ABSTRACT
However, although superficially there might appear to be a common strain of Celtic anti-Conservatism in the British body politic, when viewed in broader historical perspective, the fates of the Scottish and Welsh Tories differ significantly. The 2001 result in Scotland continued a secular decline that has persisted since the 1950s. By contrast, Conservative fortunes in Wales evince a remarkable consistency: 2001 was but the latest example of a phenomenon traceable prior to 1945 whereby the Tories do consistently worse in Wales than England. Yet while the decline of the Scottish Tories has occasioned much comment and analysis (Kendrick and McCrone, 1989; Seawright, 1999), little attention has been paid to the fortunes of their colleagues in Wales. This undoubtedly reflects the general paucity of systematic analyses of Welsh politics. But devolution, by turning Wales into a significant political (sub) system in its own right, as well as being a (small) part of the wider UK party battlefield, has given a new impetus and importance to the study of the Welsh political landscape.
