It also organises the annual conference – the sovereign decision-making body of the party in Wales – provides legal and constitutional advice and arbitrate on certain disciplinary matters.

[13] In 1893, the Independent Labour party was founded; it established branches in Wales, but did not initially gain mass appeal.

Particularly after the First World War, an expanded electorate and the damage the conflict caused to the Liberals reputation contributed to a major shift in support towards Labour in industrial areas.

[15][14] After 1922, Labour maintained consistent electoral dominance in Wales, winning between 40% and 45% at general elections for the rest of the interwar period.

[15][14] After difficult years in the 1920s and '30s, following World War II there was keen desire in Wales like elsewhere in the UK to avoid a return to the conditions of the interwar era, and the Labour victory at the 1945 general election was strongly endorsed by the Welsh electorate.

This change was based on the Labour Party's support for central planning in the Welsh economy and was not at that stage any kind of endorsement of the idea of devolution.

[28] In the 1964 general election, the Labour Party in Wales polled some 58 per cent of the Welsh vote and won 28 seats.

Labour victory in the February 1974 general election pushed devolution onto the political agenda, culminating in a decisive vote against a Welsh Assembly in a 1979 referendum.

[34] Plaid Cymru's threat in the industrial heartland fell away in the 1970s, but it and the Conservatives gained ground in Welsh-speaking and coastal Wales respectively, where Labour's roots were shallower.

By the 1979 general election, the Labour Party in Wales held 22 of the 36 parliamentary seats, albeit with a 48 per cent share of the vote.

In contrast to the 1950s, the swing against Labour in Britain was matched in Wales, where voters showed themselves just as unwilling to endorse Michael Foot's markedly more left-wing manifesto.

A rampant Conservative Party, by contrast, captured 14 seats (including three of the four Cardiff constituencies) and exceeded 30 per cent of the vote for the second election in succession.

The Labour Party in Wales's problems were compounded by a strong SDP–Liberal Alliance performance, gaining 23 per cent of the vote, though few seats, at what was to be the height of its success.

In February 2000, the first assembly leader, Alun Michael resigned following a vote of no confidence on the matter of European funding for Wales.

On 27 June, Morgan concluded the One Wales agreement with Plaid Cymru, which was approved by Labour rank and file on 6 July.

[52] At the 2015 UK general election, Labour saw a slight uptick in vote share and made a net gain of one seat in Wales.

If the swing in Wales were repeated across the UK, the Conservatives would have won a landslide victory of over 100 seats; in some, such as Pontypridd, Welsh Labour lost over 16 per cent of its vote.

The 2015 general election saw Labour achieve its second lowest vote share in Wales during the post-World War II era.

There are currently 14 Labour Members in the House of Lords from Wales, excluding Baroness Morgan of Ely, who is currently on leave of absence.