One Wales Totally Explained

Everything about One Wales totally explained

For the television channel of a similar name, see BBC One Wales. One Wales (Welsh: Cymru'n Un ) is the coalition agreement for the National Assembly for Wales between the Welsh Labour Party and Plaid Cymru agreed to by Rhodri Morgan, Welsh First Minister and leader of Welsh Labour, and Ieuan Wyn Jones, leader of Plaid Cymru, on 27 June 2007. It was negotiated in the wake of the preceding National Assembly election which resulted in a large Labour plurality, but no majority. The Welsh Labour Party and Plaid Cymru approved the document in separate votes on 6 and 7 July, respectively.

History

On 3 May 2007, Labour won 26 of 60 seats in the 2007 National Assembly for Wales election, four short of an effective majority of 30 (see Speaker Denison's rule for an explanation of why this is so.) Originally, commentators had predicted a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition, after a previous coalition which had lasted from 2000 until 2003. Liberal Democrat leader Mike German, who had served as Deputy First Minister in the previous coalition, favoured the deal, which would have given the Government a majority of two. However, concerns within his party about propping up a weakened Labour party prevented such an agreement. An alternative option, the so-called "rainbow coalition" of Plaid Cymru, the Liberal Democrats, and the Conservative Party, was negotiated between the leaders of those parties in mid-May, but was shot down at a Liberal Democrat special conference vote on 23 May. The new Assembly formally opened two days later with no clear majority, and Rhodri Morgan was elected First Minister unopposed at the head of a minority government.
After one month of minority government, talks between Ieuan Wyn Jones and Rhodri Morgan resulted in the One Wales agreement between Labour and Plaid Cymru The Labour party agreed to the plan, however, by a wide margin on 6 July. Plaid Cymru's membership approved the plan on 7 July. Negotiations on cabinet posts in the new government were scheduled to take place starting 9 July, but Morgan fell ill the night before. The next day, he'd surgery to insert stents into on two partially-blocked arteries. Morgan was released from the hospital a few days later, and negotiations concluded on 19 July. Three Plaid Cymru AMs are now serving as full ministers alongside six Labour members, with four deputy ministers from Labour and one from Plaid Cymru. The only Labour member to be struck from the government as a result of the deal was Deputy Economy and Transport Minister Huw Lewis, who had previously opposed the One Wales deal.

Content

The first page of the agreement states it "delivers a progressive, stable and ambitious programme for government over this Assembly term." Under its terms, Ieuan Wyn Jones will become Deputy First Minister and Rhodri Morgan will remain First Minister. Other posts will be divvied up among members of the two parties by Rhodri Morgan in consultation with Ieuan Wyn Jones. The key policy proposals of the deal focus on increasing the amount of affordable housing in Wales through various incentives and schemes, investing in a comprehensive rail programme to link North Wales and South Wales more effectively, instituting a moratorium on community hospital reforms and promising to "agree and implement a new approach to health service reconfiguration." when "there is a local agreement on the way forward.", a new commission to tackle climate change problems and alternative energy questions, and, most controversially, an agreement to hold a referendum on new law-making powers for the assembly in the vein of those presently granted to the Scottish Parliament. The text also states Plaid Cymru and Labour have agreed "in good faith to campaign for a successful outcome to such a referendum."
This last section has come under scrutiny from members of the Labour party, including Welsh MPs Paul Murphy, Don Touhig and also Kim Howells, Minister of State at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, who claimed it'll lead "nationalists to the gates of independence."

Analysis

The agreement has been seen variously as a first step towards independence, a sell-out on Plaid's part that props up a Labour government, and part of a wider shift towards nationalism in the British Isles. According to recent polling by the BBC, only 20% of Welsh voters favour independence, but 22.4% of Welsh voters supported Plaid Cymru — just one of a number of nationalist parties and candidates at the last Assembly election. This has been put down to more general dissatisfaction with Labour's Tony Blair in the media, suggesting that any growth in nationalist sentiment might be less important to the electorate's shift away from Labour than Westminster political scandals.

One Wales Delivery Plan 2007-2011

The Welsh Assembly Government published the One Wales Delivery Plan 2007-2011 setting out 228 specific commitments in One Wales to be delivered by April 2011. Each section of the plan includes a vision statement and success criteria.

Further Information

Get more info on 'One Wales'.

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