List of political parties in Wales

There are a number of political parties registered to the Electoral Commission in Wales. Some of these parties have elected representation in the Senedd Cymru (English: Welsh Parliament) and/or in Westminster and some have elected representation in one or more of the 22 Welsh local authorities, while others have entirely no elected representation. This Wikipedia page lists all of the above and some relevant Welsh political parties that formerly existed but have since disbanded. The largest political parties typically reside^{[clarification needed]} in either the House of Commons or Senedd Cymru (English: Welsh Parliament), the current largest party in Wales is Welsh Labour, followed closely by the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru.

House of Commons/Senedd[]

House of Commons[]

The Parliament of the United Kingdom is a legislative body in the United Kingdom and creates primary legislation.^[1] There are two chambers within the Parliament of the United Kingdom: the House of Commons (the elected chamber) and the House of Lords. This article focuses on the House of Commons. Three parties have elected representatives in that house (MPs): Welsh Labour, Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru. The constituencies are due to change for the 2024 general election.^[2]

Senedd[]

The Senedd was formed under the Government of Wales Act 1998, by the Labour government, following a referendum in 1997. It was given greater powers under the 2011 Welsh devolution referendum. In 2021, four parties have elected representatives in the Senedd: Welsh Labour, Welsh Conservatives, Plaid Cymru and Welsh Liberal Democrats.

House of Commons/Senedd parties[]

	Translation		Political position	Ideology	MSs	MPs	Local government	Membership^[a]
Welsh Labour^[b]	Welsh: Llafur Cymru	Mark Drakeford	Centre-left	Social democracy Democratic socialism British unionism Pro-Europeanism	30 / 60	22 / 40	455 / 1,254	25,000^[3]
Welsh Conservatives	Welsh: Ceidwadwyr Cymreig	Andrew RT Davies	Centre-right	Conservatism Economic liberalism British unionism	16 / 60	14 / 40	167 / 1,254	Unknown
Plaid Cymru	English: Party of Wales	Adam Price	Centre-left to left-wing	Welsh nationalism Welsh independence Democratic socialism Social democracy Environmentalism Regionalism Civic nationalism	13 / 60	3 / 40	200 / 1,254	11,500^[4]
Welsh Liberal Democrats	Welsh: Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol Cymru	Jane Dodds	Centre to centre-left	Liberalism Social liberalism British unionism Pro-Europeanism	1 / 60	0 / 40	61 / 1,254	3,133^[5]

Local government[]

Several parties in Wales have no national representation, but have elected representation at the local government level.

	Translation	Elected members of local government	Political position	Ideology
Propel		6 (3 Cardiff, 2 Gwynedd and 1 Neath Port Talbot)	None^[6]	Welsh nationalism Welsh independence Localism Sovereignism Anti-nuclearism
Llais Gwynedd	English: Voice of Gwynedd	6 (Gwynedd Council)^[7]	N/A	Gwynedd regionalism
Llantwit First Independents	Welsh: Annibynwyr Cyntaf Llantwit	4 (Vale of Glamorgan Council)	N/A	Localism
Newport Independents Party	Welsh: Plaid Annibynwyr Casnewydd	4 (Newport City Council)	N/A	Localism
Uplands Party^[8]	Welsh: Plaid Uplands	2 (Swansea Council)	N/A	Localism
Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party	Welsh: Plaid Diddymu Cynulliad Cymru	1 (Powys County Council)	Single-issue	Welsh Parliament abolition Anti-devolution British unionism
Gwlad	English: Country	1 (Llanelli Rural Council)^[9]	Centre-right^[10]	Welsh nationalism Welsh independence
Liberal Party	Welsh: Plaid Rhyddfrydol yng Nghymru	1 (Cilybebyll Community Council)^[11]	Centre^[12]	Liberalism Georgism Euroscepticism

Council control[]

Council	Control		Web	Total	LAB	PC	CON	LD	GP	Other	Vacant
Blaenau Gwent	IND	IND	URL	42	13					29^{[w 1]}
Bridgend	NOC	LAB min	URL	54	25	2	8			18^{[w 2]}	1
Caerphilly	LAB	maj	URL	73	49	18				6^{[w 3]}
Cardiff	LAB	maj	URL	75	38		21	11		5^{[w 4]}
Carmarthenshire	NOC	PC+IND	URL	74	17	38				19^{[w 5]}
Ceredigion	NOC	PC+IND	URL	42		20		8		14^{[w 6]}
Conwy	NOC	CON+IND	URL	59	8	10^{[w 7]}	14	4		23^{[w 8]}
Denbighshire	NOC	CON+PC+IND	URL	47	11	10	15			11^{[w 9]}
Flintshire	NOC	LAB min	URL	70	34		6	6^{[w 10]}		24^{[w 11]}
Gwynedd	PC	maj	URL	75	1	40		1		35^{[w 12]}
Isle of Anglesey	NOC	PC+IND	URL	30	2	14		1		13^{[w 13]}
Merthyr Tydfil	IND	maj	URL	33	15^{[w 14]}					18^{[w 15]}
Monmouthshire	CON	maj	URL	43	10		25	3		5^{[w 16]}
Neath Port Talbot	LAB	maj	URL	64	39	15		1		9^{[w 17]}
Newport	LAB	maj	URL	50	31		12	2		5^{[w 18]}
Pembrokeshire	IND	IND+LAB+LD+PC	URL	60	7	6	11	1		35^{[w 19]}
Powys	NOC	IND+CON	URL	73	8^{[w 20]}	2	17	14^{[w 21]}	1	31^{[w 22]}
Rhondda Cynon Taf	LAB	maj	URL	75	47	17	3			8^{[w 23]}
Swansea	LAB	maj	URL	72	48		9	7		8^{[w 24]}
Torfaen	LAB	maj	URL	44	27		4			13^{[w 25]}
Vale of Glamorgan	NOC	LAB+IND	URL	47	13	4	14			16^{[w 26]}
Wrexham	NOC	IND+CON	URL	52	12	4	8	2		26^{[w 27]}
Total				1,254	455	200	167	61	1	369	1

Parties with no elected representation[]

Notable registered parties[]


	Translation	Political position	Ideology
Wales Green Party^[13]	Welsh: Plaid Werdd Cymru	Left-wing	Green politics Progressivism Welsh independence Pro-Europeanism
No More Lockdowns	Welsh: Dim Mwy O Gloi Lawr	N/A	Anti-lockdown
Reform UK	Welsh: Diwygio DU	Right-wing	Right-wing populism Euroscepticism
Social Democratic Party		Syncretic	Social democracy Social conservatism Communitarianism Euroscepticism
Socialist Party Wales^[14]	Welsh: Plaid Sosialaidd Cymru^[14]	Far-left^[15]	Revolutionary socialism Trotskyism Marxism
The Cynon Valley Party	Welsh: Parti Cwm Cynon	N/A	Localism
Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition (TUSC)		Left-wing^[16]^[17] to far-left^[18]	Socialism Trade unionism
UK Independence Party	Welsh: Plaid Annibyniaeth y DU	Right-wing to far-right	Euroscepticism Right-wing populism National conservatism Economic liberalism British nationalism
Welsh Christian Party	Welsh: Plaid Gristnogol Cymru	Right-wing^[19]	Christian right Social conservatism British unionism Euroscepticism
Communist Party of Britain		Far-left^[20]	Communism Marxism–Leninism
Women's Equality Party	Welsh: Plaid Cydraddoldeb Merched		Feminism Pro-Europeanism

Defunct parties[]

South Wales Socialist Society (1911–1920) - amalgamated with the Communist Party of Great Britain in the 1920s.
Communist Party of South Wales and the West of England (1920) - set up by those who opposed amalgamation with the Communist Party of Great Britain
Welsh Republican Movement (1949–1966) - most members either returned to Plaid Cymru or joined the Labour Party
Welsh Socialist Republican Movement (1979–1986) - succeeded as a political party in 1986 by Cymru Goch, however it still exists as a publication
Cymru Goch (1986–2003) - evolved into Forward Wales.
Democratic Alliance of Wales (1999–2008)
John Marek Independent Party (2003) - short lived party which became Forward Wales.
Forward Wales (2003–2010)
Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group (2005–2010) - party set-up in Blaenau Gwent. Its leader, Dai Davies, retired from politics and the party disbanded.
Putting Llanelli First (2011–2016)^[21] - Siân Caiach (now a councillor for Gwlad) ran for the party in the Welsh Assembly seat of Llanelli in 2011 and 2016.
Respect - The Unity Coalition (2004–2016) - a party established by Salma Yaqoob and George Monbiot and built out of the Stop the War Coalition, its most notable candidate was George Galloway
Welsh Socialist Alliance (1999–2016) an alliance between the Socialist Party and Cymru Goch and some independents, which fell apart when the Socialist Party left the grouping

Notes[]

^ 29 Independents including 1 ex-Plaid Cymru
^ 14 Independents
^ 6 Independents
^ 1 Independent, 4 Propel
^ 19 Independents
^ 14 Independents including 1 ex-Labour
^ 1 ex-Independent
^ 23 Independents including 1 ex-Plaid, 2 ex-Conservative
^ 11 Independents
^ Includes 1 Independent who sits with the Lib Dems Group
^ 24 Independents
^ 27 independents, 6 Llais Gwynedd, and 2 Propel
^ 13 Independents including 1 ex-Lib Dem
^ 1 ex-Independent
^ 18 Independents
^ 5 Independents
^ 8 Independents, 1 Propel (ex-Plaid),
^ 5 Independents
^ 13 Independents, 22 non-aligned
^ 1 ex-Conservative
^ 1 ex-Conservative
^ 30 Independents, 1 Abolish The Welsh Assembly Party
^ 7 Independents including 1 ex-Lib Dem, 1 Cynon Valley Party
^ 7 Independents, 1 non-aligned
^ 13 Independents
^ 15dependents
^ 25 Independents, 1 non-aligned

^ Political parties are under no legal obligation to publish membership statistics and there is no uniformly recognised definition of membership.
^ Some candidates stand as Labour and Co-operative joint candidates due to an electoral alliance with the Co-operative Party.

References[]

^ "Understanding legislation". Legislation.gov.uk.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ "Major changes to cut number of Welsh MPs published". BBC News. 8 September 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
^ Davies, Daniel (9 November 2018). "Welsh Labour leadership: Do people know the candidates?". BBC News Online.
^ "Plaid Cymru see 25% membership boost following Adam Price's leadership victory". Nation.Cymru. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
^ "Jane Dodds is new Welsh Liberal Democrat leader". BBC News. 3 November 2017.
^ "Independent AM Neil McEvoy to launch new Welsh National Party". ITV News. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.
^ Your Councillors. Gwynedd Council. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
^ "View registration - The Electoral Commission". search.electoralcommission.org.uk.
^ "Sian Mair Caiach". Llanelli Rural Council (in British English). Retrieved 6 June 2020.
^ "Gwlad Gwlad standing in four seats where Plaid Cymru have withdrawn 'to offer people a pro-independence vote'". Nation.Cymru (in British English). 15 November 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
^ "Elected Councillors – The Liberal Party" (in British English). Retrieved 6 June 2020.
^ "Where We Stand and Why We are Needed – The Liberal Party" (in British English). Retrieved 7 June 2020.
^ "View registration - The Electoral Commission". search.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
^ ^a ^b "Socialist Party Wales – Socialism In Wales" (in British English). Retrieved 7 June 2020.
^ WalesOnline (11 August 2003). "New Welsh Socialist dawn?". WalesOnline. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
^ Waugh, Paul (20 September 2019). "Harriet Harman Urged To Pull Out Of Commons Speaker Race By Local Labour Party". Huffpost. Retrieved 7 April 2020. The motion by Nick Wrack, who was readmitted to Labour after standing against Harman for the left-wing TUSC party four years ago, cites the precedent of Tories warning they would stand a candidate against John Bercow if he stayed on.
^ Prest, Victoria (18 April 2015). "Trade Union and Socialist Party (TUSC) to contest eight seats in York council elections". The Press. Retrieved 7 April 2020. The left-wing party Trade Union and Socialist Party (TUSC) is fielding eight would-be councillors for seats on City of York Council, as well as a parliamentary candidate in York Central.
^ Cohen, Tamara (2 June 2017). "Can far-left fringe parties make a difference to Labour's election push?". Sky News. Retrieved 7 April 2020. Britain's largest far-left party, the Trade Union Socialist Coalition (TUSC), founded by the late Bob Crow, is standing no candidates this year.
^ "Former Llan'dod mayor stands for Christian Party in General Election". County Times. Retrieved 7 June 2020.
^ Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike (2000). "Far Left". Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century. London: A&C Black. p. 145. ISBN 0826458149.
^ People First - Gwerin Gyntaf (De-registered 03/11/16), The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2018-09-23.

[15] 29 Independents including 1 ex-Plaid Cymru

[16] 14 Independents

[17] 6 Independents

[18] 1 Independent, 4 Propel

[19] 19 Independents

[20] 14 Independents including 1 ex-Labour

[21] 1 ex-Independent

[22] 23 Independents including 1 ex-Plaid, 2 ex-Conservative

[23] 11 Independents

[24] Includes 1 Independent who sits with the Lib Dems Group

[25] 24 Independents

[26] 27 independents, 6 Llais Gwynedd, and 2 Propel

[27] 13 Independents including 1 ex-Lib Dem

[28] 1 ex-Independent

[29] 18 Independents

[30] 5 Independents

[31] 8 Independents, 1 Propel (ex-Plaid),

[32] 5 Independents

[33] 13 Independents, 22 non-aligned

[34] 1 ex-Conservative

[35] 1 ex-Conservative

[36] 30 Independents, 1 Abolish The Welsh Assembly Party

[37] 7 Independents including 1 ex-Lib Dem, 1 Cynon Valley Party

[38] 7 Independents, 1 non-aligned

[39] 13 Independents

[40] 15dependents

[41] 25 Independents, 1 non-aligned

[3] Political parties are under no legal obligation to publish membership statistics and there is no uniformly recognised definition of membership.

[4] Some candidates stand as Labour and Co-operative joint candidates due to an electoral alliance with the Co-operative Party.

[1] "Understanding legislation". Legislation.gov.uk.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[2] "Major changes to cut number of Welsh MPs published". BBC News. 8 September 2021.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)

[5] Davies, Daniel (9 November 2018). "Welsh Labour leadership: Do people know the candidates?". BBC News Online.

[6] "Plaid Cymru see 25% membership boost following Adam Price's leadership victory". Nation.Cymru. Archived from the original on 13 October 2018. Retrieved 12 October 2018.

[7] "Jane Dodds is new Welsh Liberal Democrat leader". BBC News. 3 November 2017.

[8] "Independent AM Neil McEvoy to launch new Welsh National Party". ITV News. 10 February 2020. Retrieved 6 June 2020.

[9] Your Councillors. Gwynedd Council. Retrieved 11 July 2017.

[10] "View registration - The Electoral Commission". search.electoralcommission.org.uk.

[11] "Sian Mair Caiach". Llanelli Rural Council (in British English). Retrieved 6 June 2020.

[12] "Gwlad Gwlad standing in four seats where Plaid Cymru have withdrawn 'to offer people a pro-independence vote'". Nation.Cymru (in British English). 15 November 2019. Retrieved 7 June 2020.

[13] "Elected Councillors – The Liberal Party" (in British English). Retrieved 6 June 2020.

[:0-14] "Where We Stand and Why We are Needed – The Liberal Party" (in British English). Retrieved 7 June 2020.

[:1-42] "View registration - The Electoral Commission". search.electoralcommission.org.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2020.

[:2-43] "Socialist Party Wales – Socialism In Wales" (in British English). Retrieved 7 June 2020.

[44] WalesOnline (11 August 2003). "New Welsh Socialist dawn?". WalesOnline. Retrieved 7 June 2020.

[45] Waugh, Paul (20 September 2019). "Harriet Harman Urged To Pull Out Of Commons Speaker Race By Local Labour Party". Huffpost. Retrieved 7 April 2020. The motion by Nick Wrack, who was readmitted to Labour after standing against Harman for the left-wing TUSC party four years ago, cites the precedent of Tories warning they would stand a candidate against John Bercow if he stayed on.

[46] Prest, Victoria (18 April 2015). "Trade Union and Socialist Party (TUSC) to contest eight seats in York council elections". The Press. Retrieved 7 April 2020. The left-wing party Trade Union and Socialist Party (TUSC) is fielding eight would-be councillors for seats on City of York Council, as well as a parliamentary candidate in York Central.

[47] Cohen, Tamara (2 June 2017). "Can far-left fringe parties make a difference to Labour's election push?". Sky News. Retrieved 7 April 2020. Britain's largest far-left party, the Trade Union Socialist Coalition (TUSC), founded by the late Bob Crow, is standing no candidates this year.

[48] "Former Llan'dod mayor stands for Christian Party in General Election". County Times. Retrieved 7 June 2020.

[49] Barberis, Peter; McHugh, John; Tyldesley, Mike (2000). "Far Left". Encyclopedia of British and Irish Political Organizations: Parties, Groups and Movements of the 20th Century. London: A&C Black. p. 145. ISBN 0826458149.

[50] People First - Gwerin Gyntaf (De-registered 03/11/16), The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2018-09-23.

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v t Political parties in the United Kingdom
Legislatures of the United Kingdom
House of Commons (650)	Conservative (363) Labour (199, including Labour Co-operative*) SNP (44) Liberal Democrats (12) DUP (8) Sinn Féin^† (7) Plaid Cymru (3) SDLP (2) Alba (2) Alliance (1) Green (E&W) (1) Independent (4) Speaker (1)
House of Lords (772)	Conservative (257) Crossbenchers (185) Labour (168) Liberal Democrats (84) Democratic Unionist (5) Ulster Unionist (2) Green (E&W) (2) Plaid Cymru (1) Lord Speaker (1) Non-affiliated (38) Independents (3) Lords Spiritual (26)
Scottish Parliament (129)	Scottish National Party (64) Scottish Conservatives (31) Scottish Labour (22) Scottish Greens (8) Scottish Liberal Democrats (4)
Senedd (60)	Welsh Labour (30) Welsh Conservatives (16) Plaid Cymru (13) Welsh Liberal Democrats (1)
Northern Ireland Assembly (90)	DUP (26) Sinn Féin (26) SDLP (12) Ulster Unionist (10) Alliance (7) Green (NI) (2) People Before Profit (1) Traditional Unionist Voice (1) Independent Unionist (3) Independent Other (1)
London Assembly (25)	London Labour (11) London Conservatives (9) London Greens (3) London Liberal Democrats (2)
Other national and regional parties	Abolish the Welsh Assembly All for Unity Animal Welfare Aontú Ashfield Independents Aspire Burning Pink Christian Peoples Alliance Count Binface English Democrats Gwlad Heavy Woollen District Independents Independent Community and Health Concern Let London Live Liberal Lincolnshire Independents London Real Mebyon Kernow National Health Action Official Monster Raving Loony Progressive Unionist Propel Reclaim Reform UK Social Democratic Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition UK European Union UKIP Women's Equality Yorkshire
*Co-operative Party candidates stand jointly with the Labour Party. ^†Sinn Féin have elected members and offices at Westminster, but as abstentionists do not take their seats.
Portal:Politics List of political parties by representation Politics of the United Kingdom

v t Political parties in Wales
MSs in the Senedd (60)	Welsh Labour (30) Welsh Conservatives (16) Plaid Cymru (13) Welsh Liberal Democrats (1)
MPs in the House of Commons (40 of 650)	Welsh Labour (22) Welsh Conservatives (14) Plaid Cymru (4)
Councillors in local unitary authorities (1,249)	Welsh Labour (472) Independent (313) Plaid Cymru (201) Welsh Conservatives (183) Welsh Liberal Democrats (62) Propel (7) Llais Gwynedd (6) Newport Independents (4) Cynon Valley (1) Abolish the Welsh Assembly (1) Gwlad (1)

v t List of political parties in Europe
Sovereign states	Albania Andorra Armenia Austria Azerbaijan Belarus Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina Bulgaria Croatia Cyprus Czech Republic Denmark Estonia Finland France Georgia Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Kazakhstan Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Malta Moldova Monaco Montenegro Netherlands North Macedonia Norway Poland Portugal Romania Russia San Marino Serbia Slovakia Slovenia Spain Sweden Switzerland Turkey Ukraine United Kingdom Vatican City
States with limited recognition	Abkhazia Artsakh Kosovo Northern Cyprus South Ossetia Transnistria
Dependencies and other entities	Åland Faroe Islands Gibraltar Guernsey Isle of Man Jersey Svalbard
Other entities	European Union