The Council for Wales and Monmouthshire (), was an appointed advisory body announced in 1948 and established in 1949 by the

UK government His Majesty's Government, abbreviated to HM Government or otherwise UK Government, is the central government, central executive authority of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

under Labour

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

Clement Attlee Clement Richard Attlee, 1st Earl Attlee (3 January 18838 October 1967) was a British statesman who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1945 to 1951 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1935 to 1955. At ...

, to advise the government on matters of Welsh interest. It was dissolved with the establishment of the post of Secretary of State for Wales and the formation of the

Welsh Office The Welsh Office () was a department in the Government of the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Wales. It was established in April 1965 to execute government policy in Wales, and was headed by the Secretary of State for Wales, a post wh ...

in 1964/65.John Davies, ''A History of Wales'', Penguin, 1993,

History

Formation

The formation of the council was partially in response to

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

's growing influence following the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Devolution of powers to Wales was opposed by Labour politicians such as

Aneurin Bevan Aneurin "Nye" Bevan Privy Council (United Kingdom), PC (; 15 November 1897 – 6 July 1960) was a Welsh Labour Party (UK), Labour Party politician, noted for spearheading the creation of the British National Health Service during his t ...

Morgan Phillips Morgan Walter Phillips (18 June 1902 – 15 January 1963) was a colliery worker and trade union activist who became the General Secretary of the British Labour Party, involved in two of the party's election victories. Life Born in Aberdare, Gla ...

and

, who opposed the establishment of a post of Secretary of State for Wales as it would encourage Welsh nationalism. Bevan, the most influential and outspoken Welsh MP of his day, believed any form of

devolution Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territori ...

would distract Wales from the

political Politics () is the set of activities that are associated with decision-making, making decisions in social group, groups, or other forms of power (social and political), power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of Social sta ...

mainstream of

UK politics The United Kingdom is a constitutional monarchy which, by legislation and Convention (norm), convention, operates as a Unitary state, unitary parliamentary democracy. A Hereditary monarchy, hereditary Monarchy of the United Kingdom, monarch, ...

and be detrimental to the country's interests. However, Welsh backbenchers such as D. R. Grenfell, W. H. Mainwaring and James Griffiths supported the establishment of a Secretary of State post. As a compromise, the Government agreed to the establishment of a Council for Wales and Monmouthshire. However, it was given no more than a responsibility to advise the UK government on matters of Welsh interest. The proposal to set up a Council for Wales and

Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...

was announced in the House of Commons on 24 November 1948. Its inaugural meeting was in May 1949, and its first business meeting the following month.

Dissolution

With the failure of unanimous Welsh political opposition to prevent the flooding of

Capel Celyn Capel Celyn was a rural community to the northwest of Bala in Gwynedd, Wales, in the Afon Tryweryn valley. The village and other parts of the valley were flooded in the Tryweryn flooding of 1965 to create a reservoir, Llyn Celyn Llyn ...

, and subsequent growth in Plaid Cymru influence in the 1950s, the Council for Wales recommended the creation of a

and Secretary of State for Wales early in 1957, at time when the governance of Wales on a UK national level was so demonstrably lacking in many people's eyes. However, council chairman and one time Plaid Cymru critic Huw T. Edwards did not believe the Council went far enough. Edwards and four other members of the Council for Wales resigned in 1958 over what Edwards described as "Whitehallism." Later that year Edwards joined Plaid Cymru. The Council became moribund, but retained a formal status until 1966. Responding to the calls of Welsh devolution, by 1964 the Labour Government gave effect to Council for Wales proposals by establishing the post of Secretary of State for Wales and the Welsh Office ().

Terms of reference

The council's terms of reference were: *to meet from time to time and at least quarterly for the interchange of views and information on development and trends in the economic and cultural fields in Wales and Monmouthshire; and *to ensure the government is adequately informed of the impact of government activities on the general life of the people of Wales and Monmouthshire.National Archives: Records of the Council for Wales and Monmouthshire
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Structure

The council had 27 appointed members. Of these, 12 were nominated by Welsh local authorities; there were also nominees from the Joint Education Committee, the

University of Wales The University of Wales () is a confederal university based in Cardiff, Wales. Founded by royal charter in 1893 as a federal university with three constituent colleges – Aberystwyth, Bangor and Cardiff – the university was the first universit ...

, the National Eisteddfod Council, the Welsh Tourist and Holidays Board, and from both management and union sides of Welsh industry and agriculture. The Council was required to meet in private, a further source of controversy. It set up various panels and committees to investigate issues affecting Wales, including a Welsh Language Panel to study and report upon the present situation of the language; a Government Administration Panel; an Industrial Panel; a Rural Development Panel; a Transport Panel; and a Tourist Industry Panel.

Chairman

The first chairman was Huw T. Edwards, a trade union leader. The Minister for Welsh Affairs within the UK central government could assume the role of Chairman if the position was vacant.https://api.parliament.uk/historic-hansard/commons/1958/dec/16/council-for-wales-and-monmouthshire

References

{{Authority control Politics of Wales Government of Wales History of Monmouthshire 1949 establishments in Wales 1966 disestablishments in Wales Government agencies established in 1949 Government agencies disestablished in 1966