Neil McEevoy forms "Fan Club" group within Plaid.

 It's over thirty years since at a Plaid Conference in Porthcawl it was decided  to form a group within Plaid Cymru later to be  called the National Left ,to promote the idea of decentralisesd socialism within the party and beyond .

I was  for a time secretary of that group and although not technically among the leadership, it did revolve around Dafydd Elis Thomas.

Not long after a right won rival "Hydro" was formed led by Clayton Jones a populist councillor from Pontypridd.

So I will be interested  to see what form the new as yet unnamed new campaign group within Plaid Cymru, formed five days after he was expelled from the party by Neil McEvoy's will take.

Mr McEvoy is barred from this weekend's Plaid spring conference and the group will launch on the event's fringes.
Before the launch, he said Plaid had sometimes acted more like a "pressure group". Plaid said it would be better if a party member spoke for the group.
Mr McEvoy's membership was revoked for 18 months following a party investigation into his conduct at the 2017 Plaid Cymru spring conference.
He said the process was "completely flawed from the very beginning".
Also a Cardiff councillor for the ward of Fairwater, Mr McEvoy has been an independent AM for South Wales Central since being removed from Plaid Cymru's assembly group last September.
Ahead of the group's launch, due to take place on the fringes of the conference in Llangollen on Saturday, Mr McEvoy said: 

"Plaid isn't a pressure group but at times it has acted like one.
"We had the chance to throw Labour out of government, with the vote on the first minister in 2016, but we chose influence instead of government."
Members of the new group will pay a membership fee and cannot be a member of another political party.

The organisers said the group was borne out of "frustration" with the party, and they called for "party democracy and the rule book" to be respected and for "complete separation between lobbying firms and Plaid Cymru".

They said:

 "Over consecutive Plaid conferences members have met and discussed how best to take Plaid forward and have expressed frustration with the current direction of the assembly group."
The group's organisers also described the party's election results as "disappointing, with the Plaid Cymru group of 10 assembly members the smallest it has ever been".

A Plaid spokeswoman said the party was "open and transparent" and "allows robust debate".

"The focus of our spring conference this weekend will be to share and discuss the innovative ideas that will help us achieve our mission of building a new nation," she said.
"Constructive contributions from the new campaign group will be noted.
"Nevertheless, it would be more appropriate for its spokesperson to be a member of Plaid Cymru."

One  wonders if this  is a serious attempt to  steer Plaid down along a new path or is merely  the Neil McEvoy fan club.


Under our First Past the Post system there is very little room for another independista party in Wales either on the Left Right or Fan Club variety.

 Maybe Plaid should copy the Australian Labor party where the Labor Left (also known as the Socialist Left and Progressive Left) is an organised democratic socialist faction of the Australian Labor Party. It competes with the more fiscally conservative Labor Right faction.

Or even Québec solidaire which also includes a number of collectives, made up of members in good standing who may, in compliance with requirements, promote their respective political views within Québec solidaire. 

These groups do not have formal representation in the Congress, the National Council or other bodies of the party and seems to avoid the usual Left wing splits 

Current collectives include:

• Socialist Alternative, the Quebec section of the Committee for a Workers' International.^[29]
• Décroissance conviviale, a collective which promotes degrowth.
• Gauche Socialiste, the Quebec section of the reunified Fourth International.^[30]
• Laïcité, a collective which promotes the separation of church and state.
• Mass critique, an anti-capitalist collective.
• The Parti Communiste du Québec – Parti Communiste du Canada (PCQ-PCC), the Quebec membership of the Communist Party of Canada.
• Socialisme Internationale, the Quebec membership of the International Socialists.^[31]
• Tendance Marxiste Internationale, the Quebec section of the International Marxist Tendency.^[32]

After voting to merge with the party in late 2017, Option nationale will become a new collective within Québec solidaire.

Of course to what extent this could lead to a clear election manifesto, which all can sign up to is unclear.

In the meantime we will have to wait to see what the new group will call it self and what it intends to be its doctrine  other than the Neil Mcevoy Fan Club.