The decision by Adam Price not to stand for the Welsh Assembly next year appears to have fostered a sense of crisis within the party with his former constituency colleague, Rhodri Glyn Thomas running to the Western Mail with tails of woe.
Rhodri Glyn tells the paper that Plaid Cymru urgently needs to develop a coherent message in advance of next year’s National Assembly election, because many people have no idea what the party stands for.
This new concern is in addition to the decision two weeks ago of the party’s national chair, John Dixon to resign, saying: “There are a number of ways in which I feel that the party has moved, or is moving, in a direction which I cannot support, but being a national office- holder has fettered my freedom to say so.”.
The Western Mail says:
Mr Thomas said Plaid’s problems were more fundamental than a leadership succession difficulty: “People have been coming up to me on the Eisteddfod field and telling me they no longer know what Plaid stands for. I fully understand what they are saying.
“We have a very short period of time to put things right. It’s certainly the case that we failed to get a clear message across during the General Election campaign. Going on about the fact that we were excluded from the TV leadership debates is the only thing many people remember.
“What we need to have is a message that is distinctive from what other parties are saying.”
The comments of the paper’s Chief Reporter, Martin Shipton are particularly perceptive. He says that: ‘While Plaid ministers have demonstrated their ability to function within government there is a sense in which the party has lost its campaigning zeal. The dividing line between solidity and blandness is thin, and Plaid is marooned on the wrong side.’
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Very sorry to hear that Adam Price will not be standing for the Welsh Assembly next year. Mr. Price, I think everyone can agree whatever your party views, is an outstanding Welshman. Deeply intelligent and with the ‘gift of the gab’. I’m really sorry he’s not standing. He’s agreed to meet me when he’s in Washington, DC – in August – hmmm, about now actually.