National Party (Kymry)

The **National Party** (*Welsh*: **Plaid Genedlaethol**) is a conservative Kymrian political party. The successor of the Constitutional Liberal Party and Farmers' parties, the National Party has been since 1947 one of the two major Kymrian parties alongside the Labour party.

Founded as a merger of conservative and anti-socialist parties, the National party has held government four times in Kymrian history, with six prime ministers coming from the party.

The National Party identify as conservative, and is roughly split between moderate one-nation conservatives, social conservative national conservatives and new right liberal conservatives. The party is traditionally conservative on social issues, and more market-friendly on economic issues, with some members supporting a social market economy and others more neoliberal economic models.

## Ideology

The Nationals have defined itself as following one-nation conservatism, valuing tradition and pragmatism whilst being highly sceptical of any form of radical change. The National Party identified with support of rural ways of life, nationalism, strict Anglican moral values and promotion of the Church.

When founded the Nationals strongly promoted social conservatism and a form of corpratism that emphasised a mixed economy. Anti-Revolutionary Party leaders took a paternalistic view of how to order society, drawing on the Bible for inspiration. As such the party was strongly socially conservative, supporting the promotion of Christianity and opposing divorce, pornography, abortion, euthanasia and LGBT rights. It also favoured strict limits on alcohol, the death penalty and tough school discipline. The Nationals also took the view that the state should guide the economy through price and wage controls, as well as supporting "natural state owned monopolies" and subsiding agriculture. The Nationals also supported the welfare state, drawing on Biblical canon relating to aiding the poor and the concept of *noblesse oblige*. This resulted in some to coin the Nationals economic policy as "tory socialism".

The Nationals was strongly Atlanticist, favouring close ties with the United States and Canada. The Nationals also promoted close relations with the United Kingdom. Above all however the Nationals was strongly anti-communist, rejecting most relations with the Soviet Union.

During the 1970's, the Nationals begun to shift from these positions as society began to liberalise. The party became split between the "one-nation conservatives" and the "neo-conservatives", who supported economic liberalism and Europeanism. During the tenure of Frederick Joseph the factions became more entrenched, with the neo-conservatives being strongly supportive of individualism and free market, laissez-faire economics (including welfare cuts, privatisation and deregulation) alongside strong support of the European Union on the grounds of free trade and a more liberal social policy and those who supported the paternalistic, conservative state with strong protectionist trade policies. During the 1980's the party became to increasingly accept neoliberal and monetarist economics, although divisions between the one-nation and neo-conservative camps have continued.