Communist Party of Wales
The Communist Party of Wales is part of the Communist Party of Britain. It should not be merely discounted as a regional division, however, as it is a vital part of the Communist movement in Britain, due to the historical strength of communism in Wales, and under the Party's own rules operates as more than such. The leader of the Communist Party of Britain, Robert Griffiths, is himself a Welshman.
In November 2004, the CPB Wales hosted a Communist University in Pontypridd, under the question "How can we challenge the 'New World Order' and create a people's Wales?", with speakers invited from across the progressive, labour and socialist movements, including:
- Robert Griffiths, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Britain
- George Galloway, Respect Coalition MP
- John Haylett, editor of the Morning Star
- Andrew Murray, chairman of the Stop the War Coalition
- Leanne Wood, Plaid Cymru member of the Welsh Assembly.
The Communist University of Wales is now a bi-annual event attracting scores of left wing and progressive Welsh activists over the course of its weekend of courses.
The CPB Wales fielded six candidates in the 2004 local elections. In Shotton, the Communist Party beat the Conservative Party. The results were as follows:
Candidate |
Ward |
Percentage |
|---|---|---|
Rhian Cartwright |
Splott (Cardiff) |
1.9 |
Fran Rawlings |
Adamstown (Cardiff) |
3 |
Taff's Well (R.C.T.) |
3.3 |
|
Nigel Maskell |
Mountain Ash East (R.C.T.) |
2 |
Roy Evans |
Vaynor (Merthyr Tydfil) |
11.6 |
Glyn Davies |
Shotton (Flintshire) |
21.6 |
Average Vote - 7.2%
The CPB Wales built on its electoral work in the 2007 National Assembly elections fielding 20 candidates in the five electoral regions of Wales thus qualifying for TV election broadcasts the first by the Communist Party in over 40 years. In total the Welsh Communists polled almost four thousand votes and in doing so increased the size of its vote in the two regions that it contested in 2003 by 34% and 42%.
Party Organisation
The Communist Party of Wales claims to have over 100 members organised in 7 branches across Wales: Cardiff; Pontypridd; Swansea; Merthyr & Cynon Valley; North West Wales; Flintshire and Gwent.
The Party holds a bi-annual Welsh Congress that decides the Communist Party's policy as they apply to the circumstances in Wales and elects a Welsh committee that runs the Party in Wales between Congresses.
The leader of the Communist Party of Wales is Rick Newnham who also sits on the Communist Party of Britain's Executive Committee.