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Welsh Assembly election

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Furniture Removals

  • Betsan Powys
  • 18 Apr 07, 03:13 PM

Blogging silence over.

The people who understand these things tell me my furniture has fallen down, which means posting for you and me has been a bit like wading through election leaflets - a lot of pain and bar charts for little gain and enlightenment.

The information you'd usually see to the side of this post - how to comment, lists of posts etc - is still way down at the bottom of the page but if you scroll down, you'll find it is there and in some sort of working order.

So is it true that you traditional Labour voters out there are too embarrassed to tell your friends that you may stick with Labour this time round - a bit like the "shy Tories" when Mrs Thatcher was on her way out? But that when it comes to it and you squeeze into that voting booth on May 3rd you'll vote Labour on the Q.T. - a bit like the Tories did when John Major was on his way in? Opinion polls predicted a hung parliament in 1992 but John Major scraped a workable majority.

I'm not suggesting Rhodri Morgan reaches the dizzy heights of a majority of any kind but I do wonder just how many "shy Labour voters" we have in Wales.

And I'm not the only one to wonder.

Special Advisers - or SPADs - do what it says on the tin. They advise and like us, they'll be doing the maths too. What would it mean if Labour decided to plough on and form a minority government? IF they scrape 25 seats or even more could they face all that whipping of AMs to turn up to vote, not to mention the constant deal-making? Mind you, it's only a few days a week they might be thinking ...

Might they prefer that thought to a messy coalition and an even messier divvying up of cabinet posts? How little would the Lib Dems accept this time? Economic Development's not likely to be up for grabs after all. And Culture again? Surely not.

Then again the maths - and your votes - may push Labour under 25 seats and to that 'what if' territory where even the Lib Dems couldn't save them. We're still wondering what happens then. SPADs? I can't believe there are no plans on the drawing board?

Meanwhile some candidates were taking it a bit easier than they might have done over the weekend. When asked on Sunday evening (before the record button was pressed on the 主播大秀's debate programme) what he'd been up to that afternoon, Conservative candidate Jonathan Morgan admitted he'd been cooking up a barbie for his in-laws. A sign Cardiff North is in the bag? And Jonathan Austin, Labour candidate in Ynys Mon certainly spent Saturday in ... Amlwch? Holyhead? ... No, in Cardiff. Leaving the door ajar for another candidate perhaps? Surely not.


Comments   Post your comment

  • 1.
  • At 10:01 AM on 19 Apr 2007,
  • Fred Flintstone wrote:

Cardiff North is not in the bag for Jonathan Morgan. The Labour vote is holding up well.

You need to get out of Llandaff and Pontcanna.

And if Labour wins Wrexham, Blaenau Gwent and Arfon, and holds its seats elsewhere, that's a majority.

Bluntly, your blog is more evidence of 主播大秀 Wales bias against Labour.

  • 2.
  • At 11:35 AM on 19 Apr 2007,
  • Gethin Lewis-Jones wrote:

Perhap's the BBQ explains Mr Morgan's bizarre attire when Wales Today featured C'diff North the other day. Was he canvassing or calling around to fix the plumbing?
Cameronism gone mad?
Geth.

Fred

If. "IF my aunty was a bloke, she would be my uncle" (Rhodri Morgan).

If you sense a straight Labour majority is on the way, tell me more.

  • 4.
  • At 05:38 PM on 19 Apr 2007,
  • a nother wrote:

betsan

of course nobody knows the result of the election but fred is right to point out at least that one should not be too quick to discount any party. Look what happened to John Major and Co in 1992?

i think there is an element of lazy journalism to assume that labour are going to be wiped out. if you can show us some evidence of that in this blog then it would be of far more interest that what you noticed on the way to work.

sorry if that sounds a bit harsh!

That was exactly my point a nother. I referred to John Major, 1992 and "shy Labour" to make the point that it's foolish to 'discount' them as you put it in this election. And no, you're not too harsh but at 6.30 am with Alun Pugh on my mind, perhaps the lack of posters went hand in hand with a lack of inspiration ...

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