20th and 21st Centuries
Nationalism grew as an influence in twentieth-century Wales. At various times both the Labour Party and the Liberal Party took up the cause of Welsh home rule, or devolution. It was with the establishment of Plaid Cymru (The Party of Wales) in 1925, however that Welsh independence from the UK was first advocated.
The election of a Labour Government in 1997 included a commitment to hold a referendum on the establishment of a Welsh Assembly. The referendum was narrowly won, with Plaid Cymru, the Liberal Democrats and much of Welsh civic society supporting the Labour Government's proposals.
A 2007 survey by BBC Wales Newsnight found that 20% of Welsh people surveyed favoured Wales becoming independent of the United Kingdom.
The Archbishop of Wales, Dr Barry Morgan renewed his call, in 2009, for the National Assembly to be granted full law-making powers, calling for a 'greater degree of self-determination' for Wales.
A 2012 poll by BBC Wales found 7% of respondents supported independence that number rising to 12% should Scotland attain independence.
Read more about this topic: Welsh Nationalism
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“That grand drama in a hundred acts, which is reserved for the next two centuries of Europe—the most terrible, most questionable and perhaps also the most hopeful of all dramas.”
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