A lot of fights on a lot of fronts for Labour in election

IT’S fair to say that Cardiff Labour has had a turbulent term in charge of the capital city.

While the group counts the development at Central Square, the City Deal and bringing the Champions League final to Cardiff as its great successes their members have also had some very public rows.

Even the rows that have taken place behind closed doors have usually made the headlines.

Over their term day centres, libraries and the arts have all been threatened as the city has had to make heavy spending cuts.

A low point in the memory of most who were there was the budget meeting in February 2015.

Eight hours after the meeting started, as midnight rapidly approached, no budget was in place.

On the same night, the leader had been handed a piece of paper saying he would face a no confidence vote.

What followed were repeated attempts by factions of the Labour party to oust Phil Bale as leader.

However, he survived that coup, and the several that followed and hopes he will resume his place in the leader’s office on May 5.

That’s just the local picture; nationally Jeremy Corbyn is a divisive figure.

And Labour across Wales is likely to be a victim of its own success.

The 2012 elections were good for them – it would be unrealistic for Labour across Wales to hold on to all of their seats.

Even over the past five years, Labour’s majority in Cardiff has fallen to 39.

But, they are putting up a fight with candidates in all 29 wards.

However, many of those candidates are starting from scratch and they are supported by a party that is stretched fighting battles across the city.

In Llandaff, two well-established candidates are standing down and in Whitchurch, all four Labour said they weren’t standing again.

Their new candidates are therefore effectively starting from nothing.

Cardiff Central has flipped between Labour and Lib Dems at all political levels over the years and this year it is the Lib Dems who are most confident.

The main reason is that they took a seat from Labour in Plasnewydd in a by-election last September.

Adamsdown too has a strong existing Lib Dem candidate in Nigel Howells, and is fielding one of Labour’s