Wales’ next government must make St David’s Day a bank holiday

Amelia Jones

I’m almost ashamed to admit that it wasn’t until I left Wales for university that I truly began to understand my Welsh identity.

It was there, in England, surrounded by my friends from across the UK  I realised it felt as if their traditions were being held at a higher status than mine.

St Patrick’s Day filled the streets with fancy dress and packed out clubs. But when St David’s Day rolled around, half the city didn’t even know it existed.

When I eventually made my way back to Wales after graduating, carrying renewed sense of Welsh pride, I realised that being in Wales for the ‘celebrations,’ really wasn’t that much better. It made me question: how can we expect people across the bridge to respect Welsh traditions when we so often fail to do so ourselves?

This brings me to a bigger question that has sparked much debate in recent years: why does St David’s Day not merit a bank holiday?

The answer is not cultural indifference alone, but political reality. The power to create bank holidays is not devolved to the Welsh Government. It remains firmly in the hands of Westminster.

This centralised control raises important questions about how Welsh culture is valued within the UK, and who ultimately gets to decide what is worthy of national recognition.

If Wales is to be recognised as a nation with its own identity, language and traditions, surely we should have the autonomy to celebrate our patron saint – just as Scotland and Ireland do. Both St Andrew’s Day and St Patrick’s Day are observed with bank holidays.

Open letter

Last year, the Leader of the Senedd Conservatives, Darren Millar wrote an open letter to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer formally requesting that St David’s Day be made a permanent bank holiday.

In his letter, Millar described St David’s Day as “an important occasion for celebration for people in Wales every year,” arguing that official recognition would bring enormous benefits, from promoting the Welsh language to strengthening national heritage and culture.

He also pointed out that while Labour had committed to a St David’s Day bank holiday in its 2019 manifesto, that promise was conspicuously absent from the party’s 2024 platform  – despite unanimous support for the move in the Senedd

When Nation.Cymru approached the UK Government for comment, they said that the current pattern of public and bank holidays was well established and there are no plans to change it, due to economic costs.

Scotland

This justification rings hollow when set against the experience of Scotland.

While bank holidays in England and Wales are governed by the UK-wide Banking and Financial Dealings Act 1971, which reserves the power to designate holidays to Westminster, Scotland operates differently.

Many of Scotland’s bank holidays are established through Scottish law, customs, and decisions made by its own parliament and local authorities. This distinction enabled Scotland to pass the St Andrew’s Day Bank Holiday (Scotland) Act 2007, officially recognising its national day as a bank holiday without requiring UK Government approval.

Wales, however, lacks similar devolved powers and must rely on Westminster to grant new bank holidays. Despite broad support within the Senedd, Wales’ repeated requests to create a St David’s Day bank holiday have been refused, highlighting a clear imbalance in how national identity is officially recognised across the UK.

Last year, Plaid Cymru’s Westminster leader, Liz Saville Roberts said that Wales is being denied the same rights as Scotland.

She said: “St David’s Day is a celebration of Wales and Welshness – a symbol of our existence, just like St Andrew’s Day for Scotland. Yet, while Scotland gets official recognition, Wales is denied the same right.

“Plaid Cymru has long called for it to be a national holiday, but Westminster refuses. No surprise from the Tories, but now Labour is following suit. Their message to Wales is clear: indifference.

“Labour reckons that people in Wales won’t hear what Labour says in London. They take us for fools who’ll fall for cynical hypocrisy. Plaid Cymru will call this out on every occasion.”

Reform UK’s attempt

More recently, Reform UK spoke out in support of bank holidays for St David’s Day.

The party’s  ‘Reclaiming Britain’ section of their “Contract to the People,” says: “Make St George’s and St David’s Day a Public Holiday – English national identity should be officially promoted and celebrated, not ignored or banned.”

However, this approach fundamentally misunderstands the issue. Referring to St David’s Day as an extension of English identity is, quite frankly, laughable. It strips the day of its meaning and reduces Welsh nationhood to a footnote within an English narrative.

It also reinforces the idea that Welsh identity is secondary, and exists only in relation to England, rather than on its own terms.

When Welsh traditions are folded into English nationalism they cease to be recognised as distinct and instead become diluted, repackaged and misunderstood. It is no wonder that so many people outside Wales assume the country is ‘basically England’.

That misconception has not emerged by accident, it is the product of centuries of political centralisation and cultural erasure, where Welsh identity has too often been treated as optional or in some cases decorative.

St David’s Day is not a regional curiosity, nor a variation of Englishness. It is a national celebration, and it deserves to be recognised as such.

With a Senedd election on the horizon, the question is no longer whether the case has been made, but whether a future Welsh Government would be prepared to demand the powers to act.

Last month, the lates polling data revealed Plaid Cymru had a 14 point lead over Reform UK.  Plaid has long argued for greater cultural and constitutional autonomy. The question now is whether that argument can cut through beyond the party’s base, or whether it will once again remain an idea with momentum but no mandate.