I am not a member of Plaid, largely because I wish to keep this blog independent and free to criticise the party without the prospect of facing the sort of discipline that led to Syniadau disappearing.
Nevertheless I would have voted for Leanne Wood and I am disappointed that she lost.
The Wasting Mule's Martin Shipton , who has made no secret of his admiration for Adam Price
He writes..
It leaves me with the suspicion that some Plaid supporters regard those who come from outside Y Fro Cymraeg asnot fully understanding the threat to the language.
Whether this affected Leanne's vote I don't know, but for those of us who found someone with a "valleys accent" speaking in both English and Cymraeg refreshing and widening Plaid's appeal we should be concerned that Plaid may be retreating to its heartland rather than expanding and embracing the whol eof Wales.
Surely winning seats like the Rhondda at both Palimentry and Assembly level is more important than say Aberconwy.
I am not in the bubble so I have no knowledge of what the situation inthe assembly group or that as Martin Simpson claims
Quite frankly all political parties , will have a Brutus and Cassius , willing to plunge the knife as part of their desire to take up the mantle of leader no matter how successful he or she is.
But is Plaid and its members right to decide the leader and there is no doubt of Adam Price's talents.
Indeed the issue I disagreed with Leanne over was that she would claim that Wales was to poor to seek independence now and it is Adam Price who appears to, back the argument that the only way to get out of our poverty is independence.
Something this Blogs has been promoting for what seems an age.
Whether the Wasting Mule's Martin Shipton's support for Adam will continue now that he has won is an interesting question.
The fact that Adam is openly gay,leaves me to hope that he will continue to build bridges with minorities in the same manner as Leanne did even if it does not mean that its not immediately reciprocated, in votes.
Adam has said that he wants the Party's English name to be New Wales . not something I am comfortable with, but his immediate task is to reassure those outside Plaid's heartlands that Leanne has encouraged to share our vision that they are welcome and can play a major part in the future of Wales.
When Leanne Wood was elected leader of Plaid Cymru in early 2012, she was seen as an insurgent candidate who had defeated two candidates from the party’s establishment – Ceredigion AM Elin Jones, who had been the favourite and is now the Presiding Officer, and Dafydd Elis-Thomas, a former leader and recently dethroned Presiding Officer who fancied another challenge.However this time there was criticism that when Leanne was giveing support for so called "Niche" causes and not enough to Welsh Speaking communities.
She became Plaid’s first woman leader on a prospectus of taking the party to the left and winning seats across the Valleys – a necessary aim if it was to have any chance of leading Wales.
Counter-intuitively, as someone who was not a first-language Welsh speaker nor entirely fluent in the language, she received a lot of support from members of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg, the Welsh Language Society, who believed she would take a more radical stance in favour of the language than her two rivals.
- I didn't read it like that at all- I believe it's taken for granted in the article that the Welsh national movement has the language at its core. It's simply saying that these other issues should also be integrated.
Not going to express my views any further, because I take a very, very dim view of the Anglocentricity of the entire direction of equalities thinking under Leanne, & if I don't give an honest appraisal, best not to give an appraisal at all.
Whether this affected Leanne's vote I don't know, but for those of us who found someone with a "valleys accent" speaking in both English and Cymraeg refreshing and widening Plaid's appeal we should be concerned that Plaid may be retreating to its heartland rather than expanding and embracing the whol eof Wales.
Surely winning seats like the Rhondda at both Palimentry and Assembly level is more important than say Aberconwy.
I am not in the bubble so I have no knowledge of what the situation inthe assembly group or that as Martin Simpson claims
A local party rebellion in Llanelli has seen the loss of dozens of members – this time because of troubles arising out of the imposition of an outside General Election candidate. Ms Wood has again been blamed for the dispute.
Ukip aside, this is the first time an incumbent party leader in Wales has been defeated when seeking re-election. If it’s unusual, it’s not wholly unexpected.Only one AM and not a single MP was prepared to nominate Ms Wood for the leadership. As the campaign progressed, senior party figures told us that the party was going nowhere under her leadership, that there was no sense of direction given by her to the Westminster group, and that she had shown no real wish to combat Brexit.
It emerged that members of the Plaid Assembly group had asked her to stand down graciously, but she refused to go.
Quite frankly all political parties , will have a Brutus and Cassius , willing to plunge the knife as part of their desire to take up the mantle of leader no matter how successful he or she is.
But is Plaid and its members right to decide the leader and there is no doubt of Adam Price's talents.
Indeed the issue I disagreed with Leanne over was that she would claim that Wales was to poor to seek independence now and it is Adam Price who appears to, back the argument that the only way to get out of our poverty is independence.
Something this Blogs has been promoting for what seems an age.
Whether the Wasting Mule's Martin Shipton's support for Adam will continue now that he has won is an interesting question.
The fact that Adam is openly gay,leaves me to hope that he will continue to build bridges with minorities in the same manner as Leanne did even if it does not mean that its not immediately reciprocated, in votes.
Adam has said that he wants the Party's English name to be New Wales . not something I am comfortable with, but his immediate task is to reassure those outside Plaid's heartlands that Leanne has encouraged to share our vision that they are welcome and can play a major part in the future of Wales.
2 comments:
I made no secret of my support for leanne in this contest and im not going to pretend im not disappointed with the result or the scale of leanne's defeat. But what's clear is plaid cymru members wanted change and they see adam as the candidate to take plaid forward in these dangerous and uncertain times for wales. And while Adam wasnt my first choice on the ballot paper he is someone ive always liked and held in a very high regard - and when he's on song there are few finer political speakers in the british isles. And of course he is the first LGBT leader of a party in wales and everyone who supports plaid should be very proud of this.
Whether he's well known enough among the welsh electorate to make a quick impact on plaid's electoral fortunes i dont know - the next senedd elections are just over 2 years away - but as with all party leaders he will in the end be judged on how plaid performs at the ballot box. Sincerely hope that before then he dumps his barmy campaign pledge to cut income tax in wales by 9p and obviously he must hold good to his campaign promise of no coalitions with the tories.
Martin Shipton's 'analysis' of the result should be treated with as much caution as the crude hatchet job he did on leanne a couple of weeks ago. He cant even get the number of AMs who supported leanne right - bethan Jenkins also declared her support for leanne. And his account of leanne's performances at the hustings bears no resemblance to the hustings i attended. Course martin shipton wasnt at the hustings himself so is relying on third parties hostile to leanne for his report - just as he relied on third parties hostile to leanne when he penned that unadulterated poisonous crap two weeks ago. Interestingly it's alleged Martin Shipton personally blamed leanne for not getting a job with plaid a couple of yeas ago.
Similarly simon brooks is one of those characters who distinguished themselves during the leadership contest by misrepresenting leanne's record at every turn on social media. Indeed people lying about leanne was a prominent and depressing feature of this campaign, and it would be naive to think this disinformation campaign wouldnt have contributed to yesterday's result.
Finally i still cant work out how a leader taking a keen interest in the well being of 54 percent of the welsh population ie the female population of wales could be described as being 'too concerned with niche issues'.
I cannot see Adam Price getting Plaid Cymru more votes or seats in the Senedd or at Westminster. Perhaps the current Plaid Cymru level of represention at both parliaments represents a plateau from which the party cannot advance.
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