Welsh Assembly
The National Assembly for Wales (known in Welsh as Cynulliad Cenedlaethol Cymru) was established in 1998, following a 1997 referendum in which a small majority of voters (but not the electorate) voted in favour of the Labour Government's plans for devolution.
Unlike the Scottish Parliament and Northern Ireland Assembly, the National Assembly for Wales cannot pass its own primary legislation, nor can it raise its own taxes, as these powers remain with Westminster. This is because unlike those other parts of the UK, Wales has had the same legal and administrative system as England. However, supporters of the Assembly argue that it is more democratically accountable than the Welsh Office, which was represented in the British Cabinet by a Secretary of State who often did not even represent a Welsh constituency at Westminster.
The Assembly is composed of 60 Assembly Members, knowns as AMs. Under the Additional Member System of proportional representation, 40 of the AMs are elected from single-member constituencies on a First Past the Post basis, the constituencies being equivalent to those used for the House of Commons, while the remaining 20 AMs are elected on regional lists, in order to achieve a proportional result overall.
There have thus far been two elections to the Assembly, the first taking place in 1999 and the second in 2003. The second election produced the first legislature in which 50 per cent of its members were women.
The First Minister and his Cabinet form the Welsh Assembly Government.
The current State of the parties in the Assembly (1999 figures are in italics):
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See also
External links
Referenced By
ACCAC | Additional Member System | Additional Members System | Anglia | Awdurdod Cymwysterau, Cwricwlwm ac Asesu Cymru | BBC Parliament | CADW | Cardiff University | Co-operative Party | Cymraeg | Cymric | Cymru | Cymru Annibynnol | Cymru am byth | Daugherty Report | Devolved government | Education in Wales | Elizabeth II | Elizabeth II of Australia | Elizabeth II of England | Elizabeth II of Great Britain | Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom | England | England/Temp | English Parliament | Estyn | Executive Agency | Higher Education Bill | Hywel Rhodri Morgan | Independent Wales Party | John Cale | John Marek | Judicial Committee of the Privy Council | Kingdom of England | Learning pathways through statutory assessment | List of political parties in the United Kingdom | Mixed-member proportional system | Mixed Member Proportional | Mixed Member Proportional Representation | Mixed member proportional voting | Parliament of England | Plaid Cymru | Queen Elizabeth II | Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom | Queen of Australia | Rhodri Morgan | Ron Davies | Ronald Davies | Secretary of State for Wales | Shirley Bassey | Tamsin Dunwoody-Kneafsey | The Co-operative Party | UK political parties | University of Wales Cardiff | Wales | Welsh | Welsh (language) | Welsh Assembly Election, 2003 | Welsh Language | Welsh Office | Welsh Secretary
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