What’s happening in Blaenau Gwent?
Posted on Thursday, April 30, 2009 at 2:05pm
9 responses
Like other people, I was quite shocked when I heard Alun Davies AM announce this week that he is seeking the nomination of the Labour party to stand in Blaenau Gwent for the next Assembly election. Fair play to him if he wants to go back to the ‘area that made him’, and to his roots in South East Wales, but I can’t understand the logic of building up a base of support for only four years in Mid and West Wales, to move to another seat where Labour are clearly struggling with recent resignations of Councillors, and lack of moral.
If support for Labour was on an upward spiral then I could see a strong argument for Alun Davies fighting it out with Trish Law and her supporters, but if current polls are anything to go by, this is surely not the case. One thing I think is certain is that he didn’t make the decision alone. But why advise this course of action? Does he need to prove his worth by fighting a constituency seat?
The difficulty Alun Davies has now though is that people will associate him not with the area that he currently represents, but with the campaign in Blaenau Gwent. It has already started in the Senedd- when he asked a question to a Minister on the Western Valleys Initiative, AMs heckled ‘Don’t you mean Eastern Valleys, Alun?’ It will be difficult to represent a certain area, and then try and run a campaign in another- despite the local links involved.
What I haven’t appreciated about this announcement is the hint at personal attacks by Alun Davies on Trish Law’s performance as an AM, describing her as ‘woeful’ and ‘invisible‘. How do you measure that? I am sure that people have their own personal opinions on the performance of various AMs and the way they represent constituents, but I don’t think its proper for fellow AMs to do that judging in the public arena in this manner, at least.
I can see it getting very nasty indeed. One thing is sure, there will be momentum behind the campaigning yet again in Blaenau Gwent for the Assembly elections, and it doesn’t look as if Trish Law is ready to give in any time soon. Well, that’s if Alun Davies actually gets the nomination. If not, will Mid and West still want him?…
