Building a Liberal Wales

General Election fever has hit Wales – I have barely had time to find the time to write this article. In between trips to Wrexham, Newport, Ceredigion and Cardiff (not to mention campaigning my own constituency) I have knocked on plenty of doors and spoken to plenty of voters who are really receptive to our message.

There are two things that jump out to me in this election, how much Labour have collapsed in Wales, one of their heartland areas, and how important young people will be to the election.

In 1997, Labour ruled the roost in Wales, but it is easy to see how much they have declined so much in recent years, and I predict they will lose a swathe of seats across all parts of Wales.

Indeed in rural Wales it seems likely that it is them who will become the ‘also-ran’ party. – They lost many rural seats in West Wales and they are constantly finishing poorly in other rural areas. I expect a lacklustre performance from Labour in my own seat, which was a seat they held until 1979. Even in the Valleys, famous for anecdotes about returning officers “weighing the vote,” Labour is losing support.

But in Wales’ big cities, it is the Welsh Liberal Democrats who are offering the only serious challenge. We began this by taking Cardiff Central in the last election, but in other parts of Cardiff, in Newport and Swansea and even in places like Wrexham the Welsh Lib Dems are supplanting Labour as the party with the ideas and message to run these authorities. In each of the cities I have mentioned, we have turned electoral success into government success, and back into electoral success.

Last week, I visited Glyndŵr University in Wrexham and the week before I accompanied Nick Clegg to talk to students in Cardiff. I have never seen groups of people so eager to hear the liberal message. Young people do not have the same, unshakeable links to the old two parties that older generation may have. It is really pleasing to see young people engage with the political system but it heartens me that they, above any other demographic, are willing to listen to our message.

I believe that these three groups – rural Wales, disillusioned Labour voters in urban Wales and young people, hold the key to our chances in Wales, both in this election and beyond. These three groups have two things in common – they have been let down by Labour and they are willing to look beyond old political allegiances. If there is an electoral coalition that will help deliver a more liberal future for Wales, immediately and in the long-run, then it seems pretty likely to me that that will be it.

But not only are these voters inclined to support us because 9of our overall message, fairness, I also believe that our specific polices will appeal to them. Our focus on job creation, on housing and on education are all issues that are prominent across these groups. We didn’t create them for their electoral appeal of course, but people respond well to our manifesto.

Because ultimately, in this election, it our manifesto and our answers to the question “What will you do for me and my family?” that is sustaining our surge in the polls. Nick Clegg has been put in the spotlight. And you know what, it turns out our policies hold up to scrutiny and people actually quite like them.

I firmly believe that we are in the middle of building a new, liberal coalition amongst voters. If we succeed, we will build a liberal Wales.

Related posts:

1. Building a progressive alliance for fairer votes
2. Building the party
3. Building a modern economy