The Welsh Assembly election of 2003: the Triumph of ‘welfarism’

Abstract

This article briefly covers some of the main events of the first legislative period of the Welsh Assembly between 1999‐2003, then examines the Assembly election campaign and the election results in 2003, before drawing some general conclusions about the current state of Welsh politics. The further decline in turnout in 2003 compared to 1999 is examined. Doubt is cast on whether technical improvements in the political process such as postal voting or e‐voting will, by themselves, reverse the current downward trend in turnout. More attention needs to be given to key questions of the ‘performance’ of parties and politicians in Wales.