The General Election is not yet over but already some politicians are thinking ahead to next year’s Assembly elections and beyond. The man chosed to succeed Rhodri Morgan as the Labour Assembly Candidate for Cardiff West, Mark Drakeford has written in the Institute of Welsh Affairs Journal that his party should keep open the option of negotiating a coalition with the Liberal Democrats in 2011.
Mark Drakeford of course is not just any old Labour candidate. He served for many years as Rhodri Morgan’s top political adviser. Which begs the question as to why he was not using his influence to persuade the Labour Assembly Group to back my Legislative Competence Order, that would have given the Assembly the power to change the way local Councillors are elected. Perhaps he did, but nobody would listen to him.
The Western Mail believes that Professor Drakeford’s article could be interpreted as a gentle shot across the bows to Plaid. He writes: “It seems clear to me that Labour’s interests are best served by having more than one option open, should this [no overall majority] be the verdict of the voters. The coalition between Labour and Plaid Cymru has, I believe, been a success. It has benefited from a clear and open policy agreement and a set of political arrangements agreed in advance.
“Business has been conducted, too, by ministers who possess a nuanced understanding of what it takes to pursue a common programme, while retaining distinct party identities.”
He continues:
“My point is not at all that one form of coalition has more to commend it than the other. It is simply that, from a Labour perspective, flexibility will be an essential bedrock of a willingness to respond constructively to whatever the outcome of the next Assembly election might be.”
Professor Drakeford says a policy of “permissive proportional representation” in local government – something that has long been opposed by Welsh Labour – would be preferable to another round of local government reorganisation. It could also attract Liberal Democrats to the idea of forming an Assembly coalition with Labour.
The paper returns to a common theme when it points out that some Labour activists have been angered by the strident tone adopted towards their party by some Plaid politicians during the current general election campaign:
Responding to a story in yesterday’s Western Mail in which Plaid claimed up to 45,000 public sector job losses in Wales could be forced through by 2014, former Bridgend council leader Jeff Jones said: “Unbelievable is the only word that I can use to describe the Plaid comments this morning on cuts. This is the party that claims that Wales should not only be protected from the cuts but be given an extra £300m a year.
“They also attack the only party that might try to mitigate any assault on the public sector. I’ve always believed that the aftermath of the credit crunch will have a profound effect on politics.
“Plaid are really in a dilemma, it seems to me. Do they stick with the coalition and take part in the cuts agenda because the three Plaid ministers will also have to make cuts, or do they walk away?
“It will be interesting to see how they resolve the continued contradiction between being a party of government and a protest movement on the left.”
Jeff Jones has a point.
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