Publisher's Synopsis
On 18 September 1997 the Welsh electorate voted for a National Assembly. The slender majority was an enormous turnaround from the outright rejection of 1979, a turnaround engineered by the Yes for Wales campaign, founded by Leighton Andrews. Wales Says Yes is the story of that campaign.
Andrews has consulted widely with pro- and anti-politicians of all parties to shed light on the argument. What was the extent of government involvement? Had Labour and Plaid Cymru learned from 1979? What would the Tories do after their general election rout? Could the people of Wales be roused in the way that the Scots had? What was the effect of the death of the Princess of Wales? The questions and possibilities, the conundrums and ramifications seemed endless: Andrews the insider guides the reader through the fraught months of campaigning.
Wales Says Yes also looks at post-referendum issues: Ron Davies' resignation; two Labour leadership battles; the relationship between Assembly and Welsh Office; how the new, inclusive politics of an Assembly might - or might not - work.
Leighton Andrews runs a political consultancy at Westminster and in Cardiff. He has previously worked in public affairs at the BBC and Shelter.
