New brooms sweep clean, but will city residents be convinced?
A leading Welsh academic who has voted Labour all his life has resigned from Labour and will be voting for the Plaid Cymru/Green Party Common Ground Alliance in Cardiff. Political editor-at-large Martin Shipton asks whether or not Dr Huw Williams’ disillu
IF YOU live in the Canton district of Cardiff, you will have received – or will be receiving soon – a rather unusual election leaflet.
It’s been written not by a group seeking your support, but by an individual voter who explains why he has abandoned the party he’s backed all his adult life in favour of a recently formed alliance between Plaid Cymru and the Green Party.
Huw Williams begins his message “Dear Neighbour” and presents himself as an ordinary member of the public.
In one sense he’s right, of course, but what he doesn’t mention is that he’s regarded as one of Wales’ leading political intellectuals and that his denunciation of Cardiff’s Labourcontrolled council will cause waves among his former comrades, even if they try to play it down.
On his Cardiff University profile Dr Williams is described as “a political philosopher interested in egalitarian and radical traditions of thought, with a particular focus on engaging with activism and the public sphere”.
Last year he co-edited a book of essays called The Welsh Way, which provided a comprehensive critique of the Welsh Government from a leftwing perspective.
In his letter to the residents of Canton, Dr Williams lists his causes of concern about the way Labour has been running the capital city for the last decade:
Lack of affordable housing for our families and young people with skyrocketing house prices and rents;
a promised bus station that years later still hasn’t been delivered;
a 22-year gap in healthy life expectancy between the leafiest suburbs and the poorest neighbourhoods;
letting developers prioritise profit over people, like the excessive freeholder fees for residents in The Mill development [in Cardiff West];
destroying natural habitats on behalf of developers e e ope s who’ll o make ake huge profits;
the destruction uction of workingclass heritage ge like the Duke of Clarence and Roath Park pubs [in Canton nton and Roath];
cutting down trees across the city ity like those at Suffolk House se [in Pontcanna] and the closing off of our green spaces and parkland; d;
a huge ge buildin g development t on green spaces in the north of Cardiff; building ugly tower blocks in the city centre; one of Wales’ worst records on recycling; a planning committee that serves developers, not the people of Cardiff; and regular gridlock around our city rather than investment in public transport.
Dr Williams states: “It pains me to say this, but this is the record of a Labour council that has been in power in Cardiff for a decade. It is a shameful record, from a party that just won won’t t listen.
“So what can I, a as a traditionLabour suppo supporter do? After much soul searching sea – and despite some of the good things they’ve done in the Senedd – I’ve I’v decided I can’t vote fo for them any more, and have h resigned from the party. party “Howeve However, I still want to supp support the politics I believe in, and it’s been inspiring ins to see Plaid P and the Greens G coming together in this election – working together for a better Cardiff, with values I believe in. In this election therefore I will be giving my votes to the Plaid/Green alliance – the Common Ground Alliance.”
Labour was scathing in its response, with a party spokesman saying: “Most Cardiff residents will see these comments for what they are – the disingenuous musings of a disgruntled former party member.
“It is intellectually incoherent for Dr Williams to simultaneously oppose development on both greenfield land and brownfield land while at the same time complaining about the rising cost of housing.
“It also ignores the hard reality that of all the homes given planning permission since 2017, 33% of them have been affordable dwellings.
“As a Labour council, we are proud of our record of delivery, from our huge, award-winning council house building programme, to our pioneering work promoting the Real Living Wage; from the high standards set in our schools and record investment into school buildings, to planting tens of thousands of new trees, buying new electric buses, creating segregated cycleways, and other decisive steps in response to the climate emer
gency.
“This election, Cardiff residents face a clear choice between a Tory council that will unpick these achievements, or a Labour council with an ambition to make Cardiff greener, fairer, and stronger.”
The Common Ground manifesto seeks to tap into the concerns set out by Dr Williams in his letter, most of which spring from a belief that ordinary people are not taken seriously by a high-handed council that thinks it knows best.
The manifesto states: “People make this city what it is, so the people should be involved and represented in all decision making and budgeting.
“We’ll put an end to seemingly arrogant, carefree politics and increase public reporting of the council’s decisions and policies.
“If we are elected, you will see immediate changes in the way that the council is run, so that rather than feeling powerless and unable to influence decisions in the city, which impact your lives, you will have every opportunity to be heard, and every opportunity to get involved.”
In practical terms, this would, for example, see a shake-up of the planning system, with communities involved from the pre-application stage, ensuring developments respond to local needs.
The current practice of developers paying for advice from planning officers, who then recommend the granting of permissions, would be stopped. The manifesto promises: “We’ll ensure the planning officers operate independently in preparing the planning report sent to the planning committees.”
A video has been produced showing Common Ground candidates campaigning enthusiastically on the streets, emphasising their youth and promising to become the refreshing embodiment of a new kind of politics.
They say they’re getting a positive reception on the doorstep but it’s difficult to see why anyone would think of being rude to them.
A positive reception doesn’t necessarily translate into crosses on a ballot paper and many losing candidates have been convinced they were going to win by what they perceive as a “good vibe” stemming from a number of pledges of support.
What has to be remembered is that Common Ground is starting from a low base of support.
Its one sitting councillor in Cardiff is Andrea Gibson, who won a by-election in Ely in 2019 as a Plaid candidate, left the party when former Senedd Member Neil McEvoy was expelled from Plaid, joined his new party Propel, became disillusioned and rejoined Plaid. This time she’s standing in Pentyrch and St Fagans.
Common Ground has another indirect connection with Cllr McEvoy, who will be fighting to retain his council seat in Fairwater.
His former office manager, Michael Deem, who brought a complaint against his former boss for misusing Senedd resources on political campaigning, is standing for Common Ground in Radyr and Morganstown. Both Cllr McEvoy and Mr Deem were described by the Senedd Standards Commissioner as unreliable witnesses.
Standing for a new alliance of two parties has the advantage of freshness but the disadvantage of a lack of recognition.
And while the locally oriented policies they are standing on will doubtless have traction with some, it remains to be seen whether they can outgun wider concerns like the costof-living crisis and the desire by many voters to pass judgement on Boris Johnson – issues that perhaps favour Labour more than other parties.
In Cardiff, too, it would be foolish to underestimate the ability of Labour to get its loyal supporters to cast their votes.