Welsh referendum why vote yes

Before the Assembly can start making laws in these areas, the Welsh Government have to table an Order, with the approval of the Assembly, which will bring Part 4 of the Government of Wales Act into force. The Order will also need to make arrangements for a smooth transition to the new procedures for making laws by the Assembly.

These new laws will be called Assembly Acts rather than Assembly Measures. That year the first ever UK-wide referendum was held on 5 June and British voters were asked whether they wanted to stay in the European Community or if, after two years' membership, they wanted to leave it. There was less appetite in Wales for the proposed Welsh Assembly than there was in Scotland for the Parliament as it was outlined at that time.

Only Eighteen years later Wales voted again on 18 September , a week after Scotland had voted hugely in favour of the establishment of a Scottish Parliament In Wales the result was more muted — And then on 23 June came the fifth referendum, the second vote on membership of the European Union.

While the overall result for the UK turnout However contrasting or comparing Wales with the other devolved territories is not valid because of regional dimensions to inequality, because of their distinct political histories and because of the asymmetrical nature of UK devolution. Just for the sake of clarity: Wales represents 4.

A brief overview of the profile of "Brexiteers" will be followed by a conclusion that summarises how the vote in Wales was in fact quite easy to predict. The geographical distribution of these votes provides a clue as to the reasons behind the vote.

It has been fairly widely agreed that across the United Kingdom urban areas with mixed, multicultural populations and where there was a concentration of educated people voted in favour of the EU and this is reflected in Wales. In Cardiff, the political and economic capital and home to several universities and in the Vale of Glamorgan, just to the south, electors voted to remain, although the proportions were different. This would then confirm the UK-wide trend just described.

Monmouth is situated on the eastern border of Wales and it has a history of being attached to England as well as to Wales, although its position was not finally clarified until the Local Government Act of which placed it in Wales.

Monmouth voters have mostly always elected Conservative MPs and the current Assembly Member AM is a Tory, so Monmouth could be said to have more of a split identity or less of a definitely Welsh one. Identification with England and with the Conservative party would partly contribute to explaining the choice made by Monmouth voters. What these two regions have in common is that they have the two highest concentrations of Welsh speakers.

These two areas have a very strong Welsh identity, underpinned by the language, and their choice to remain in Europe could maybe be compared to that of SNP supporters in Scotland who saw a brighter future for Scotland within Europe and who were not swayed by fears over immigration but who did believe that the UK economy would not flourish outside of the European structure. However, the vote in Wales was not at all influenced by desires for independence, unlike in Scotland. Nevertheless, Leanne Wood, the party leader, stated after the referendum that the UK needed redesigning and if all four home nations were independent they could actually cooperate in a new way.

She reinforced the idea that an independent Wales could rejoin the EU. He does not believe that the result was due to an old kind of self-loathing and a sense of inferiority which he believes has died away. Professor Jones analyses the Welsh vote firstly in terms of a failure of media coverage. Since the media in Wales are depleted and insufficient, unlike in Scotland — there is no national Welsh newspaper for example although there are television and radio channels —, the result is dominance by English media and very little difference was made in those newspapers and television programmes available in Wales about the specificity of Wales.

The result was a similar referendum result to England. To this can be added a certain lassitude on the part of both journalists and voters since the EU referendum came just five weeks after the elections to the Assembly on 5 May.

It is felt that covering these elections had led to a feeling of political fatigue. Regarding the EU referendum there was also a failure by the major parties and the Welsh government for in Wales they were all too distracted by internal politics to fully engage in the Remain campaign, although all the parties, on paper, were unified in urging a Remain vote. No convincing arguments were made by either Plaid or Labour, which retained power in the Assembly elections in May, to persuade Welsh voters of the benefits of staying in the European Union, nor by the Conservative party in Wales, whose leader campaigned for Leave.

The Labour party in particular must take responsibility for the Welsh result. While at UK level the Labour party under the leadership of Jeremy Corbyn provided half-hearted and muted support for EU membership, within Wales, where Labour have dominated the Assembly since its inception, according to R. So the referendum message was very indistinct, non-combative and not well communicated.

This poll, like many others, found correlations between age, level of education and ethnicity and the way people voted. Early investigations before the vote revealed that regions with the greatest economic dependence on the EU were more likely to vote Leave and consequently the results of the referendum showed this to be true. She urged the start of a "new era of devolution" in which "the tendency of the Welsh government to be the collective chip on the shoulder of Wales must end and in which the culture of blame is replaced by a culture of responsibility".

Deputy prime minister Nick Clegg, who arrived in Cardiff for the party's weekend conference, said the Yes vote was a turning point. Conservative Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan said there had been concern over turnout and whether the result would not be clear cut. But she called it "a good day for Wales".

Nick Bourne, leader of the assembly Conservatives, said: "Assembly Members of all parties now need to get down to the job of law-making in the most efficient and effective manner to deliver for the people of Wales.

While Monmouthshire voted No, it was by only a narrow margin of votes, and by A No vote would have kept the current system where the assembly asked Parliament for powers to be transferred to Cardiff on a case-by-case basis. Roger Lewis, chairman of the Yes For Wales campaign, said he was delighted, adding: "It is clear, the people of Wales have spoken.