Cardiff , CF10 3BN Wales | website = www.plaidcymru.org }} Plaid, also known in full as '''Plaid Cymru''' (pronounced Political Party in Wales . It used to advocate the withdrawal of Wales from the United Kingdom and the establishment of an independent Welsh state, and the growth of the Welsh Language and its associated culture, but its policies have become more ambiguous of late. Support for Plaid is historically concentrated in the Rural Welsh-speaking areas of North and West Wales . In the United Kingdom General Election, 2005 , the party's share of the vote in Wales was 14.3%. Plaid Cymru has 1 of 4 Welsh seats in the European Parliament , 3 of 40 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament , 12 of 60 seats in the National Assembly For Wales , and control of 1 of 22 Welsh Local Authorities . According to accounts filed with the Electoral Commission for the year of 2004 , the party has an income and expenditure of about £ 500,000 Electoral Commission: 2004 accounts . Its website claims a membership of about 8,000. Increasingly, during the last election and to the present, the party has adopted a quasi- Socialist platform and called for the withdrawal of troops from Iraq. History The party was founded as Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru (Welsh: ''National Party of Wales''), on 5 August 1925 , by members of ''Byddin Ymreolwyr Cymru'', a nationalist party of north Wales, and ''Y Mudiad Cymreig'', an underground nationalist movement. The party soon changed to the more familiar name, Plaid Cymru. In informal contexts, and spoken language, the name was regularly shortened to simply '''Y Blaid''' or the "Welsh nationalist party". On February 24 , 2006 , the word "Cymru" (Wales) was effectively dropped from the party's name. BBC news: ''Plaid image change a 'new start' '' 24 Feb 2006. The name Plaid simply means "Party". Plaid Cymru contested few elections in its early years, preferring to concentrate on the promotion of the Welsh language and its culture, reflecting a split in Welsh nationalism over the question of whether to prioritise the constitutional separation of Wales from the United Kingdom or the promotion of the Welsh language. In 1966 , however, Gwynfor Evans (then the party's President) became the first Plaid Cymru Member Of Parliament , capturing the largely Welsh-speaking Carmarthen constituency from the Labour Party in a By-election . Evans lost the seat to Labour in 1970 , but regained it in October 1974 , during which time the party had gained a further two MPs from largely Welsh speaking areas. Plaid Cymru retained this level of representation until 1979 , when Carmarthen was again lost. More significantly, however, a Referendum On Welsh Devolution (or ' Home Rule ') was heavily defeated. Despite Plaid Cymru's ambivalence toward home rule - as opposed to ouright independence - the Referendum result led many in the party to question its existence. In 1992 , the party added a fourth MP, again from a Welsh speaking area. In 1997 a Further Referendum was won, establishing the National Assembly For Wales . Plaid Cymru became the main opposition to the ruling Labour group. In so doing it appeared to have broken out of its rural Welsh-speaking heartland, and captured supposedly strong Labour areas in industrial South Wales . At the second Welsh Assembly elections in 2003 , however, all of these seats were lost to Labour. Plaid Cymru in the Assembly era The 1999 elections were seen as a breakthrough by the party, gaining seats in places where little or no Welsh was spoken — such as in the Rhondda and Islwyn . Many attributed this surge in support to the travails of the Labour Party, whose nomination for Assembly First Secretary , Ron Davies , was forced to stand down in an alleged Sex Scandal . The ensuing leadership battle did much to damage Labour (and thus aid Plaid Cymru who, by contrast, boasted a popular and high profile leader in Dafydd Wigley ) after the UK Labour leadership was seen to interfere in the contest and deny the popular Rhodri Morgan victory. Plaid Cymru's success, however, was short-lived: the Party's President, Dafydd Wigley resigned, citing health problems and amid rumours of a plot against him. His successor Ieuan Wyn Jones struggled to impose his authority, particularly over the controversy surrounding alleged Anti-English comments from a local Plaid Cymru Councillor , Seimon Glyn and continuing allegations of anti-English and anti- English Language sentiment. In the 2001 General Election , Plaid Cymru lost Wyn Jones' old seat of Ynys Môn to Albert Owen , but gained Carmarthen East And Dinefwr , electing Adam Price . The Assembly Elections Of May 2003 saw the party's representation fall from 17 to 12, with the spectacular 1999 gains such of Rhondda , Islwyn , Llanelli and Conwy reverting to Labour. Plaid Cymru narrowly remained the second-largest party in the National Assembly ahead of the Conservatives, Liberal Democrats and Forward Wales. On having described it as a 'selfish' in the 1920s ). In the General Election of May 5 , 2005 , Plaid lost the Ceredigion seat to the Liberal Democrats , the result was a disappointment to Plaid, who had hoped to gain Ynys Môn , whilst holding its four seats thus leaving them with their smallest parliamentary representation for a generation. Plaid's 2006 rebranding At its spring conference in Carmarthen in February 2006, the party unveiled the most radical change of image in its history. It was announced that it would in future use "Plaid" as the party's name, although "Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales" would remain the official title. The party's colours were changed to yellow from the traditional green and red, while the party logo was changed from the 'triban' used since 1933 to a yellow Welsh Poppy ''(Meconopsis cambrica)''. The logo and brand were changed without consulting the membership. At the same time the party voted constitutional changes to formally designate the party's leader in the assembly as its overall leader, with Ieuan Wyn Jones being restored to the full leadership and Dafydd Iwan becoming head of the voluntary wing of the party. European Free Alliance Plaid retains close links with the Scottish National Party , with both parties' MPs co-operating closely with one another. They work as a single group within Westminster , and were involved in joint campainging during the 2005 General Election Campaign . Both parties are part of the European Free Alliance group in the European Parliament , a self declared nationalist and regionalist bloc of parties. See also References External links
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