Can Plaid realy form a Coalition with the Tories on Conwy?

Labour is putting Leanne Wood under pressure after Plaid Cymru continued denying it had formed a coalition with the Conservatives on Conwy council despite the authority’s website showing a cabinet comprising five Tory, one Independent and four Plaid councillors.

Ms Wood has repeatedly said that under her leadership there would be no coalition deals between Plaid Cymru and the Conservatives at any level of government.


At the Conwy council election in early May no party gained overall control.

Former Plaid AM Gareth Jones – one of 10 Plaid councillors elected to the authority – defeated Independent councillor Goronwy Edwards to become the council’s new leader.

Interestingly However Mr Jones did not secure the support of most Plaid councillors in the vote but was elected thanks to 100% support from the 16-strong Conservative group. Whixh may suggest some are not happy with this

Now, after weeks of wrangling, a cabinet has been named by Mr Jones, who said in a statement: 

“I am pleased to announce the names of elected members who will serve on [the] cabinet.
“The new cabinet is an ongoing, open administration based on inclusivity and transparency in that all council members and political groups were invited to express an interest in being considered for cabinet membership.
“Regrettably, some groups chose not to engage in this inclusive approach. The new cabinet will not be driven by any political agenda but by the single pursuit of what is best for Conwy residents, businesses and visitors in terms of quality of life and public services.
“This new cabinet has a blend of experience, expertise and stamina which will enable it to face the future challenges of an insecure and changing world.”

Now I have some  sympathy here local Government politics are not as simple as they seem and some Tory councillors may not share he ideology of cuts that their compatriots at Westminster and Cardiff Bay do.

The idea that local government is an echo of Westminster polcies is not entirely valid and probably many Labour councils have embraced Austerity Cuts as (if not more so) than some Tory ones.

It could be that an Independent  led council could be more open to the above ideology and more damming to Conwy  in the long run.


I am not a Plaid member so its not for me to tell the party what to do but But lets face it Plaid  going into coalition with the Tories  sticks in my craw and  i would suggest the Plaid leadership should demand their Conwy members o explain if this is really the best for the county borough and is this worth the damage it might do to the party nationally.

If Labour are going to make a big issue of this then they will be guilty of hypocrisy for in Scotland although they have blocked one deal and suspended all nine Labour councillors in Aberdeen after they entered coalition with the city’s Tory group in defiance of party HQ. and the nine now sit as Independents on the authority, leaving Scotland’s third largest city without any Labour representation., they have apparently  propped up the Tories on some other Scottish councils..