ABSTRACT
This chapter presents Wales profiles of longstanding democracies and of the European Union, and provides essential detail on history, electoral system, political parties and cleavages, and governments. Wales was finally conquered by England in 1283. Acts of Union were passed in 1536 and 1543 which phased out all Welsh laws and administrative systems, replacing these with English ones. Devolution gave Wales an Assembly, as in Northern Ireland, as opposed to the Parliament in Scotland. Plaid Cymru has always stressed self-government for Wales rather than outright independence. Its support has traditionally been limited to rural Wales, especially the Welsh-speaking northwest. Although Prime Minister Tony Blair favoured a Labour-Liberal Democrat coalition in Wales in 1999 to parallel the one that developed in Scotland, Labour First Secretary Alun Michael chose to form a minority administration after the first election. Wales uses a form of mixed-member proportional electoral system.
