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Election 2007: The Debate
2007-04-30 01:00:00
The leaders went head to head, but only after each giving a two minute pregeth to the nation. I have no idea why politicians insist on this kind of unrestricted airtime. Someone should tell them that debate programmes are about people holding them to account and speaking their minds, not sitting captive so they can be brainwashed. Anyway, since Martin Shipton has lifted the taboo on elaborate (and subjective) ranking features, I've come up with my own:Rhodri Morgan (Labour)'... And that's 500,000 reasons to vote Labour.' What, in two minutes? I was jotting them down and only got to number five by the time he started freestyling. Stumped by Mike German and Ieuan Wyn Jones and heckled by the audience. Not his finest hour.5/10Ieuan Wyn Jones (Plaid)Yap. Yap. Yap. But less so than normal. Probably the audience's favourite with two heartening rounds of applause. Nick Bourne asked him if people really wanted Plaid's policy of a seat in the United Nations, to which he replied 'of co...
More About: Debate , Election

Secrets and lies (and cowards)
2007-04-29 01:35:00
The car slows down. A head pops out the window."You F*cking C*nt," shouts the primitive idiot at the pedestrian.The car pulls away.We've all seen it. We all think it's lousy and stupid, but nevertheless an unfortunate sign of our times.Now, thanks to the exciting world of the internet, you can be a gutless thug online. The practice of writing anonymous comments to slag people off is a strange one. Because clearly there are some people out there who are as bitter as they are cowardly. What on earth could you possibly gain as a human being by attempting to smear someone's good name while sniggering from beneath the cloak of anonymity?This week has, in many ways, been a great one for the Welsh blogosphere. Not only were blogs used to break big news stories, but they also became a major melting pot for debate. Unfortunately, there is a side effect to that culture. And when it came to the controversy over the alleged homophobic remarks made by a Conservative candidate, some people c...
More About: Secrets , Ward , Lies , Coward , Cowards

Don't know, don't care
2007-04-28 21:15:00
Perhaps it's just because Cardiff City lost at home again. Or perhaps it's because I haven't been invited to any post-election parties yet... But I'm coming clean: this election is exciting nobody except those politicians and journos whose lives depend on it. There are others who are getting into the spirit, but their interest is the political equivalent of hanging around guiltily to watch a neighbour's house burn down.Fair play to the Western Mail, they've given this election a right old bash. But their front page today - 'Election 2007: What you say'- should really have been followed by the line, 'Couldn't give a shit'.The paper dedicated its first five pages to election coverage, headlining their exclusive poll. But time after time, the most voluminous answer came under 'Don't know/Don't care'.And if we are really, truly and honestly talking about the 'reaction on the doorsteps', it is the same. I've had the privilege of going out with a few canvassers and watch...
More About: Care , Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Know

For Christ's sake, don't cock it up!
2007-04-27 11:55:00
The Tories are polling badly. But it?s OK. Priority marginals like Clwyd West are going well. Just make sure the candidate doesn?t say anything stupid?. Damn!Up steps Darren 'my evangelicalism won?t effect my campaign' Millar with a couple of gems at a hustings last night.According to the Labour party (so we only have one side of the story so far), the Conservative candidate for Clwyd West said that "creationism should be taught in Welsh science lessons" and "homosexuality is a sin".In the interests of proper journalism, I?ve checked the manifesto. But I can?t seem to find the 'in God?s name we shall purify' section.David Cameron, renowned for taking a hard line on the politically incorrect, will not be best pleased.UPDATE: The Tories say the remarks about homosexuality were not Mr Millar's own and that he merely referred to texts which said that homosexuality was a sin. His comments about creationism being taught in schools were (apparently) in the context of faith schools. My...
More About: Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Chris , Cock

Latest poll shows Plaid surge as Tories falter #2
2007-04-27 10:54:00
The Western Mail has now published its poll. And to the delight of Plaid and the dismay of almost everyone else, the results reinforce yesterday's ITV poll. Can we now call this a trend? Even if - given our idiosyncratic electoral system - the science is a bit dodgy, is there not a pattern emerging?UPDATE: William Hill puts the Tories much closer to Plaid than the great Welsh public (or at least a contentiosuly drawn sample of them). Worth a bet?
More About: Poll , Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Test , Surge

Latest poll shows Plaid surge as Tories falter
2007-04-26 19:07:00
Could you detect a hint of smugness as the Tories reacted to the first poll of the campaign earlier this month, putting them in second place ahead of Plaid Cymru? 'Corporal Jones tells Plaid: don't panic' scoffed Nick Bourne (via the press officer). Others were slightly more cagey. Not so Glyn Davies, who insisted the poll was "precisely the same as I've been predicting for months. Which is rather good news for the Conservatives."Well, Glyn, I bet you haven't been predicting this:Constituency vote %:Labour 32 (-8)Plaid 26 (+5)Con 19 (-1)Lib Dem 15 (+1)Others 8 (+4)Regional vote %:Labour 34 (-3)Plaid 24 (+4)Con 18 (-2)Lib Dem 15 (+2)Others 9 (-3)Seat prediction:Labour 25 (-4)Plaid 15 (+3)Con 10 (-1)Lib Dem 8 (+2)Independent 2 (=)As before, these results need to be taken with a McDonald's chip servery-sized pinch of salt. Last time, some Tories went large and now look a bit silly. It is, of course, still worth remembering that the way the poll data is gathered and the way the pr...
More About: Poll , Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Test , Surge

Presiding over before the game begins?
2007-04-26 01:07:00
Forgive me please, just this one 'what if'. I need it...Unless Labour pull off a big shock in this election, we expect a hung assembly on May 4th. The first business of that assembly is to elect a presiding officer. Whoever is bestowed that privilege will be politically impotent during their tenure, except in casting the decisive vote on those occasions where there is a tie. This makes the presiding officer feel terribly important. This and a plentiful supply of both blue and red bottles of Ty Nant mineral water, so his Lordship can have bubbles if that is what his Lordship doth wish.Anyway, this happens within seven days of the election and the assembly then has a further 28 days to nominate a First Minister, who on this occasion will be appointed by the Queen (if he can be bothered to turn up).So what's my point? Well, if it's tight (and there's every chance it could be tighter than a badger's anus), then the political affiliation of the presiding officer could determine whi...
More About: Game , The Game , Over , Fore , The G

Wigley or won't he?
2007-04-25 13:15:00
I can't believe I've been writing this blog for six months without asking the question, what the hell is Dafydd Wigley playing at?He is the nearest thing Wales has to a statesman. He was a consummate parliamentarian and continues to be respected across party political boundaries. And yet he is standing for election second on the North Wales regional list.Now, at the moment Plaid have one list member in that region. To get another they'd have to do pretty poorly at constituency level. But in reality, they're in the hunt for two gains in North Wales: Aberconwy and Clwyd West. This would be great news for Plaid, but catastrophic for Dafydd Wigley who would be flung into the political wilderness (possibly accompanied by Janet Ryder).So what's his game?Well, apparently 'Dafydd's done his Maths', the implication being that he's got it all worked out because he is Dafydd Wigley and you absolutely have to trust that big boomy voice. I'm not convinced. Wigley is re-energised, that...
More About: Welsh Assembly Election 2007

Alan Johnson backs Plaid candidate
2007-04-25 10:30:00
Alan Johnson (or whichever loon does his IT) has sent a letter of support to a Plaid Cymru candidate.Carolyn Edwards, who is fourth on the South Wales West regional list, was shocked when she received an email from the aspiring deputy prime minister entitled 'Good Luck in Neath & Port Talbot':With the elections just around the corner I wanted to email and wish you well. Just like you, I'll be spending a few extra quid on shoe leather over the next week or so and will share with you the unenviable delight of aching feet at the end of each day between now and May 3 rd. But never lose sight of why we do this. We do it because we're the ones with the ideas and policies that make a real difference to the lives of millions of people in this country.As Secretary of State I know that we have successfully driven standards forward in education throughout every region. We could only do that with unprecedented investment and an unfaltering belief that every child should reach their full p...
More About: Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Back , Dida , Alan

Deal or no deal?
2007-04-24 20:01:00
Right, that?s the day over. Time to reflect. (For background see HERE)My initial reaction to this story was that we could nit pick our way out of it. What?s the difference between a deal and a coalition, I wondered. Isn't this just a story about semantics? Some blogs and news bulletins evidently wondered this too, because that's also the line they took.But if we go back to Labour?s denial, what they say is that ?this story is rubbish from start to finish?. So, is it? Is it rubbish that senior labour politicians (note that the report calls them politicians and not sources) are understood by the BBC to be ?prepared to make major policy concessions in return for the party's support in votes of confidence and on issues such as the assembly budget??Is it rubbish that ?prominent Labour figures have said they are considering a deal with Plaid?? Is it? Is it? Eh?If it is rubbish, then someone has made it up. Surely Labour aren?t accusing the BBC of that?But let?s imagine it isn?t rubbis...
More About: Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Plaid Cymru , Deal

Kick Labour into touch?
2007-04-24 09:57:00
Plaid Cymru are going to need some new posters.1230 UPDATE: This is fast turning into a game of semantics. Just the sort of thing that will turn ordinary people off as much as it turns us anoraks on.Labour rule out a coalition with Plaid, who in turn rule out 'propping up' Labour. But that doesn't rule out an 'agreement'. Which is just what Labour are accusing Plaid of patching together with the Tories. At least nobody now has the moral high ground on making amorous advances. They're all at it.1245 UPDATE: Have talks, official or otherwise, already taken place?1345 UPDATE: Leighton Andrews insists the source is not a senior figure: "The BBC may have found someone in the Labour Party to say what the BBC is reporting - but they are certainly not anyone with any authority to say anything about Welsh Labour strategy pre- or post-election." But the BBC's Vaughan Roderick claims it is someone 'high up in the party'. It's hardly surprising that Labour's unionist wing are issuing...
More About: Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Plaid Cymru , Touch , Ouch

Redwood's rottweiler bites again
2007-04-24 01:12:00
Nick Bourne's been having quite an easy time of it as late. Admittedly, Labour piped up last week and accused him of being scared to leave his air-conditioned office, but that's about as heated as it's got.Enter Rod Richards, his predecessor as Tory leader."I regret the fact that these days all politicians from all parties are basically cardboard cut-outs," said Richards, obviously taking this photo (left) a little too seriously."As for the Conservative group leader Nick Bourne I have no regard for him whatsoever."I will not be voting in the assembly elections because nobody standing represents me or my views and I have taken a positive decision to abstain which shows my disdain for the way the assembly is operating. I certainly won't be voting Conservative because they don't deserve it and have no credibility in my view".So the Tories are one vote down already. But it's no surprise that Richards, one of John Redwood's former enforcers, isn't a big fan of Nick Bourne. After ...
More About: Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Wood , Weil , Again , Bite

Assembly election for dummies
2007-04-23 20:14:00
Or should I say, 'Assembly election for Guardian readers'. Not that I want to insult their intelligence. A few of them may even have strayed into this depraved corner of cyberspace.Anyway, here's my latest bit for Comment is Free. Shame the buggers have put me in the graveyard slot.
More About: Dummies , Election

BNP TV
2007-04-23 01:02:00
Tonight, the BNP will get a chunk of airtime for their party political broadcast. And there's a concerted campaign going on to stop it. (So far supported by the National Union of Journalists, the Broadcasting Entertainment Cinematograph and Theatre Union, Unite Against Fascism and Respect).You can read all about the legislation and guidelines relating to the party political broadcasts HERE.Needless to say, there are those who are asking broadcasters to censor. I suppose it's simply a question of whether that is necessary, or whether the public can decide for themselves.
More About: Welsh Assembly Election 2007

It's not over till the fat lady commentates
2007-04-22 01:59:00
The presence of a female commentator on Match of the Day this weekend has caused quite a stir. As usual with this sort of thing, the chaps who aren't wholly keen on the idea are denounced as short-sighted misogynists. That's because their arguments are usually short-sighted and misogynistic.But for me as an absolutely obsessive football fan (do not even think about telling me the scores before MOTD is over thank you very much) there's a much more obvious reason why the female voice isn't suited to football commentary. "People talk about technicalities like the range of voice," says Clare Balding in this week's Guardian, "but that's nonsense. It's the same as saying that women can't sing."Err, no it's not. But it is the same as saying a lone female soprano wouldn't blend terribly well with a muscly male chorus (and by the way, the male voice does indeed have a greater range than its female equivalent). Quite simply, your average football crowd is an overwhelmingly baritone ...
More About: Lady , Over , Menta , Comment , Comm

Honest John: Wood fires off final answers
2007-04-21 17:17:00
Here it is, the last Honest John post. Jonathan Morgan, Mick Bates and Huw Lewis have been and gone. After this I'll have to start writing this blog myself again, which frankly sounds a lot more trouble than getting you lot to ask the questions and persuading some gullible politicians to answer them.Last up is Leanne Wood , Plaid Cymru AM for South Wales Central. Leanne has hit the headlines for her role in the anti-Trident protests in Faslane Naval base, in which she was arrested. She is one of those politicians whom we lazily tend to prefix 'outspoken'. Let's see if it's justified...Are alcoholism and drug dependency offences that should be punishable orillnesses that should be cured? (Sion Gwilym)Before I was elected I worked as a probation officer. I take the view that substance dependency is an illness, often triggered by traumatic events - undealt with childhood abuse and bereavement being commontriggers. It depends on the offence and the circumstances - a drug dependent ...
More About: Answers , Welsh Assembly Election 2007

Only in my backyard
2007-04-20 17:39:00
I blogged recently on the fact that for the first time in well over decade, Plaid Cymru currently have no policy on nuclear energy.But there are two things we know for certain. One is that Plaid's leader Ieuan Wyn Jones backs a new nuclear power station in his own backyard, the other is that Plaid's pre-manifesto (released in March this year) categorically states: "Plaid Cymru does not support nuclear power."There's an obvious tension between these two positions. You can't be for and against something at the same time. The solution? Pretend you were never against it.At a local level, at least, Ieuan Wyn Jones now appears to be using the absence of a policy on nuclear energy in Plaid's manifesto to justify his support for the replacement of the Wylfa plant in Ynys Mon.The Bangor & Anglesey Mail reports that during a recent hustings on the island, Conservative candidate James Roach accused Plaid Cymru of double standards. He said: "It's interesting that within their manifest...
More About: Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Back , Only , Backyard

Honest John: Huw Lewis defends his corner
2007-04-19 18:15:00
Huw Lewis is Labour's assembly member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney. He has a hefty majority and ambition to match. As a politician loyal to the Blair agenda, he'll be monitoring developments in the Labour party closely as Rhodri Morgan's tenure as leader comes to an end. I'll keep the introduction short because the questions and answers are plentiful...Would you be prepared to PUBLICLY have your fingerprints and DNA taken for your new ID Card, before the election? (ianp)It would be a pretty boring thing to do PUBLICLY. I remain to be convinced about the need for ID cards, and would want some firmer guarantees about cost before committing one way or the other. But if your implication is that I have a criminal past, I have no fears there!Where in your opinion does the clear red water lie within your manifesto and London Labour's? (Marcus Warner)I don't think we should get too hung about the idea of "clear, red water", we should never look to do things differently for the sake ...
More About: John , Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Corner , Honest

We'll keep a welcome in the hillside (well hidden)
2007-04-19 01:40:00
UEFA hold a ceremony to announce who will host the 2012 European Championships. It is one of the biggest sporting events in the world. Press from all over the globe are gathered. At the time of writing Google News has 353 articles on the subject from India to New York, South Africa and Malaysia. It is being held in City Hall Cardiff.A star-studded audience holds its breath as the announcement is made. This is a heavyweight crowd. Literally. Ex-boxing champion Vitali Klitschko is backing the Ukraine bid along with Chelsea striker Andrei Shevchenko. Oh, and the President happens to be there too. Not to mention the Prime Ministers of Croatia and Hungary.But Sports Minister Alun Pugh decides it makes more sense to pull out at the last minute rather than represent the government at this prestigious event. He's fighting a marginal seat and for him, that is what's important. Turns out First Minister Rhodri Morgan can't make it either so they send Deputy Health Minister John Griffiths i...
More About: Poland , Keep , Come , Side

Honest John: Bates passes clear yellow water
2007-04-18 16:08:00
The second politician to rise to Blamerbell's Honest John challenge is the Lib Dems' Mick Bates. The bar has been set relatively high after the performance of the Conservatives' Jonathan Morgan.'Chwarae teg (Fair play) to JM for a pretty clear set of answers' said Aran, while Plaid-supporting Sanddef said he'd even consider voting for him under the right conditions. Valleys Mam was less impressed, arguing that people would always remember the way the Tories treated the miners.Today's victim politician has been assembly member for Montgomeryshire since 1999, but in the 2003 election his majority was halved by the outspoken Conservative contender Glyn Davies. Funnily enough, if the swings of four years ago were to be repeated on May 3rd Mick would lose his seat and so, in all probability, would the man who narrowed the gap last time around, confined as he is to the vagaries of the regional list.But Mick is evidently campaigning hard to hang on. That's the only explanation I ca...
More About: Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Water , Yellow

I want Socialist Equality for Wales!
2007-04-18 09:19:00
When the list of candidates for May 3rd was finalised last week, the inclusion of the Socialist Equal ity Party on the South Wales Central list turned a few heads.Actually, that's not true. It didn't turn any heads. They might as well be the the People's Front of Judea as far as most people are concerned. But it did turn my head ever so slightly - a fraction of a movement, like the sort you'd make if you happened to be balancing a pint of battery acid on the tip of your nose.I've always reserved a degree of admiration for the plucky underdog parties, contesting elections against the odds. But I've also wondered why they bother, especially when it comes to standing in Wales. Resources may be thin, finances steep, supporters virtually non-existent, but if you're going to stand in the Welsh Assembly election surely you should be, well, just a little bit Welsh?Not so the Socialist Equality Party, it seems, who are so committed to equality they've given Scotland and Wales the same...
More About: Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , List , Want

Honest John: Morgan calls for referendum on new powers
2007-04-17 12:03:00
Jonathan Morgan is stepping down from a comfortable regional seat to fight Cardiff North for the Tories. He's tried twice before, and failed. If he fails this time, he's out of a job.Jonathan, then, has more reasons than most to watch his back. But he's still the first politician to get his Honest John answers in. The challenge: to be as upfront as possible.So here it is, and there's some interesting stuff. Despite not having a favourite album (what kind of person doesn't have a favourite album?) Jonathan hits out at the media and finds common ground yet again with Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats: he'd like a referendum on Scottish-style powers for the assembly.Introducing, You versus Jonathan Morgan...What have you done as a party or an individual to help engage young people in politics? (Marcus Warner)In 1999 we had the youngest group in the Assembly. We have a young team of county councillors and candidates. Young people get on in our party.Are alcoholism and drug dep...
More About: Calls , Call

Bloody Cheek?
2007-04-17 01:19:00
I couldn't help but notice that Iain Dale linked to two Welsh blogs yesterday. One with a story about Lib Dems being perennially engaged in two-horse races, whatever the odds, and another about Plaid's Helen Mary Jones 'electioneering in a graveyard'. Cue the diatribe.Except, of course, there's a very good explanation over at Sanddef's place:Hedd Gwynfor said...www.gwynfor.net is a website that I purchased to give my late Grandfather a lasting memorial on the web... I offered to build a website for Helen's campaign in Llanelli, and to host her site on my gwynfor.net webspace. I purchased the domain www.helenmaryjones.net to point to http://gwynfor.net/helen/.My late Grandfather met Helen on numerous occasions before he died, and he was a great fan of hers. I know that my Grandfather would be extremely happy to be associated with Helen's campaign in Llanelli, and would want to help Helen's campaign in any way possible... Anyone who knew Gwynfor would understand that the only...
More About: Blood , Bloody

Top 5 campaign car crashes
2007-04-17 01:02:00
It's election time, so politicians everywhere are creeping out of their hovels and stepping into dodgy tracksuits, bin bags, go-karts... anything to get a picture in the local rag. But some moments have just been plain bizarre, and there's still over two weeks to go!1. Rhodri Morgan's 'ironic' train journey on the day South Wales' trains ground to a halt. Cue headlines: First Minister running out of steam etc.2. Rhodri on yet another mode of transport. This time it's a boat. He's donned his life jacket and is off out on a little jolly with Tony Blair . Cue headlines: Labour's sinking ship, Labour in need of a lifeline etc. Worse still, Rhodders and Tony get off the boat and embark on a steep uphill struggle back to base. They might as well just write their own scripts.3. Dafydd Wigley squeezes into a shellsuit for the first time since 1983. This is to make old people feel better about exercising. But it just makes them feel better about not exercising in the same place as Da...
More About: Campaign , Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Camp , Crash

Minister's 'snub' to the Welsh Language
2007-04-16 14:47:00
Staying with the Welsh language theme today, it's interesting to note which Labour candidates have submitted English-only registrations for the forthcoming national assembly elections.There's plenty of talk in Cardiff Bay of a nationalist/unionist split in the Labour party. And this may become all the more pronounced after the election as the end of Rhodri Morgan's tenure as leader grows ever closer. While Carwyn Jones, perhaps unbeknownst to himself, heads up the nationalist wing, the two AMs widely considered the stalwarts of the unionist camp are Leighton Andrews and Andrew Davies.So it's intriguing to discover that Enterprise Minister Andrew Davies has not submitted a bilingual registration for the May 3rd ballot, unlike most of his colleagues up and down the country who will stand on a 'Labour Party/Y Blaid Lafur' ticket.Unfortunately, the Rhondda Electoral Office does not publish its list of candidates online, so at the time of writing it's not possible to tell if Leigh...
More About: Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Language

Why won't Labour make Welsh an official language?
2007-04-16 09:27:00
The Conservatives, Plaid and the Lib Dems all agree: Welsh should be an official language. It's there in black and white in each manifesto.As it stands, Welsh is already a 'Language of Government' in Wales, but it does not have official language status (even though Jane Davidson seems to think that it does).This matters because Welsh, at present, doesn't really exist. Despite being spoken by a now sizable proportion of the nation, Welsh lags way behind other minority languages in Europe. Irish is an official European language, while Basque, Catalan and Galician are 'approved' European languages. This means that EU correspondence and speeches can be translated into these languages if notice is given.Meanwhile, Welsh has no such recognition. It is possible for MEPs to make speeches in Welsh in the European parliament, but they won't be translated so what's the point? It may amuse the Italians to see the remnants of Glenys Kinnock's lunch spat out in a mouthful of complex cons...
More About: European Union , Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Labour , Official language

It's between Labour and the Lib Dems here
2007-04-15 20:50:00
Haven't you heard? The whole of Cardiff is a two-horse race between Labour and the Lib Dems . At least that's what they will tell you.Laughing in the face of the actual statistics, the Lib Dems argue with some gall that 'everyone knows the Conservatives and Plaid can't win here'. Well, it's news to me, and news to Tory candidate Jonathan Morgan too I'm sure; he'll be devastated to learn he has no chance in Cardiff North despite being 6,400 votes closer to Labour than his Lib Dem counterpart.So, how do they do it? Surely it's not an outright lie? No, even for politicians that would be going too far. Instead, the Lib Dems cheekily use council election results to calculate their graphs, making it look as if they are in second place, whereas they are actually in third. But where they genuinely lead, as in Cardiff Central, suddenly the council election results are an irrelevance and assembly election history is of primary importance.The most staggering thing about this ploy is th...
More About: Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , Between , Here

German's scummy feet and Black's naughty blindfold
2007-04-15 01:35:00
The BBC reliably inform us that Welsh Lib Dem leader Mike German is not recognised by 94% of the electorate. And his cause is certainly not helped by apparent anonymity in the online world, particulary in a Google image search. While the other party chiefs appear as the very first result, Mike German is usurped by this picture of a pair of manky feet.It seems, if Google searches are anything to go by, the Lib Dems literally have an image problem. South Wales West AM Peter Black only just scrapes it into the top 20 results for his name. Confusingly, a blindfolded chap wearing Lib Dem gold and bearing more than a passing resemblance to the blogging Mr Black scores higher in the search.Worse still, when Peter finally makes an appearance, his eyes are half-closed and he's got his hands shoved up a stuffed animal.
More About: Welsh Assembly , Welsh Liberal Democrats , Feet

Alun Davies is a radical socialist
2007-04-14 01:02:00
Perched comfortably on top of the list for Labour in Mid & West Wales is a chap called Alun Davi es . He's never been an elected assembly member but he has stood in elections before.The only way to describe this man is hard left. He is a fierce opponent of privatisation and is keen to remind people that the prime minister has led the country to an illegal war in Iraq. He detests market forces and is demanding complete withdrawal from what he calls "the capitalist European Union".He is, of course, standing for the Socialist Labour Party and should not be confused with the other Alun Davies, top of the list for Welsh Labour in the same region:)Elsewhere, Glyn Davies has undergone another extreme political transformation. Not content with stealing the Welsh nationalists' clothes, Glyn is now donning the garb of the Trotskyites and standing first on the list for the Communists in North Wales.Yes, you can have a lot of fun with the full official list of candidates for the forthcoming el...
More About: Welsh Assembly Election 2007 , List , Radical

Vaughan y bwci - Vaughan the bookie
2007-04-13 11:04:00
Mae Vaughan Roderick o'r BBC yn rhedeg eitem difyr dros ben ar ei flog yn yr wythnosau nesaf: betio gwleidyddol Cymraeg. Blog Vaughan yw'r unig man ym Mhrydain lle mae modd i chi osod betiau ar ganlyniadau etholaethol yr etholiad.Dyna'r 'plug', Vaughan. Ga i swydd felly?*********************************** **********The BBC's Vaughan Roderick is offering odds on constituency seats for the forthcoming elections. He begins today with marginal Aberconwy. The odds are as follows:Plaid 6-4Con 7-4Lab 7-4Lib Dem 25-1He then quotes 'expert pundit' Karl Williams, who says; "I think Plaid will take it because of the strength of their candidate and the row over Llandudno hospital. The constituency border changes have been particularly unfavourable to Labour and Denise doesn't have much of a majority even as it stands."UPDATE: While we're plugging Vaughan we might also give him some credit for getting hold of some of the raw data that put the Tories in second place according to last wee...
More About: E Book , Ghan , Bookie