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With the polls so close, all kinds of Westminster folk are making their dispositions for a hung parliament after the next election.

People tend to assume the Lib Dems alone would be able to tip the balance and decide whether to let the Labour or Conservative parties form a minority government, or whether to join a coalition.

But it could be that one or both of the bigger parties would need the support of more than one other party...perhaps the Lib Dems and the nationalists, or even the Northern Ireland Democratic Unionists.

On the News Channel's Straight Talk, Andrew Neil extracted some intriguing thoughts on that contingency from , the leader of Plaid Cymru's MPs at Westminster.....

Elfyn Llwyd: We are well placed to increase our seats in Westminster.
Andrew Neil: You think you will? There are three of you now?
EL: There are three of us now.
AN: How many do you think you'll be?
EL: I would be disappointed if we weren't five, six, maybe seven.
AN: And in a hung Parliament that could be quite crucial now.
EL: As you know, we work with the Scottish National Party and, given they hope to make gains as well, it could be quite a bloc.
AN: And if there was a hung Parliament, and Mr Brown came to you and says, I need some help, I need your votes, probably Lib Dems and others too; you're in coalition with Labour in Cardiff, why wouldn't you do so in London?
EL: Well indeed, what I would say, we would say, we've got three or four maybe five basic demands, yes.
AN: So you could see yourself doing a deal with Labour?
EL: Well, we have before; in 1974 we held the balance of power. We brought in compensation for the miners of which we are eternally proud. Then in 1992, with John Major's government, we were in favour of Maastricht, as it happens, but John Major's ministers came to us and said, will you support Maastricht, and we said we would, except not on a confidence motion and not on the social chapter opt-out, otherwise we were in favour of Maastricht.
AN: So your message to Mr Brown is, if you need our help it's by no means a blank cheque, but there's a deal could be done.
EL: Well, I wouldn't put it quite as strongly as that. What I would say to Mr Brown is, we've got the best interests of Wales at heart and if we are able to deliver as we did in 1974 and 1992, if we deliver for Wales in an understanding with your government, then we are quite prepared to entertain a discussion with you.

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