Harts and minds
So the new Health Minister has broken her duck and given a television interview.
And how.
Labour's Edwina Hart says she wouldn't mind having Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones in the cabinet. After all Adam Price MP had already said he wouldn't mind a coalition with Labour, though it's easy to imagine Plaid's tactical guru was just hoping to tease a blunt refusal out of them. Be careful what you wish for.
Ieuan Wyn Jones, for now, says nothing. But when there's talk of extending this term by a week or two, you get the distinct feeling this ain't over.
I spent the day at the Welsh Local Government Association annual conference at Swansea's Liberty Stadium where rainbow jokes were a big hit.
Best one? It came from leader, Councillor Derek Vaughan who claimed the WLGA had considered challenging the new cabinet to a game of football but they could only come up with 7 players ... so he thought of inviting the rainbow coalition instead. But they all wanted to play on the right wing.
Are they a happy bunch? No. They welcomed the new Minister, Andrew Davies and his Deputy, Leighton Andrews warmly enough. They 'could' both do a good job, I was told more than once but what's the point of engaging with them now about issues like affordable housing when you might have to go through the whole thing with "some other bugger" in a few weeks' time?
Perhaps they could but they can't get on and govern with that sword of Damacles hanging over their every decision. And there are big decisions to be made.
I gather that official invitations to dinners and conferences two and three months away are on hold. 'Leave it a few weeks just in case' is the latest advice to anyone who asks. And again, said people who are there to deliver, there are big decisions to be made.
One decision I took, as the day's Chair, was to get my defence in first. On the list of speakers was Chris Freegard, Chair of SOLACE. That bit was ok. It was the next bit that made me swallow a bit harder. He is the Returning Officer for Newport. To those who read my blog on election night you may remember that when Chris let rip with his extraordinary attempt to read out the results in Welsh, I let rip too.
Fortunately for me he is a man with a sense of humour, who's got used to calls of 'Good Moaning' when he walks into the office.
I'm Betsan Powys, ´óÏó´«Ã½ Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on .
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On a different matter... Are there any rumours about what’s happening with the appointment of a Counsel General for Wales? With it being a political appointment, I’m unsure as to whether the appointment will be the old fashioned way or the new way, by application. Perhaps a little bit of both - by selective application and a nod in the right direction :-D. I wonder if they will bring in Malcolm Bishop QC (has now made more of a name for himself, but would he still be interested after what happened last time?)
What are your views?
So before the election Plaid Cymru made two things very clear indeed (and still avoided talking about independence):
1. Under no circumstances would they prop up a Labour Assembly administration;
2. There was absolutely no way they would work with Conservatives - and they were prepared to sue anyone who suggested they might.
One month on and suddenly both options appear palatable to the Welsh Nationalists. If they're prepared to mislead the electorate before an election, what hope after? History will judge this moment as the day any hope Plaid had of gaining trust amongst the Welsh electorate as a serious political force disappeared without trace. Diolch, nos da a RIP Plaid Cymru.
At least politics in Wales has come into the fore recently.
I hope the people of Wales will then want a parliament like the Scots have and the powers!
I await the first no confidence vote for Rhodri.
Good to see that you have been 'migrated' - just hope you don't have too much 'jet lag'...
But I think the 'Blog Network' list on the page needs to be updated to bring it into line with the more extensive list on other pages.
Maybe Derek Vaughans performance at the conference was more to do with angling for a parliamentary seat. The WLGA is meant to be for all councillors and I do hope he was not using it to advance his ambitions and the Labour party,
Matt Wright
Betsan,
Had the pleasure of sitting on an adjacent table to you with the Plaid Cymru leadership lunching in Brass on May 24 in Cardiff Bay, while visiting Mum and Dad on a trip from Texas with my Son, Morgan.
Raised in Cardiff and now working in Texas, I was fascinated by the AM's and the seemingly peculiar politics in play. Self preservation and promotion seemed to be the order of the day. Good luck with your present assignment: it would appear you have a tremendous cast of characters to cover.
George Bush and Rick Perry have nothing on these guys.....
As Adam Price is a decent politician and a socialist, let's give him the benefit of the doubt that he is sincere in what he says about a coalition with Labour. Edwina's reply is spot-on, but she mustn't be left on her own. If she is, the Plaid will have an excuse not to talk to Labour. The Labour 'unionists' will likewise claim to be a majority and to have won the argument, cutting Labour off from Plaid and clearing the way for a three party coalition. More Labour AMs need to come forward, like Edwina, and keep this moving. It's the only way to get the red-green coalition Wales needs, and what the voters want. Who's next?
As Adam Price is a decent politician and a socialist, let's give him the benefit of the doubt that he is sincere in what he says about a coalition with Labour. Edwina's reply is spot-on, but she mustn't be left on her own. If she is, the Plaid will have an excuse not to talk to Labour. The Labour 'unionists' will likewise claim to be a majority and to have won the argument, cutting Labour off from Plaid and clearing the way for a three party coalition. More Labour AMs need to come forward, like Edwina, and keep this moving. It's the only way to get the red-green coalition Wales needs, and what the voters want. Who's next?
As a Plaid voter I would be very much against a coalition with Labour. Electorally, we would be tying ourselves to a party whose popularity with the electorate is likely to be in freefall over the next few years, and could be dragged down with them. Morally, the idea of going into coalition with the party that gave us the Iraq War is pretty repugnant. I know the Tories supported the war, but Labour was the party that actually started it. Let's go for the rainbow.
In reply to Vern, Plaid said they would not prop up a Labour Government, that means that they would not support it on its current program. If there was new agreed program for government then that would not be propping up Labour but a whole new coalition government - working to a new program and involving ideas from both sides, a whole new government. Quite a different thing.
Secondly can we finally lay the idea that Plaid said they would not cooperate with the Tories, they did not say that. What was said was that they would not serve in a coalition government with the Tories under a Tory First Minister. A Plaid lead coalition is a completely different kettle of fish.
I think there is a concerted effort to spread disinformation from some supported of Labour. This can only increase public cynicism and undermine the democratic process.
In reply to Lyn David Thomas if I may , I'm not aware of any concerted effort on behalf of Labour supporters for I am not one. My previous posts have spelt out clearly that I favour a 4-way power-sharing Exec.
The agreed Rainbow draft policy paper should now be put in front of Rhodri Morgan urging his signature and welcoming amendments. Should this be achieved then all 4 parties take up seats in the cabinet proportional to their size after May 3 on an agreed policy platform. Should any party refuse to work with another (i.e. Labour with Tories) then they simply walk away and leave the governance of Wales in the hands of the progressive consensus politicians - the Progressive Alliance maybe?
This was Ron Davies expectations of the evolution of the Welsh Assembly and now is the best time to put that into practice for the good of Wales.
Plaid's current internal battles, (similar to the one the Lib Dems faced and which was heavily and rather hypocritically criticised by senior Plaid Cymru members), is throwing further doubt over the stability of Welsh government and their most definite statement about not propping up Labour is causing confusion amongst Nationalist supporters who have campaigned hard for an alternative to Labour in Wales and now hear IWJ is attempting to go back on all this.
The ultimate question for Plaid is whether they can lead a coalition government with a Plaid First Minister or be the tail that wags the Labour dog. All eyes on the National Council in July.