There are a number of political parties registered to the

Electoral Commission An election commission is a body charged with overseeing the implementation of electioneering process of any country. The formal names of election commissions vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, and may be styled an electoral commission, a c ...

in Wales. Some of these parties have elected representation in the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; cy, Senedd Cymru) and/or in

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

(UK Parliament) 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 in either the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. T ...

or the Senedd, the current largest party in Wales is

Welsh Labour Welsh Labour ( cy, Llafur Cymru) is the branch of the United Kingdom Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears won a plurality of the Welsh vote at every UK general election since 192 ...

, followed closely by the

Welsh Conservatives The Welsh Conservatives ( cy, Ceidwadwyr Cymreig) is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second-larg ...

and

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

House of Commons/Senedd

House of Commons

The

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

is a legislative body in the United Kingdom and creates primary legislation. There are two chambers within the

: the

(the elected chamber) and the

House of Lords The House of Lords, also known as the House of Peers, is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Membership is by appointment, heredity or official function. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminste ...

. This article focuses on the House of Commons. Three parties have elected representatives in that house (MPs):

and

. The constituencies are due to change for the 2024 general election.

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 The Referendum on the law-making powers of the National Assembly for Wales was a non-binding referendum held in Wales on 3 March 2011 on whether the National Assembly for Wales should have full law-making powers in the twenty subject areas where ...

. In 2021, four parties have elected representatives in the Senedd:

and

Welsh Liberal Democrats The Welsh Liberal Democrats ( cy, Democratiaid Rhyddfrydol Cymru) are a branch of the United Kingdom Liberal Democrats that operates in Wales. The party is led by Jane Dodds, who served as MP for Brecon and Radnorshire from August to Decemb ...

House of Commons/Senedd parties

Local government

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

County councils

Community and town councils

Council control

Parties with no elected representation

Notable registered parties

Defunct parties

South Wales Socialist Society The South Wales Socialist Society was a federation of communist groups in Wales, with many of its members being coal miners. It was a founder constituent of the Communist Party of Great Britain. It was formed as the Rhondda Socialist Society in ...

(1911–1920) - amalgamated with the Communist Party of Great Britain in the 1920s. *

Communist Party of South Wales and the West of England The Communist Party of South Wales and the West of England was a political party in Britain, formed in September 1920. The group was formed by a minority within the South Wales Socialist Society, that did not support merging into the Communist Par ...

(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

or joined the Labour Party *

Welsh Socialist Republican Movement The Welsh Socialist Republican Movement (''Mudiad Sosialaidd Gweriniaethol Cymru'') was a short-lived nationalist political movement which was born out of frustration with Plaid Cymru's failure to oppose the first referendum on Welsh Devolutio ...

(1979–1986) - succeeded as a political party in 1986 by Cymru Goch, however it still exists as a publication *

Cymru Goch Cymru Goch (, ''Red Wales'') was a left-wing Welsh nationalist political party, founded in 1986 and fought for what it described as a ''Free Socialist Wales''. Background Following the collapse of the Welsh Socialist Republican Movement, a numbe ...

(1986–2003) - evolved into

Forward Wales Forward Wales ( cy, Cymru Ymlaen) was a socialist political party operating in Wales. It evolved from the John Marek Independent Party (JMIP), formed by the ex- Labour member of the Welsh Assembly, John Marek who was the party's national conven ...

. * Democratic Alliance of Wales (1999–2008) *

John Marek Independent Party The John Marek Independent Party (JMIP) was a political party in North Wales which eventually evolved into Forward Wales. The JMIP was formed in March 2003 by John Marek. Marek had been deselected by his local Labour as official candidate in th ...

(2003) - short lived party which became

. *

(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)People First - Gwerin Gyntaf (De-registered 03/11/16)
The Electoral Commission. Retrieved 2018-09-23. - Siân Caiach (now a councillor for

Gwlad Gwlad ( in Welsh) is a centre-right Welsh nationalist and pro-independence political party. Its current leader is Gwyn Wigley Evans. Background In late 2017, a preliminary meeting held by Royston Jones in Aberystwyth over the formation of a ...

) ran for the party in the Welsh Assembly seat of

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

in 2011 and 2016. * Respect - The Unity Coalition (2004–2016) - a party established by

Salma Yaqoob Salma Yaqoob (formally Jacob) (born 15 August 1971) is a British political activist and psychotherapist who served as the Leader of the Respect Party from 2005 until 2012, representing the party on Birmingham City Council. She led the Birming ...

and

George Monbiot George Joshua Richard Monbiot ( ; born 27 January 1963) is a British writer known for his environmental and political activism. He writes a regular column for ''The Guardian'' and is the author of a number of books. Monbiot grew up in Oxfordsh ...

and built out of the

Stop the War Coalition The Stop the War Coalition (StWC), informally known simply as Stop the War, is a British group established on 21 September 2001, shortly after the September 11 attacks, to campaign against what it believes are unjust wars. The Coalition has c ...

, its most notable candidate was George Galloway *

Welsh Socialist Alliance {{Use dmy dates, date=April 2022 The Welsh Socialist Alliance (WSA) was a socialist political organisation in Wales. It was closely related to, but separate from the Socialist Alliance. It was founded by the Socialist Party and Cymru Goch Cymru G ...

(1999–2016) an alliance between the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

and

and some independents, which fell apart when the Socialist Party left the grouping

Notes

References

{{List of political parties in Europe Politics of Wales

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

Political parties