Editing Plaid Cymru (section)

===1950s===
[[File:1959 Election in Merioneth.jpg|thumb|1959 election in Merioneth. Gwynfor Evans, standing, is talking at [[Bryncrug]]]]
[[File:BBC debate between Iorwerth Thomas (Rhondda MP) and Gwynfor Evans (15171981727).jpg|alt=Iorwerth Thomas and Gwynfor Evans sitting at a table in front of a BBC microphone, debating.|thumb|BBC debate between [[Iorwerth Thomas]] (Rhondda MP - [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]]) and [[Gwynfor Evans]], Plaid Cymru's first MP]]
Gwynfor Evans's presidency coincided with the maturation of Plaid Cymru (as it now began to refer to itself) into a more recognisable political party. Its share of the vote increased from 0.7% in the [[1951 United Kingdom general election|1951 general election]] to 3.1% in [[1955 United Kingdom general election|1955]] and 5.2% in [[1959 United Kingdom general election|1959]]. In the 1959 election, the party contested a majority of Welsh seats for the first time. Proposals to flood the village of [[Capel Celyn]] in the [[Tryweryn]] valley in Gwynedd in 1957 to supply the city of [[Liverpool]] with water played a part in Plaid Cymru's growth. The fact that the parliamentary bill authorising the dam went through without support from any Welsh MPs showed that the MPs' votes in Westminster were not enough to prevent such bills from passing.<ref>Davies, J., ''A History of Wales'' (1990, rev. 2007), Penguin.</ref>