A moment of truth for Plaid members

THE content of the agreement reached between Labour and Plaid Cymru had been heavily trailed in advance, so there were few surprises with yesterday’s formal announcement.

What has been interesting, however, is the negative reaction of some grassroots Plaid activists to the deal.

For them, it makes no difference that a number of key Plaid policies, including free meals for primary school children and the creation of a national care service, will now be delivered.

The “crime” is to have reached an agreement with Labour, seen as a staunch unionist party that will have no truck with Welsh independence.

It has to be said that this kind of tribalism was encouraged by statements made before the election by Plaid leader Adam Price, who stated that his party would not be entering into any kind of agreement with Labour.

Such comments play into the hands of those who have an unrealistic view of Senedd politics.

Ever since the institution came into being in 1999, no party has ever won a majority, making it inevitable that a government would require a deal with another party to get its budget and policy programme through.

In other European countries, most of which have a multi-party system where it is difficult for a single party to win power, there is an expectation that negotiations will take place after an election before a government can be formed.

Only in Britain are parties urged to declare that they will not cooperate with any other group – an unfortunate legacy of the “first past the post” system we continue to cling on to for Westminster elections.

In Wales, though, we should be more mature, given that for more than 20 years we have had a hybrid system that contains an element of proportional representation.

Those members of Plaid who blame their leaders for reaching a deal with Labour which contains many policies that they have been campaigning on for years need to take stock of reality.

The demography of Wales is such that Plaid will not win a majority at the Senedd any time soon.

That a party which came third in this year’s election has such influence on the winning party’s governing programme is something they should celebrate, not condemn.