Items17The creator’s order
  1. 1Saunders LewisSaunders LewisA founder of Plaid Cymru in 1925 and a major Welsh-language dramatist, Lewis was jailed in 1936 for setting fire to an RAF bombing school at Penyberth on the Llŷn peninsula. His 1962 radio lecture Tynged yr Iaith, 'The Fate of the Language', warned that Welsh would die without direct action, and…0i
  2. 2Jim GriffithsJim GriffithsBorn 19 Sept 1890A former miners' leader, Griffiths became the first Secretary of State for Wales in 1964, after years of pressing Labour to create the post, and set up the Welsh Office as a department in Cardiff. It gave Wales an administrative identity of its own for the first time, the machinery on which…0i
  3. 3Gwynfor EvansGwynfor EvansBorn 1 Sept 1912Evans won Plaid Cymru's first parliamentary seat at the Carmarthen by-election of 1966, which, like Hamilton in Scotland, pushed Labour towards devolution. His most direct impact came in 1980, when he threatened to fast to death unless the Thatcher government kept its promise of a Welsh-language…0i
  4. 4Neil KinnockNeil KinnockBorn 28 Mar 1942The sceptic's entry. As a young Labour MP from the south Wales valleys, Kinnock was one of the most effective opponents of the 1979 devolution proposals, arguing an assembly would be a talking shop that divided Wales and distracted from economic problems. Wales voted No by four to one. His later…0i
  5. 5Wyn Roberts, Baron Roberts of ConwyWyn Roberts, Baron Roberts of ConwyBorn 10 Jul 1930A Welsh-speaking Conservative, Roberts served as a Welsh Office minister for most of the Thatcher and Major years and steered the Welsh Language Act 1993 through Parliament. It established the principle that Welsh and English should be treated equally in public business in Wales and created the…0i
  6. 6Ron Davies (Welsh politician)Ron Davies (Welsh politician)Born 6 Aug 1946As Labour's Welsh Secretary, Davies designed and won the 1997 referendum, carried by 50.3 per cent on a margin of 6,721 votes, and coined the phrase that devolution was 'a process, not an event'. His Government of Wales Act 1998 created a weak, executive-style assembly without primary law-making…0i
  7. 7Alun MichaelAlun MichaelBorn 22 Aug 1943Michael became the first First Secretary of the Assembly in 1999 after Tony Blair's office backed him over Rhodri Morgan in a contested Welsh Labour leadership ballot. Seen as London's choice and lacking a majority, he resigned in February 2000 just before losing a no-confidence vote. His short…0i
  8. 8Rhodri MorganRhodri MorganBorn 29 Sept 1939Morgan led Wales from 2000 to 2009 and gave devolution a distinct identity with his 'clear red water' between Welsh Labour and New Labour: no foundation hospitals or academies, free prescriptions from 2007 and free bus travel for older people. He renamed the executive the Welsh Assembly Government…0i
  9. 9Dafydd WigleyDafydd WigleyBorn 1 Apr 1943Wigley, Plaid Cymru's leader through the 1997 referendum and the first Assembly election, made the party a serious contender beyond its Welsh-speaking heartlands; in 1999 it won Rhondda and Islwyn, Labour strongholds, and became the official opposition. Earlier, as an MP, he steered the Disabled…0i
  10. 10Ivor RichardIvor RichardBorn 30 May 1932Lord Richard, a former Labour cabinet minister and Leader of the Lords, chaired the commission that reported in 2004 that the Assembly's corporate structure, with no legal separation between government and legislature, was confusing and should give way to primary law-making powers and a larger…0i