Parties playing the same tune for now
‘‘SO what did we learn from the Plaid Cymru conference?”, posed the newspaper headline. Well, for one thing it’s a tough call to give a party political gig visibility when the pundits are still chewing over the impact of a spring statement and World War III is looming.
Even so, the vibe was surprisingly positive. I’m sure that was helped by an absence of schisms and suspensions that have dogged previous gatherings. This in turn prompted an outbreak of fairly objective media reporting.
Last week’s Plaid Cymru spring conference was held at the Principality Stadium. It’s a novel move but there’s probably not much point in doing full-on showcase stuff when you’re already making inroads in terms of influencing national policy.
It may be this last part that caused one reporter to describe Plaid leader Adam Price as “driving the national agenda”. A good few in Labour would probably feel that this is overstating things but he seems to have a hand on the steering wheel.
There was solid backing from delegates for his call to boost the number of Senedd members in Cardiff Bay by at least 30 come the next election.
This echoed an earlier Labour Welsh conference vote to increase the current 60 MS headcount to between 80 to 100 members.
The “joint” declaration of intent is significant if only because it recognises that a government with a budget of billions needs to be monitored by something more substantial than the currently inadequate scrutiny system.
Where the common ground ends is in deciding how Senedd members are elected.
There is widespread dissatisfaction with the D’hondt system which uses highest averages to assign additional members to regional seats. However, it would be nigh impossible to impose a totally first-past-the-post voting arrangement in Wales. The same goes in trying to persuade Labour to abandon its long-held abhorrence of outright proportional voting.
Another factor is when First Minister Mark Drakeford chooses to stand down. His would-be successors will be obliged to share their views on putative power-sharing along with methodology.
The collaboration between Labour and Plaid has enabled both parties to grab the low-hanging policy fruit. It will now require one of them to stand on the other’s shoulders to go higher. That could prove challenging.
Meanwhile, we must expect the inter-party relationship to be put on hold as both gear up for May’s council election campaigns. That’s when harmony can quickly turn to discord.
The outcome will very likely influence the speed and direction of further negotiations – and if they are still playing the same tune.