Plaid Cymru

A tinkle of sweet harp music welcomes you as you log on to the website of the Welsh Nationalist Party Plaid Cymru. The daffodil within a daffodil within a daffodil symbol dominates the page. A link to the party's Facebook presence reveals that Plaid has - at the time of writing - 3, 289 fans. And at the foot of the page an invitation to 'dewisiwch iaith' or 'choose a language' leads you into the main website. 

NATIONALISTS IN WESTMINSTER

Like all nationalist parties, Plaid Cymru finds itself in the odd positioning of campaigning to join a parliament it ultimately does not want to belong to. If the party manage to convince more people in Wales to vote for them - particularly in the
Valleys where Labour has been dominant for decades - then they have a chance to play a small role in a hung parliament. A small number of Plaid MPs could negotiate certain concessions for Wales in return for supporting a minority or coalition government.

FROM INDEPENDENCE TO EQUALITY

Since the Plaid has been in a coalition in the Welsh Assembly Government it has lost some of the rebellious outsider aura it once had. When it speaks, it is now judged as a party that has a significant role in governing Welsh affairs. Whether this turns out to be a disadvantage or an advantage in the General Election remains to be seen. If Plaid no longer makes such a big deal of the "independence" word, talking instead of "a proper Parliament" and "equality," it nevertheless believes in national status for Wales within the EU. Whatever the future for Wales, one of the poorest and least developed areas in Western Europe, it can't be denied that Plaid Cymru is the one party that has an exclusive interest in the state of the Welsh nation.   

13 April 2010