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M4 Ministers
2007-06-02 01:47:00 Much has been made of Rhodri's so-called 'Glamorganshire Cabinet' (see below for Mumph's take on it). It is certainly odd that the only people deemed to have any ministerial talent hark from a narrow corridor in South Wales. This plays right into the hands of Ieuan Wyn Jones, of course. He still wants to form an all-Wales government, albeit one with barely a constituency seat to show for itself in and around the capital. But as far as valleys dwellers are concerned, the man is from a different planet. He may bang on about supporting the Newport Gwent Dragons, but most people in these parts put on 888 even when he's speaking in English.And so, if and when a rainbow coalition makes its move, they'll have the very opposite problem. How can a bunch of North and West Walian nationalists propped up by dickie bow wearing Tories possibly earn the trust of South Wales' industrial heartlands?Answer: the gang of four won't just have to get behind a rainbow coalition if that's what the...
101 ways to prop up a 'failed Labour administration'*
2007-05-05 13:53:00 Peter Black, newly re-elected Lib Dem AM for South Wales West, knows exactly what he is doing.Yesterday's blog post got the ball rolling. 'It is clear that we now need a fresh approach and a radical re-think,' he wrote. For 'radical re-think' read 'leadership contest,' I responded. He had opportunities to deny this both on my blog and on Radio Wales. He chose not to do so.And today, he's at it again: 'My instincts are that the Welsh Liberal Democrats do not have to be the deal-makers in this process. We have our own issues to sort out first around where we are going as a party and what sort of image we project to the Welsh public.'It's now acknowledged that the leaders of Lib Dem councils are not keen on a Lab-Lib pact. Their long-term strategy is based on undermining Labour, not propping it up. In addition, one third of the Lib Dem assembly group have now spoken out against a Labour coalition. OK, so that only adds Eleanor Burnham to the mix (so far), but that's the Lib...
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...
Ieuan Wyn Jones is a 'weak daffodil'
2007-03-22 11:37:00 Labour's press people revealed today that they aren't just au fait with YouTube, they're a whizz at photoshop too.So, they've turned Ieuan Wyn Jones into a sort of Tory tree monster, intended to symbolise the fact that Plaid have apparently voted over 400 times with the Conservatives in the Assembly.This is the latest attempt by Labour to re-ignite the 'Vote Plaid get Tory' mantra, despite recent assertions by the nationalists that they hoped would not only have knocked the nail on its head, but knocked it right through into the eyes of any opportunistic Tories.But Labour remain undeterred, if slightly lacking in imagination. The line is supposed to be that 'Ieuan Wyn Jones is a weak daffodil', whatever that is. But given Plaid's new image, surely 'floppy poppy' would have made for a more resonant metaphor. At the very best they've made him look like one of those tree people from Lord of the Rings.Plaid start their conference tomorrow and have the opportunity to kill the... |
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