for Wales by a majority of just 6,712 votes. The following year the Government of Wales Act was passed by UK parliament, establishing the National Assembly for Wales (). First Welsh Assembly, 1999–2003 In the 1999 election Plaid Cymru gained seats in traditionally Labour areas such as in the Rhondda, Islwyn and Llanelli and achieving by far their highest share of the vote in any Wales-wide election. Ieuan Wyn Jones was the campaign director during Plaid Cymru's first elections to the Welsh Assembly in 1999. While Plaid Cymru presented themselves as the natural beneficiary of devolution, others attributed their performance in large part to the travails of the Labour Party, whose nomination for Assembly First Secretary, Ron Davies, was forced to stand down in an alleged sex scandal. The ensuing leadership battle did much to damage Labour, and thus aid Plaid Cymru whose leader, by contrast, was the more popular and higher profile Dafydd Wigley. The UK Labour national leadership was seen to interfere in the contest and deny the popular Rhodri Morgan victory. Less than two months later, with a further slump in Labour support, Plaid Cymru came within 2.5 percentage points of gaining the largest vote share in Wales. Under the new system of elections, the party also gained two MEPs. Lord Elis-Thomas was elected Presiding Officer of the National Assembly for Wales. Jones' presidency; 2000–2003 In a speech at the 2000 National Eisteddfod at Llanelli, Cynog Dafis (pronounced Davis), Plaid Cymru AM for Mid and West Wales, called for a new Welsh-language movement with greater powers to lobby for the Welsh language at the Assembly, UK, and EU levels. Dafis felt the needs of the language were ignored during the first year of the Assembly, and that in order to ensure a dynamic growth of the Welsh language a properly resourced strategy was needed In his speech Dafis encouraged other Welsh-language advocacy groups to work closer together creating a more favorable climate in which using Welsh was "attractive, exciting, a source of pride and a sign of strength". Additionally, Dafis pointed towards efforts in areas such as Catalonia and the Basque country as successful examples to emulate. Lord Elis-Thomas disagreed with Dafis assessment, however. At the Urdd Eisteddfod Lord Elis-Thomas said that there was no need for another Welsh language act, citing that there was "enough goodwill to safeguard the language's future". His controversial comments prompted Cymdeithas