Thee will be some Plaid supporters who will feel that the Parties launch of they 5015 Manifesto was overshadowed by comments by the party’s former leader, Dafydd Elis-Thomas, who owned up to that Welsh voters still are not convinced by Plaid in the way that Scottish voters are by the SNP.
Noting that the party needed to show itself to be a credible alternative to Labour, he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programmer:
“I have no issue with the decision of the Welsh people to vote for the Labour Party, because they clearly haven’t been convinced that we are a better alternative.
“In Scotland the SNP have convinced them, it seems to me from the polls, and therefore that’s our responsibility, we have to have a better election than we’ve ever had before.”
To my my mind it was a honest answer to a question and could )and maybe should) have be made by any Plaid spokesperson.
It is probably that it came from Dafydd El that was seized on by the media and Plaid opponents.
What is the difference in Plaid politician Jonathan Edwards claim that Voters are leaving Labour for UKIP in droves in two seats Plaid Cymru are targeting at the general election, and the issue was crucial enough for Labour to potentially lose their hold on Ynys Mon and Llanelli..
Of course Plaid would not be to gleeful if Labour supporters leaving Labour for droves in the South Wales Valleys /
Bit both are making a point Plaid currently are on 11& in the polls about the same as the were after the first Leaders debate in 2015 when Clegg mania briefly took over and Plaid saw its share in the fall from the 15% it had held earlier .
The 2015 leaders debate severely damaged though parties that did not take part.
Tomorrow Leanne Wood has a golden opportunity to thrust herself on the whole UK stage
Political Betting recently blogged
Leanne Wood could be the 2015 Nick Clegg and at 50-1 might be a good punt to win Thursday’s debate
and added
She has the benefit of not being much known outside Wales
Just had a punt with Ladbrokes at 50/1 that Plaid leader, Leanne Wood, will top the quickie polls after Thursday night’s seven-sided debate.
She’ll be fresh to a full national audience, has a pleasant manner, and handles herself well on TV. She’ll also attract less of the hostility that some of the others on the platform are likely to attract.
The rules ensure that she should get equal time with the other six and might just make a good impression. I love 50/1 shots and this might just come up.
Plaid are probably the Party which has most to gain tomorrow and the least to lose and it could just be the catalyst that could see Plaid propel forward as its never done before.
We will soon have some idea for the sake of Wales and particularly the the stamped on poor and needy I hope I'm right.
6 comments:
"Jonathan Edwards claim(s) that Voters are leaving Labour for UKIP in droves in two seats Plaid Cymru are targeting at the general election". What a brilliant April Fool's joke!
Labour is running a more disciplined campaign, and will reap the benefits. What strikes me is that the Labour Party has had its members and supporters out on the ground, knocking on doors and talking to people. No number of leaflets through the post can beat this personal approach.
Labour will spend £1bn on 16 miles of M4; they're complicit in decades of underfunding which, as a British party, one would have expected to fight for Wales but did nothing about and even ridiculed Phil Williams when he raised the issue 15 years ago; they management of health and education has led to people losing faith in the Assembly and what happened to the £££ bilions of Objective One money; they could have impelented zero-contract hours but didnt and still don't in councils and agencies they run.
Dafydd could have pointed this out, and more, but instead took the opportunity to give credibility to a party who's policies and political philosophy of putting the British state before Welsh interest has made us one of the poorest parts of Western Europe. And is killing our language.
The reasons for Labour's domination in Wales are complex and frankly to say 'Plaid hasn't convinced people' is only part of the problem - issues of which media people watch and listen to; issues of which policies are implemented by whom, demographic change etc.
Yes, Plaid needs to tackle this, but Dafydd instead of helping to give a reason why people may be 'convinced' to vote plaid gave an open goal to Labour in Wales ... a party which frankly doesn't deserve it. So, Dafydd didn'r take the opportunity to practice what he preached. He helped not convince people to vote Plaid.
Dafydd El, once again, undermining his own party and the members who support him and pay his wage. It's alright for him to say he also attacks Labour but he knows full well that the press will always quote an AM undermining his own party rather than an AM attacking another.
Diolch am ddim Dafydd. Hunanol a ffuantus. Wales will again, be the poorest part of the UK as Welsh Labour will again not stand up or cause fuss for Wales in Westminster whilst Scotland will be treated with respect.
And when the Tories win the election then Wales will have less forms of protecting itself because Welsh Labour didn''t want Wales to have too many powers lest it would undermine Welsh Labour MPs personal careers.
D. Galon
As I just posted on Daily Wales:
There is something intrinsically "wrong" with the Labour Party in Wales. They are ideologically redundant since the removal of Clause 4 and yet attack their rivals as if they were class warriors willing to justifiably use any methods to achieve their societal/political aims. Who now joins the Labour Party for reasons other than personal gain? It is simply a career choice. I grew up in a household of Labour activists. My parents and sister joined the Party out of a deep rooted belief that Britain should be run on socialist principles. Those days are long gone. Labour is now a negative force in the lives of working class people in Wales; it benefits from their want. Its representatives are blatantly hypocritical, voting for one thing at Westminster and yet campaigning for quite the opposite in the presence of their constituents(Post Office closure for eg). Their policies on a UK scale bear no resemblance to even a generation ago; renewal of Trident, privatization, paying for education etc etc. In Wales, despite the Assembly having significant powers, they have simply sat on their hands and blamed London. This Party needs to be confronted at each and every juncture. They simply do not have a leg to stand on. Plaid should, with some ease, be wiping the floor with them in the Rhondda, let alone Aberavon! I, personally, now intend to become active for Plaid. In any open debate we simply cannot lose against a Labour Party which is now not only redundant but downright bad.
Elwyn Jenkins
Dafydd Elis Thomas’s intervention was a cheap, personal attack on Leanne Wood that totally undermined yesterday’s manifesto launch and he knew it, he hasn’t forgiven her the Mrs Windsor quip more than a decade ago, never mind denying him the party’s leadership which he thought was his by right.
As other have said Plaid’s lack of traction is down to lots of factors not simply lack of credibility, but mark my words Labour will win and win well in Wales. This is the first time since 1997 they have actually been campaigning in my valleys seat so they must feel under some pressure and Carwyn Jones was right Labour’s biggest obstacle is voter apathy.
There is something intrinsically "wrong" with the Labour Party in Wales. They are ideologically redundant since the removal of Clause 4 and yet attack their rivals as if they were class warriors willing to justifiably use any methods to achieve their societal/political aims. Who now joins the Labour Party for reasons other than personal gain? It is simply a career choice. I grew up in a household of Labour activists. My parents and sister joined the Party out of a deep rooted belief that Britain should be run on socialist principles. Those days are long gone. Labour is now a negative force in the lives of working class people in Wales; it benefits from their want. Its representatives are blatantly hypocritical, voting for one thing at Westminster and yet campaigning for quite the opposite in the presence of their constituents(Post Office closure for eg). Their policies on a UK scale bear no resemblance to even a generation ago; renewal of Trident, privatization, paying for education etc etc. In Wales, despite the Assembly having significant powers, they have simply sat on their hands and blamed London. This Party needs to be confronted at each and every juncture. They simply do not have a leg to stand on. Plaid should, with some ease, be wiping the floor with them in the Rhondda, let alone Aberavon! I, personally, now intend to become active for Plaid. In any open debate we simply cannot lose against a Labour Party which is now not only redundant but downright bad.
I can relate to the post by Anonymous at 11:52, nice post.
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