| In the 1966
General Election Megan Lloyd George was elected the Labour MP for Carmarthen,
beating, among others, the president of Plaid Cymru, Gwynfor Evans. Megan
Lloyd George had held the seat for Labour since 1957, but two months
after the election she died and a by-election was called. |
|
|
Gwynfor Evans
once again stood for the seat as the Plaid Cymru candidate even though,
three months earlier, he was beaten by both the Labour and the Liberal
candidate, only receiving 16.1% of the vote. This time he won the seat
gaining 39.0% of the vote, and a majority of 2,436 over the Labour candidate
Gwilym Prys Davies. |
| Gwynfor Evans
was the first Plaid Cymru Member of Parliament, and he represented Carmarthen
until he lost his seat in 1970. He returned to represent Carmarthen as
a Plaid Cymru MP for a period of five years between 1974 and 1979. Gwynfor
Evans's success in Carmarthen gave Plaid Cymru the boost the party needed
which led to a period of increased support in Wales. |
|
"Plaid Cymru became credible, an appealing
alternative to an apparently ageing, timorous, and entrenched Labour
Party, which showed all the symptoms of too long a monopoly of
power." K. O. Morgan, Rebirth
of a Nation.
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