Bethan Jenkins AC/AM Blog

Remember I did a blog asking you all to vote for who you thought should be elected Deputy Leader of Plaid’s group of AMs in the Bay- should there be such an election, of course? Well, I’m pleased to inform you that Janet Ryder AM has won overall with 32 votes, with Helen Mary Jones AM in second place with 20 votes. So there we have it. Nevertheless, to spoil your fun,  I hear rumours that this may not reflect the reality of what may happen. It may involve one of these AMs, or both, or none!!

But its always good to offer you the chance to vote in this interactive age of online polls. I’ll think up my next exciting one very soon. Watch this space!

A dyma fi, adre yn Rhos ar ol Cynhadledd gwych. O’dd y tywydd yn gret ddoe hefyd, felly roedd pawb mewn hwylie da. Does gen i fawr o egni i flogio heddiw, felly yr oll rwy’n bwriadu gwneud yw rhoi cwpwl o fideos o araith Ieuan ar youtube( os mae nhw’n ddigon effeithiol hy) Mi oedd yr areithiau yn gyffredinol yn gryf iawn yn ystod y gynhadledd, ac wrth gwrs rwy’n croesawu’r pwyslais yn araith Dafydd Iwan i ennyn mwy o bobl ifanc i fod yn weithredol yn y blaid. Rwy’n credu bod pawb wedi ymddwyn yn weddol barchus drwy’r gynhadledd ( y lobiwyr oedd yn creu y prif stwrw yn ol be weles i;-)) ac felly, edrych ymlaen at dymor newydd y Cynulliad sydd ar fy agenda i nawr. Digon i gadw fi’n brysur, hynny sy’n sicr!

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And here I am, back in Rhos after an excellent conference. The weather was great yesterday which added to the feel good factor at conference. I have little energy to blog today, so all I intended to to was upload a few snippets of video from Ieuan’s speech ( if they come out OK that is) All the speeches at conference were very strong this year, ac of course I welcome Dafydd Iwan’s emphasis on encouraging more people to take part in plaid’s activities. I think everyone behaved exceptionally well all in all ( it was the lobbyists that created the biggest ructions from what I saw anyway;-)) And so I’m now going to look at preparing for the new Assembly term. There’s enough work to keep me busy, that’s for sure!

The lack of access to a computer hinders me from video blogging, friends, so apologies. The last day of conference is upon us, and it has been a good one! Fiona Hyslop SNP MSP has just addressed the conference, again emphasising the new found confidence of our respective Nations, with Plaid and the SNP now in government.

I chaired two meetings yesterday, one with the RNIB and then one discussing new ways to tackle poverty in Wales with Oxfam Cymru. Interesting debates, and many new ideas for us to enact in our communities.

Conference dinner tonight- I believe there’s a speaker from the WRU..should be a lively evening, such was the case at last night’s ‘Review’ in Aber. The Caerphilly councillors gave us a presentation to remember!!

Dr Dai Lloyd is now addressing conference about presumed consent, and we have just passed a motion on the devolution of broadcasting matters to the National Assembly for Wales.Welsh FFederal Coleg to follow, then we should be finished.

Here is a short interview with those who took part in the eating disorders fringe meeting with me yesterday on eating disorders. From left to right is Sarah Aldritt who is recovering from anorexia, Joy Jones from the All Wales Eating Disorder Special Interest Group, and Emma Healy from B-eat.

I’m sitting in the conference theatre now listening to Ieuan’s speech. He has just criticised ‘dithering Darling’ for his inaction in helping the poor during hard times. Now he is targeting Gordon Brown, stating that people ‘have had enough’ and that they are unhappy with large energy companies making such huge profits.

Ieuan is now mentioning the fact that Labour MPs are not practising what they preach- campaigning to keep post offices open locally, but voting differently in Westminster. ‘We need to increase our team in Westminster which will speak up for you and for Wales’ is the motto from Ieuan.

At the moment Ieuan has gone on to emphasise those Unionists who do not want more power for Wales. Touhig has helped us a great deal to rally the cause for more powers- we are running rings around Labour, after all!The no campaign will be David Davies and Kinnock and Touhig- what a mix!

Is the Tories’ pro devolutionist stance merely window dressing? remarks Ieuan. Plaid will act in the interest of the people of Wales, and will govern the country well to bring people with us to make the Assembly a proper parliament. We have a new confidence, and we will not play second fiddle to Wesminster priorities, says Ieuan.

Plaid must lead the way as always are Ieuans final remarks. Lovely music now and plenty of clapping please……!

Nobody has indicated what exactly they’d like to know from conference, so I’ll just give you a quick insight while I have 5 minutes to spare. The Students Union has kindly given me the use of a computer (so they should after everything I did for that place!) so here I am! Fortunately the two motions that I spoke on today- child poverty and eating disorders were passed by conference, and I have the fringe meeting later today. The place is buzzing at the moment- more people on a Thursday than I’ve seen in a while.

So far Elin Jones, Alun Ffred Jones and Elfyn Llwyd have all addressed the conference. Elfyn Llwyd managed to get a shock response when he happened to mention that Lembit Opik sits reading Ok! magazine during meetings of parliament! Not that we should be surprised. Plenty of mention of the need for a parliament for Wales to deliver effective services in Wales, but also a clear sign of drawing attention to that which we have achieved while in government in the Bay.

I haven’t had a great deal of time to speak to members yet, but there’s been no big arguments….yet! Ieuan’s speech is tomorrow, so too are debates on devolving energy provision over 50MW and on regional pay.

I’m sure there will be gossip following this evening’s entertainment in the Cwps. Most discussions (fiery ones anyway) take place after conference ends for the day don’t you know. Perhaps I’ll take my video camera out with me. Who knows what revelations will come to life then…..

I’ve had a relatively busy day. I went to the service for Catherine and Ben Mullany at Llandaff Cathedral earlier. It was a moving service, and all family members and friends spoke so passionately about their love for Catherine and Ben, relaying anecdotes about their youth and how they first met. Their deaths were tragic, and I admire the family for being so strong in coping with their loss. Reverend Martyn Perry, Rector of Cilybebyll led prayers and a reading, and Reverend Dr Barry Morgan the Archbishop of Wales also addressed those present. I wish the family of Catherine and Ben all the best with the fund to support trainee physiotherapists and Doctors. You can make a donation by visiting the website www.themullanyfund.org

I also had a meeting today with Neath Port Talbot Council leader Derek Vaughan alongside other regional AMs to enable the Council to update us with news about the borough, and activities. These meeting take place with other Council leaders in the region also, and are vital in retaining links with local government.

I’m off to conference tomorrow but I’ve yet to finish my speeches. I’m trying to fit in quite a bit so I may be a little busy over the next few days. I’ll try and do a few blogs. Let me know ( sensible comments please) what type of thing you’d like to find out about… Aber here I come!

Last night Plaid’s new women’s group for South Wales West was launched in Neath. Its main aim is to empower Plaid women- to help with training women to stand for council and other key positions within the party as well as campaign on issues that the women involved are interested in such as child poverty, domestic violence, industry and commerce and so on. The group was set up not only for Plaid members, but to branch out and seek to encourage women in the region to have a voice, and get involved in campaigns or local issues of interest to them. We are hoping to have guest speakers to attend the group, training sessions, and come up with new policy initiatives- no mean feat! Its a first for Plaid to have a local women’s group of this nature, so good luck to them. For more information please email the chair’s on ladyalthomas@hotmail.co.uk or adeedwards60@hotmail.com. There is a website on the way…

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Neithiwr fe sefydlwyd grwp menywod newydd Plaid Cymru i Gorllewin De Cymru yng Nghastell Nedd. Y prif amcan yw i rhoi’r pwer i fenywod o fewn Plaid Cymru- i rhoi sesiynau hyfforddi iddynt ar gyfer sefyll mewn etholiadau, yn ogystal ag ymgyrchu ar faterion sydd o ddiddordeb i’r menywod sy’n rhan o’r grwp- megis tlodi plant, trais yn y cartref, diwydiant a busnesau ac yn y blaen. Fe sefydlwyd y grwp nid yn unig ar gyfer menywod ym Mhlaid Cymru, ond er mwyn i’r grwp ennyn menywod y rhanbarth yn gyffredinol i ymgyrchu ar faterion sydd yn bwysig iddynt hwy. Rydym yn gobeithio cael siaradwyr gwadd i ddod i’r cyfarfodydd, sesiynau hyfforddi, a chreu amcanion polisi newydd- tasg eithaf mawr felly! Mae hwn yn cam cyntaf i Blaid Cymru gyda grwp lleol o’r fath natur, felly pob lwc.

I gysylltu gyda’r grwp, ebostiwch y Cadeiryddion ar naillau ladyalthomas@hotmail.co.uk neu abeedwards60@hotmail.com. Mae gwefan ar y ffordd…