THE AFTERNOON AFTER THE NIGHT BEFORE...

On the stump in 2010 

Well there we are then, the voters have spoken those who turned out to vote that is. It’s now the early afternoon after the night before and I am still awake after some three and bit hours of sleep. It was has a long day and night (27.5 hours of wakefulness). Perhaps it's time to get civilised and count the votes the following morning rather than on the night - we managed to do this in 1999 and life as we know it did not come to an end. 

Firstly a massive thank you to my agent and my campaign team and the electors of Monmouth / Mynwy for their support. Elections are not just about the voters and the candidates, a whole host of people work very hard behind the scenes to make things work smoothly, including the Retuning Officers, their staff, the council staff who man the polling booths and count the votes and the other council staff and our Police who work tirelessly to make the count function flawlessly.  

It has been as always, an interesting campaign, sadly overshadowed by the illness and passing of my already much missed father. As always the election campaign has given me the opportunity to talk to, to listen to and to meet with many and varied constituents during the course of my prolonged walking tour of (in my opinion) one of the more beautiful, interesting and varied of constituencies in Wales.

Transition towns hustings back in 2015

Now that the sound and the fury have faded, and the hustings blended into one former candidates can take stock. This is no glory in this, any dreams of political immortality should be doused with cold realism - a couple of election campaigns ago - having been featured on the front page of a local newspaper in relation to the campaign to Keep Abergavenny Livestock Market I had the surreal experience of going to buy some chips in a local chip shop with a friend only to find myself literally being wrapped around them (Sic transit gloria mundi - or "Thus passes the glory of the world”.

In Monmouth constituency and across the rest of Wales for former candidates and the successfully elected life can return to a form of normality. For the next few days catching up on sleep will be a priority, that and resisting the strange desire to knock on the doors of perfect strangers and push leaflets through complete strangers letter boxes. 

Across Wales we now have to work with the new Plaid National Assembly members, and prepare the ground for future campaigns and future elections. The National Assembly is now an established fact, it is not going to go away, it needs a fully balanced portfolio of powers to shape our economy and sustainably develop our country and must become a proper parliament. 

Addressing a KALM rally back in 2009 - the revolutionary's leather overcoat did not survive the campaign.

I have fought Monmouth constituency five / six times - three for Westminster, twice for the National Assembly constituency and once on the list and it has been interesting and challenging every single time. 

Frozen at Severn Tunnel Junction back in 2010A.

All in all since 2005 it has been interesting and enjoyable with hustings, canvassing, leafleting and even the doorstepping of prospective voters on freezing mornings at various railway stations. That said, I have  reached the stage when I can recognise when the adrenaline is running out, and the point where coffee is no longer required or having any effect and the sleep of a seriously tired former National Assembly prospective candidate is more than beckoning. 

I wonder how Newport County AFC and the Dragons will do in Satiurday...

A CONSEQUENCE OF CHANGE...

News that the next Welsh assembly election could be fought with different constituencies with a slight change to the current voting system won't excite many people - save for the elected representatives of the Labour Party in Wales that is and some political anoraks. A Wales Office consultation includes a proposal to reduce the number of constituency assembly members from 40 to 30, and to extend the numbers elected on the regional list from 20 up to 30. Providing the fair votes element remains unchanged, being a democrat I have little or no problem with this, but, naturally the Labour Party does.

The Labour in Wales First Minister Carwyn Jones naturally kicked off saying: "There is no mandate for this. The electoral system for the assembly is a matter for the people of Wales and no one else. "The Prime Minister has assured me that there would be no change to future electoral arrangements without the agreement of the Assembly."
 Now the irony is that increasing the proportional element (via list seats) would make the system more democratic and peoples votes would actually count far more. Labour in Wales has a long history of putting self-interest and party-interest before the interests and needs of the Welsh people. In November 2011, they proposed 'a reform' of the electoral system that would give them around 70% of the seats in the National Assembly with barely 42% of the vote.

At the time an Electoral Reform Society report shone a little light on Labour in Wales's dubious proposal to tweak the electoral system to their benefit. Labour in Wales has long looked for an opportunity to make a change to an electoral system that mostly fails to guarantee itself a permanent majority. Having failed to get away with it, they now, as a consequence of the Con Dem Westminster government's plans to cut the number of MPs from 40 to 30, they face being put in a situation where they actually have to go out and actively campaign for votes.

Labour in Wales publicly opposes reducing the number of assembly constituencies to match the boundaries of new parliamentary seats. The ERS report suggested that Labour could win "disproportionately" more seats if all Welsh Assembly members were elected via the first-past-the-post system. Scrapping the semi-proportional elections would have denied thousands of voters a voice. Naturally Labour in Wales accused the ERS of "misrepresenting" its position - actually they exposed the dubious truth of their position.

At the moment, 40 constituency AMs are elected via first-past-the-post contests and the remaining 20 are elected from regional lists based upon the percentage of votes cast. Labour in Wales (after the National Assembly elections in May 2011) was left with a bare majority in the National Assembly, holding 30 seats.
Now reducing the number of contituency seats to 30 and having the remainder elected on the list would balance things out and make our electoral system far more democratic - obviously Labour in Wales would not want that...would they?

COFFEE, CHOCOLATE AND IKEA

Having been a candidate 4 times (3 times for Monmouth constituency and once for the South Wales East regional list) I have learned (the hard way) how to get over the coffee and adrenalin fuelled experience that follows the closure of the Polling stations at 10 pm on election day. Admittedly this time, when the result for the South Wales East regional list came it at 07.45 am (slightly earlier that 05.50 am in Monmouth constituency in 2007) I had only been awake for a mere 27.5 hours (heaven help the election counters and polling station staff) I was slightly more prepared for it.

The coffee and chocolate helped, as did the superb picnic prepared by one (soon to be elected) of the Plaid Regional Team members. Afterwards, you can try to sleep, but, usually the coffee and the adrenalin have kicked in, as has the desire to watch the remaining election coverage (which started at 12 noon on Friday). Chilling out helps, as does a good meal and lots of non caffeine laced liquid.

Having caught up on some sleep, I went to watch the Gwent Dragons v Ulster. A good game, the Dragons played well but Ulster were better and the referee did seem to miss a lot (at least from where I was sat). I also try to tidy up my house (somewhat neglected over the last weeks of the campaign) and a day later I make the pilgrimage to IKEA to finally buy the things I should have bought some months ago but kept putting off because of the immanent election!

PLAID'S NEW SOUTH WALES EAST TEAM

Plaid's Lindsay Whittle and Jocelyn Davies and South Wales East Regional Campaign Team

PLAID'S REGIONAL TEAM FOR SOUTH WALES EAST

On Thursday you have two votes in the Welsh General election on Thursday May 5th. Our National Assembly now has some law making powers so we can begin to finally fix some of the economic, social and environmental problems that effect our county. We need people who will ge ton with the job rather than those who would talk around the problems that effect our communities. So use you vote wisely and vote Plaid twice for a better Wales.

Your second vote is for the South Wales East regional list, Plaid's regional list team, consists of:

Jocelyn Davies

Jocelyn Davies is the number 1 regional candidate on the South Wales East list. She can be contacted at JocelynDavies@plaidcymru.org. Born in 1959, Jocelyn Davies is from Newbridge, Gwent and has represented the South Wales East region at the National Assembly since 1999. She read law at Oxford University’s Harris-Manchester College and is a former borough councillor.

She is Plaid Cymru’s first woman Government Minister, with responsibility for housing and regeneration. She is also Business Manager for the Plaid Cymru group in the National Assembly. Her political interests outside her Ministerial responsibilities include constitutional affairs and special educational needs.

Lindsay Whittle

Lindsay Whittle is the number 2 regional candidate on the South Wales East list. He can be contacted at LindsayWhittle@plaidcymru.org. Lindsay Whittle is a Plaid candidate for the South Wales East region. He was born in Caerffili and lives in Abertidwr, and since 2008 has been the Leader of Caerffili County Borough Council for second time, having previously led the authority between 1999 and 2004. Lindsay has fought every Assembly election thus far, and the previous seven Westminster elections, for Plaid Cymru and has repeatedly won local council elections for 34 years.

Lindsay is the Welsh Local Government Association’s spokesperson on Equalities, Community Safety and Social Justice, and still serves as a Governor for his old school, Cwm Ifor Primary. Outside of politics Lindsay has had a professional career of several decades as a Housing Manager in Cardiff, and his political interests include housing and local government, as well as issues such as combating homelessness.

Bleddyn Hancock

Bleddyn Hancock is the number 3 regional candidate on the South Wales East list. He can be contacted at BleddynHancock@plaidcymru.org. Bleddyn Hancock is a trade union official who was prominent in the successful battle to secure compensation for retired miners, a campaign which won the biggest workers' compensation package in the world. Bleddyn has served as a Plaid councillor and also a candidate at various Assembly and Westminster elections.

He was elected to the first ever Plaid-controlled council in Wales, in Merthyr, as one of the youngest councillors in the country at the time, and later figured in the civil disobedience campaign which led to the construction of the A470. Bleddyn Hancock also used his legal experience to assist the safeguarding of the Tower and Bettws collieries. Aside from his experience as General Secretary of the NACODS mining union for South Wales, Bleddyn Hancock has served as a miners' representative on the European Coal and Steel Community, and on the National Coal Board. He was educated at the Glamorgan Polytechnic.

Jonathan T Clark

Jonathan Clark is the number 4 regional candidate on the South Wales East list. He can be contacted at JonathanClark@plaidcymru.org. Jonathan Clark was born in Newport in 1966 and still lives in the city of his birth. Jonathan was Plaid Cymru's candidate for Monmouth for Westminster in 2005, for the National Assembly in 2007 and for Westminster in 2010.

A web-administrator at the University of Wales, Newport, Jonathan worked for the Directorate for Public Affairs and Internal Communications at the Metropolitan Police. Before living and working in London, he was a trainee journalist for the Gwent based Free Press Series newspapers. Educated at St Julian’s Comprehensive School and Gwent College for Further Education, Jonathan gained a B.A. (Hons) in History at St David's University College, Lampeter.

He also has an MA Celto-Roman Studies from University of Wales, Newport and is working on a Research PhD in Roman Archaeology at Cardiff University. Jonathan's political interests include affordable housing, public transport and economic development. His non-political interests include trekking, writing as well as supporting Newport County AFC, the Gwent Dragons and Newport Rugby Football Club.

PLAID'S SOUTH WALES EAST REGIONAL CANDIDATES ANNOUNCED

Plaid Cymru members have chosen their South Wales East list candidates for next May's Welsh General Election. Hundreds of party members from across the region took part in the selection process which saw Jocelyn Davies, Lindsay Whittle, Bleddyn Hancock and Jonathan Clark selected as Plaid candidates for the region.

Jocelyn Davies will lead the Plaid team on the list, with Lindsay Whittle second, Bleddyn Hancock third and Jonathan Clark fourth. In 2007 Plaid capture two of the four regional seats.

Lead candidate Jocelyn Davies AM said:

“It's a great honour to have been selected to lead such and experienced and dedicated team of candidates into next year's election campaign.

"The Plaid team in the South East will be campaigning hard to make 2011 Wales' Year. We'll be working hard for a Yes vote to give Wales the proper parliament we deserve.

"We'll also be knocking on doors across our communities showing that Plaid is the party with an ambitious plan for the coming decade - a plan designed to meet the major challenges that we face over the coming years.

"As candidates, our local priorities will continue to be ensuring that good quality jobs are created in our communities and ensuring our hospitals and schools are providing our people with the service we deserve."

POLLING DAYS

It looks like we are all going to be in for a busy few months next year, trooping to and from (or not) to the polling booths - what with the possibility of a referendum on more powers for National Assembly in March, a referendum on electoral reform (AV = Alternative Vote) in May (the 5th) and elections to the Welsh Assembly in either May or June of 2011. One thing is becoming pretty clear that there is no strong voice for Wales in the Con Dem cabinet, let alone a stage whisper for Wales. 

With both the Tories and Lib Dems having strongly coming out against having the referendum - the one for more powers - on the same day as the National Assembly elections, because it might be very confusing to voters (how patronising can you get?) by having more than one election on one day. one wonders how eloquent and vociferous will be the protests from the Lib Dems and the Tories about the prospect of holding the referendum on changing the voting system on the same day as the National Assembly elections, after their Masters in London have publicly announced their decision - so much for consultations and clear channels of communication. Ironically at this rate they make Peter (the Pain) Hain look like a staunch and effective defender of Welsh (rather than Labour Party) interests. 

There is something else to think about, Vaughan Roderick, the BBC Welsh affairs editor, has pointed out that there may well be a fourth vote in 2011. With the UK Labour Party actively campaigning to defeat the proposed change in the voting system (despite the fact that such a change was offered by Gordon Brown (where is Gordon these days?) before the election and the promise was repeated in the Labour Manifesto). If old Labour gets the 'No' vote out for the AV referendum - then the Con Dem coalition government which is far from certain of winning the referendum to change the UK voting system, could fall apart, leading to a general election in June. Ouch!