Plaid ‘revolution’ turns it into a party of power

Mar 17 2008 icWales

PLAID Cymru has "decontaminated" its image as a group of idealistic romantics, making it more difficult for its opponents to attack them, according to two leading academics.

The "decontamination" phrase, borrowed from the marketing world, has been widely used to describe David Cameron’s attempts to make the Conservative Party electable again.

But Richard Wyn Jones and Roger Scully of the Institute of Welsh Politics at Aberystwyth University believe the same analogy can be drawn with Plaid Cymru.

Since the party formed a coalition government with Labour in the Assembly last year, Plaid have undertaken a "very quiet revolution", showing they can govern and thus depriving the other parties of one of their traditional lines of attack.

Even some Plaid figures have argued in the past that the party more resembles a pressure group than a political party, but that image seems to be disappearing, the academics argue.

The One Wales coalition has been noted for its solidity since the two arch-enemies signed on the dotted line last summer, although tensions are beginning to emerge over the pledge to hold a referendum on a Welsh parliament by 2011.

The two academics write, "In government Plaid ministers have sought to portray an image of quiet competence; bank-bench support has hitherto remained solid, surviving even a very tight financial settlement and budget.

"Compared to the trail-blazing of the nationalists’ Scottish sister party, Plaid’s very quiet revolution as a junior partner in government can appear less than inspiring. And party strategists will certainly be considering the resonance with the public that the actions and achievements of Plaid ministers can have.

"But Plaid’s strategic goals seem clear... demonstrable competence in government aims to ‘decontaminate’ Plaid’s image: with each week that passes it becomes more difficult to imagine their opponents credibly reviving their old lines of attack that often depicted Plaid as a collection of wild-eyed romantics and language zealots."

The writers say the successes of the One Wales government are due in part to disarray within the Liberal Democrats, while the Welsh Conservatives are wrestling with policy dilemmas of their own.

The academics’ analysis, contained in the quarterly Devolution Monitoring Report prepared by University College London, suggests Plaid were right to risk joining forces with Labour in the wake of last year’s inconclusive Assembly elections.

But they note that there are still risks for the party, with Labour’s popularity falling and the referendum question likely to cause further difficulty.

A Convention aimed at assessing the public mood on that question starts its work in the coming months, but the Western Mail revealed this week a difference of view between Plaid and Labour over whether a "yes" campaign should begin now.

Dr Scully and Dr Jones write, "Some senior Labour figures at Westminster continue to rail in semi-public fashion against the referendum pledge.

"But given the centrality of that pledge to the coalition agreement, buttressed by endorsement from Welsh Labour’s special conference in July 2007, Labour could not renege on the referendum without both severely damaging its future credibility as a coalition partner in Cardiff Bay and generating deep internal divisions.

"Nonetheless, Plaid’s decision to form a coalition with Labour remains a significant gamble, given the ebbing popularity of Labour at the UK level."