Collections
The Welsh Political Archive Manuscript Material
- Clement Davies MP with his fellow Liberals
Party records
The Welsh Political Archive includes national and some local records of all the major political parties active in Wales.
The Labour Party (Wales) Archive comprises a complete set of minutes dating back to 1937 as well as files of correspondence and papers dating from the 1950s to the present day. Among the local Labour Party records held are those of Brecon and Radnor, Ebbw Vale, and Caerphilly.
The records of the Welsh Liberal Party since its formation in the 1960s and of the SDP in Wales from 1981 have also been received. Locally, the most important Liberal Party records held are those of Ceredigion, Montgomery and Caernarfon.
Several Conservative and Unionist Associations, notably those of Caernarfon, Cardiff, Conwy, Monmouth, and Pembrokeshire, have also deposited their records. Some of these records go back to the early decades of the 20th century.
The largest party archive is that of Plaid Cymru which dates back to the party's foundation in 1925.
To complement these Welsh records there are also available on microfilm copies of central party records of all the major parties.
- ‘Cadw Tryweryn’ rally, October 4th 1956
Papers of politicians
It was once suggested to Lloyd George that The National Library of Wales would become his `literary mausoleum'. Over the years the Library has in fact acquired several important groups of Lloyd George's correspondence and papers, as well as those of many of that outstanding generation of Welsh politicians such as T E Ellis, J Herbert Lewis and Samuel T Evans.
The papers of many more recent politicians have also been acquired, among them 5 of the first 6 to hold the post of Secretary of State for Wales: James Griffiths, Cledwyn Hughes (Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos), George Thomas (Viscount Tonypandy), and John Morris and Nicholas Edwards (Lord Crickhowell); and also the papers of Clement Davies, Leader of the Liberal Party, Lord Elwyn-Jones, Lord Chancellor, 1974-79, Dr Gwynfor Evans, President of Plaid Cymru, and Mrs Beata Brookes, Conservative MEP for North Wales, 1979-89.
Also held is the massive collection of diaries, correspondence and papers of Thomas Jones CH, who was Deputy Secretary to the Cabinet from 1916 to 1930 and a close confidant of Lloyd George and Stanley Baldwin when they were Prime Ministers.
Also there are the papers of many long-serving backbench MPs: Leo Abse, Emlyn Hooson (Lord Hooson), Ted Rowlands and Dafydd Wigley, to name a few.
All Members of Parliament and those active in Welsh politics have been made aware of the potential value of their papers. It is hoped that this will lead to the preservation of political papers on a far wider scale than hitherto.
Records of organisations, campaigns and pressure groups
The records of quasi-political organisations are an important source for political historians. The Library holds the records of organisations such as the Welsh national Council of the United Nations Association, formerly the League of Nations Union, 1923-56, and the Association of Welsh Local Authorities, 1928-70s.
Records and papers relating to campaigns and pressure groups are also held, for example, minutes and papers of the Parliament for Wales Campaign, 1953-56, the records of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, and the papers of several recent radical and nationalist pressure groups
