Bethan Jenkins AC/AM Blog

THE time for internal party reselection for the Assembly election in 2011 is upon us, and constituency lists are open, and closed. Contrary to what Vaughan Roderick has said on his blog about me, I never intended to stand in Neath, and will be supporting Alun Llewelyn as the candidate all the way.

I think Alun has shown from the last Westminster election and the previous Assembly election campaign that he is a strong candidate. He is putting significant pressure on Labour in the Neath area by running effective local campaigns, and has a strong team of councillors in the area who work so hard alongside him and Del Morgan, Plaid’s leader on a NPT council level. Some people may ask – why didn’t you stand in Neath? Well, because my intention is to support Alun and other candidates in the South Wales West region, and to put my name forward for reselection on the regional list at this juncture.

Being an Assembly Member has been without a doubt the best thing that has happened to me, giving me an opportunity to campaign on the issues that are important to me, and to the people of the area. It’s allowed me to extend the campaigning that I was doing before being elected, albeit in a different way. Working with those suffering from eating disorders in Wales has been such a privilege – hearing their stories of pain, and then of hope as a new framework was introduced in Wales along with funding, after so much inaction.

Working with pensioners in Swansea has been inspiring. Hundreds of former Visteon workers – the salt of the earth – campaigning for their pensions at a time when they should be enjoying the fruits of their labour. Helping constituents with problems in their street or local area, enjoying the moment when asylum seekers I have helped, like George William from Swansea, who this week was granted asylum in Wales after years of campaigning; trying to push forward with a campaign for World Heritage status for the copper works in Swansea East; helping young people get in to politics.

And we can’t forget the imminent referendum on more powers for Wales. Creating a truly powerful Parliament for Wales is at the centre of everything I do.

This is all rewarding stuff that I can’t really put in to words that will describe how much satisfaction I get from empowering people to stand up for themselves and find their voices, just like I did.

Of course, I still have much more that I want to do, and that’s why I want to stand again to be elected as an AM. I don’t do it for personal satisfaction, or to have a position of status, but I can certainly use the title of being an AM to generate interest in various campaigns, and to influence those who make key decisions. I can’t say that everything always works out how I would like it to, but what’s important is that I always try, and I hope that people who ask me to help them understand that I’ll put every effort in to helping them reach their end goal.

Of course, we all know that the rules within Plaid Cymru’s  regional selection process have changed, and that we now have a zipping process whereby if a man is elected at the top of the list, then a woman must be second. I will work within this system, just as I worked within the last system, and encourage people to support me based on the work that I have done since being elected to the region back in 2007. It feels so long ago now!

It’s true that I did have a bit of a difficult time first of all when I was elected, but I’m sure most first time AMs all had their own individual challenges. I think I had a lot to prove – to the party, to the people of South Wales West, and to myself, and I hope that I’ve gone some way to showing that I have been an effective Assembly Member.

I’m sure there are people out there that don’t agree with me, don’t appreciate my viewpoint, but that’s the way politics works. As long as we can have constructive discussions that don’t swing to the personal, then I embrace those discussions with open arms.

I hope I will be nominated to stand in the next Assembly election by the party, that I will be successful in becoming a candidate in the region for the 2011 elections. Its down to me now to prove to people that I will continue to work hard for the area.

If I’m not chosen internally, or if I’m not elected next year as an AM, I am sure there will be other opportunities and challenges out there for me. Having four years experience as an AM has been phenomenal. I’ve met some great people, with fire in their bellies and a drive to change things for the better, and if, given the opportunity, I can work with them in different way, then I will certainly jump at the opportunity to do that.