³ÉÈËÂÛ̳

Off to Llandudno in the morning.

'You musn't go by anything I've said', as Rudyard Kipling put it because you know what journalists are like at conferences. You don't? :

Journalist: n. Can't conference with them, can't conference without them. Inquisitive, often friendly, but - like your best friend's dog - has an agenda and can always come back and bite you. Remember why they're there: they need copy. They're skilled at making a story out of absolutely nothing. So help if you dare. If you're a manipulator, you'll know the art. If you're an influencer, you're just vox pop fodder. You'll always leave conference wondering why quite so many of them were needed.

I've read from A-Z but can't quite see into which category public affairs movers and shakers fit - somewhere between 'manipulator' and 'influencer' perhaps? I'll work on it this weekend as we head off to the first of the Autumn season's conferences: Plaid in the Venue in Llandudno.

What will delegates have on their minds?

They will be looking for every opportunity to go on the attack against the Conservatives - point to the right and fire.

They will be shaking their heads at the 'lack of certainty' surrounding the First Minister's future - is he standing down or is he not?

They will be looking at the polls, seeing an opportunity to scoop up support from voters formerly known as Labour.

Plaid were unhappy with anyone who suggested they ought to be unhappy with the results of the European election, with anyone who suggested they'd be looking at with envy. They may have said they were going to come first on June 4th but come on, isn't that the sort of thing 'manipulators' say that sort of thing before an election?

Privately they would have been very happy with second. Can't say anyone, even privately, suggested that they'd be very happy with third.

What do the facts and figures show?

Plaid did well where they needed to do well, in seats where they work hard, seats that are obvious targets at the General Election. That they'd received more than 1000 votes in every constituency - one of only two parties, UKIP being the other - was a consoling fact that made it onto twitter in no time at all. Here was evidence, went the accompanying analysis, that Plaid were making inroads everywhere, that they, not Labour, could now legitimately claim to be a party for the whole of Wales.

But breaking through in solid Labour seats, in the valleys? It didn't happen, even on a night when Labour's percentage of the vote fell further in Wales than anywhere else in Britain. Wasn't it a no-brainer that with Labour votes up for grabs everywhere, Plaid would have wanted to pick up more of them than they did?

Inevitably, yes.

So was there serious and detailed debate asking what it is that prevents those voters who put a cross in the Plaid box at the Assembly Election from giving them their vote in a General Election? Some 'ah go on, we put you off don't we?' focus group work that makes you blush and hide it at the back of the drawer but only after you've read it, re-read it and analysed it? You'd assume there has been, though we're unlikely to find that out.

What about a spelling out of the fact that if those voters aren't persuaded to vote Plaid at the next General Election, with the big three political parties in Westminster as unpopular as anyone can remember, then when?

This morning I got a text from Plaid. It said "think about it".

What does that mean?

Does it mean that they have thought about all of that? Does it mean that facing up to it is a crucial part of their strategy for the election campaign? And this weekend, will we see them thinking about it, hear them debating it, watch them squaring up to it robustly or will it be the 'steady as she goes' Plaid that heads up to Llandudno?

The one certainty? What the 'Bar fly' and his mates - I'm back with the A-Z - will be discussing into the early hours. David Taylor, the man who coaxed into existence, is considering standing for Labour in nearby Arfon at the General Election.

Locally Plaid say they're delighted at the news.

• Bookmark with:
• |
• |
• |
• |
• - What's this?