Welsh Vote on Establishing Own Assembly

CARDIFF, Wales — The Welsh voted Thursday in a referendum on setting up their first elected assembly in 600 years as part of British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s plans for constitutional reform.

Opinion polls pointed to a vote for greater autonomy, but many of Wales’ 2.2 million voters were undecided right up to the last day of campaigning in contrast to Scotland, which last week voted by a 3-1 margin for its own Parliament.

“Apathy rules here. We’re so used to being pushed around that unless someone pushed us we wouldn’t get anything done,” said Alison Evans, a 31-year-old homemaker.

“Everywhere else in Britain is a busy hive, and Wales is dying,” Evans said. “Wales is the cesspit of the country, and the people have been stuck in a rut for so long that they don’t want change.”

Results are expected early today.

Wales was annexed to England in 1536 and has not had its own assembly since early in the 15th century. Its successor would have 60 members, control an annual budget of $11 billion and oversee public services for about 3 million people.

From schools to sport, housing to hospitals, the assembly would run daily life but would hold no sway over finance, foreign affairs, defense or law and order. In contrast, its Scottish counterpart can set taxes.

The last time Wales was offered its own assembly, in 1979, people voted “no” by a 4-to-1 margin.

But the mood in Britain has changed after nearly two decades of centralized Conservative rule, with support growing under the Labor government for greater democratization.

Supporters of limited home rule said they were “optimistic but not complacent” as pollsters outlined solid, if not overwhelming, support for their cause.

But opponents said the plan was an English ruse to be rejected after centuries of domination by London.

The referendum is just one part of the government’s pledge to shake Britain up constitutionally and get it ready for the millennium.

The Labor government also plans to reform the House of Lords, the upper chamber of Parliament.