Friday, June 08, 2007
Free-for-all
Suddenly everybody wants to get in on the act of who should form the Welsh Assembly Government and none of them are AMs.
I reported yesterday on Adam Price's preference for a formal coalition government between Plaid Cymru and Labour, that has now been welcomed by Health Minister, Edwina Hart, who told Dragon's Eye last night that she would be happy to sit at the same cabinet table as Plaid leader Ieuan Wyn Jones. Are formal talks to be resumed? Rhodri Morgan's door is apparently open. All that it needs is for the Plaid Cymru leader to walk through it, though I suspect that such an act will cause much anguish on both sides.
Meanwhile, the Welsh Local Government Association is holding itself up as an exemplar of how things should be done. Its leader, Derek Vaughan, has urged AMs to follow his organisation's example and work together on a cross-party basis. That is certainly possible and it is a position I advocated prior to my party's vote on a rainbow coalition, however we should not kid ourselves that it will prove to be as painless as Councillor Vaughan suggests. His is essentially a lobbying organisation, the Assembly Government has to govern.
Finally, another MP jumps in with both feet. I will be in Swansea with Lembit Őpik and, I understand, both Cheeky Girls tonight at the Swansea Film Festival, so no doubt we will have a brief discussion about how things are going. However, if he really thinks that Rhodri Morgan will just stand aside to allow a rainbow coalition to assume control of the Welsh Government, then he is being naive.
It would be nice of course for any coup to be bloodless but there is some way to go before we even get to that point. Judging by the activity going on behind the scenes, some of which is making the news, the rainbow coalition remains the favourite but a number of other runners are catching up fast on its blind side.
N.B. Now that I have found Adam Price's infrequent but high quality blog I have put a link to it on my sidebar. I have also updated the list to take account of various changes and newcomers to the field. If there are Welsh political blogs I have missed please let me know.
I reported yesterday on Adam Price's preference for a formal coalition government between Plaid Cymru and Labour, that has now been welcomed by Health Minister, Edwina Hart, who told Dragon's Eye last night that she would be happy to sit at the same cabinet table as Plaid leader Ieuan Wyn Jones. Are formal talks to be resumed? Rhodri Morgan's door is apparently open. All that it needs is for the Plaid Cymru leader to walk through it, though I suspect that such an act will cause much anguish on both sides.
Meanwhile, the Welsh Local Government Association is holding itself up as an exemplar of how things should be done. Its leader, Derek Vaughan, has urged AMs to follow his organisation's example and work together on a cross-party basis. That is certainly possible and it is a position I advocated prior to my party's vote on a rainbow coalition, however we should not kid ourselves that it will prove to be as painless as Councillor Vaughan suggests. His is essentially a lobbying organisation, the Assembly Government has to govern.
Finally, another MP jumps in with both feet. I will be in Swansea with Lembit Őpik and, I understand, both Cheeky Girls tonight at the Swansea Film Festival, so no doubt we will have a brief discussion about how things are going. However, if he really thinks that Rhodri Morgan will just stand aside to allow a rainbow coalition to assume control of the Welsh Government, then he is being naive.
It would be nice of course for any coup to be bloodless but there is some way to go before we even get to that point. Judging by the activity going on behind the scenes, some of which is making the news, the rainbow coalition remains the favourite but a number of other runners are catching up fast on its blind side.
N.B. Now that I have found Adam Price's infrequent but high quality blog I have put a link to it on my sidebar. I have also updated the list to take account of various changes and newcomers to the field. If there are Welsh political blogs I have missed please let me know.
Comments:
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Everyone is certainly jumping on the bandwagon. But most, if not all, are from South Wales.
Head into Mid Wales - a stronghold for your Mick and Kirsty - and you'll find there's no debate. In fact the Assembly is ridiculed after the debacle of recent weeks.
So, prehaps it's time for our local AMs to start talking to the constituents about what's going on and what the parties are actually up to.
Oh, and let Lembit know tonight that it looks like Glyn Davies will be confirming his position on the Parliamentary seat for Montgomeryshire tonight.
Head into Mid Wales - a stronghold for your Mick and Kirsty - and you'll find there's no debate. In fact the Assembly is ridiculed after the debacle of recent weeks.
So, prehaps it's time for our local AMs to start talking to the constituents about what's going on and what the parties are actually up to.
Oh, and let Lembit know tonight that it looks like Glyn Davies will be confirming his position on the Parliamentary seat for Montgomeryshire tonight.
# posted by 
: 3:17 PM
: 3:17 PM
I doubt if Lembit will be too concerned. Glyn is good at hyping himself up but he has failed to win Montgomeryshire three times before and I do not see why the next time will be any different.
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