Will Black spoil the rainbow? UPDATE: Yes!
Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Two key meetings tonight, both in Llandrindod. The Conservatives' management board are meeting in the 1930s Metropole Hotel - I'm told it's a shoo in. Meanwhile the Lib Dem National Executive is getting together in the Media Resource Centre.

This is much more difficult to call. Even though they voted by 9-3 to suspend talks with Labour last week, a number of Lib Dem legends and Peter Black are thought to be against teaming up with Plaid and the Tories. Activists were out in numbers - thought to be at least 12 - to make their opposition known.

"What do we want?"

"Constitutional reform and the introduction of a single transferable voting system in local government," they shouted.

"When do we want it?"

"After a majority vote in the national executive, a special conference in an unspecified location and even then not really," they cried.

To be updated.

UPDATE: The Lib Dems have voted to halt all talks. That means the end of the rainbow.

Lib Dem leader (for the moment) Mike German said: "We had a very throughtful discussion... it was clear that there was a deep division on this matter and the party decided that it would not be possible to move forward and to recommend this to a special party conference.

"There will be no vote from our party to support a first minister next week."

Whatever happened to more votes, more seats, more power, more influence?

They'd won the PR argument (a huge coup for such a small party). No doubt there were other Lib Dem policies in there too. Perhaps it came down to the toothbrushes...

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posted by Blamerbell @ 10:02 pm, ,


Four days to go and...
Monday, April 30, 2007

Lib Dem leader Mike German is in Aberystwyth again. He might as well buy a second home there. That'll please Elin Jones. Still, he might need somewhere to lie low on election night. Can you really see Plaid making the same mistake twice?

Labour say it's all about partnership. Peter Hain and Rhodri Morgan are going to comb each other's hair for the press sometime this afternoon. Activists will be choking on their clear red water.

Plaid Cymru have finally persuaded some chap called Eurfyl ap Gwilym to come down from London to take the flak over their finance programme. Expect Labour and the Tories to sling the mud with venom. I fear for poor Eurfyl it's going to be like trying to volley it away with a tennis racket - much of it is going to splatter over the brave little soldier's face. And why do Plaid need to 'call in' an expert anyway? Can't any of their AMs do sums?

And the Tories have brought in a notorious vote winner to help them with the final push. Unfortunately, he wasn't available so they've got Michael Howard instead.

1540 UPDATE: Just one measly sentence on the Welsh elections in the Guardian today. "Polls in Wales suggest Labour will remain the largest party but it is struggling to maintain its majority in the assembly." One measly sentence, and even that is bollocks.

Also, further proof that it's more exciting in Scotland. The Web 2.0 generation has politicised facebook by changing profile pictures to election slogans and writing political graffiti on friends' walls. More from Luke Pollard.

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posted by Blamerbell @ 10:48 am, ,


It's between Labour and the Lib Dems here
Sunday, April 15, 2007

Haven't you heard? The whole of Cardiff is a two-horse race between Labour and the Lib Dems. At least that's what they will tell you.

Laughing in the face of the actual statistics, the Lib Dems argue with some gall that 'everyone knows the Conservatives and Plaid can't win here'. Well, it's news to me, and news to Tory candidate Jonathan Morgan too I'm sure; he'll be devastated to learn he has no chance in Cardiff North despite being 6,400 votes closer to Labour than his Lib Dem counterpart.

So, how do they do it? Surely it's not an outright lie? No, even for politicians that would be going too far. Instead, the Lib Dems cheekily use council election results to calculate their graphs, making it look as if they are in second place, whereas they are actually in third. But where they genuinely lead, as in Cardiff Central, suddenly the council election results are an irrelevance and assembly election history is of primary importance.

The most staggering thing about this ploy is that it's about as convincing as a Didier Drogba 'injury'. If you're motivated enough to vote you're probably curious enough to wonder why the Lib Dems are bragging about council seats in the middle of an assembly election campaign. Why bother?

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posted by Blamerbell @ 7:50 pm, ,


Welsh Lib Dems go by car
Friday, March 09, 2007

Liberal Democrats like to tell us that when they dream, they dream in green: no to nuclear, yes to renewables and recycling, give us your potato peelings and we'll compost it etc.

So, it's surprising that they should organise their Welsh conference at a venue that's only reachable by car. There's not a single bus stop or railway station on the handy map they've provided to conference goers. Instead, it's a tangle of road instructions that are sure to confuse anyone crazy enough to cycle there. That rules out an appearance from David Cameron then:)

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posted by Blamerbell @ 8:32 am, ,


Is Eleanor Burnham racist?
Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Labour are calling for the Lib Dems to kick out North Wales AM Eleanor Burnham after she used the word "Japs" in the chamber.

Mrs Burnham said: "Why not invest in the Maglev train that the Japs use to whizz through the countryside at about 320mph, rather than piddling around at 60mph as we do?"

Burn her! Burn her!

In her defence, Mrs Burnham claimed that British people are sometimes referred to as "Brits".

The problem with "Japs", however, is that it was a derogatory term used to stir-up racial hatred during the second world war. Japanese people were also commonly referred to as "Nips" and monkeys.

But Mrs Burnham has already apologised and clearly intended no offence. What more can you expect from a 'foul-mouthed gog'?

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posted by Blamerbell @ 7:25 pm, ,