Tally ho! The Tories of Carmarthenshire

Mitt Romney, the billionaire Mormon contender for the US Presidency, faces a bit of an uphill struggle convincing ordinary American voters that he is from the same planet, although with new laws in several key swing states that could potentially disenfranchise 5 million likely Democrat voters, he may not have to worry.


Over on this side of the Atlantic, the Tories have the same problem as Romney when it comes to connecting with real people, whether it's Cameron, Osborne and the other former Bullingdon Club boys or the rather less exalted membership of Welsh Conservative constituency party associations, such as the one here in Carmarthen East and Dinefwr.

Cameron's attempts at electoral reform are likely to be rather less successful than those of his Republican cousins in the US, especially now that Labour has joined forces with the Tory right to kill off  reform of the House of Lords.

One unexpected result of all this is that Newcastle Emlyn will most likely remain part of Carmarthen East and Dinefwr as part of the price for keeping all those superannuated former Tory council leaders and Blair cronies in ermine. Who'd have predicted that?

In the council elections in May we caught a brief glimpse of some of the exotic flora and fauna which make up the Tory party in Carmarthenshire, although most appeared only on the ballot paper and made no attempt to campaign. Perhaps it was the prospect of having to go out and meet all those ghastly people which put them off.

One of the peculiarities of our local Tories is that they come over all shy when telling us what they do for a living. A few Google searches established that the Master of the Emlyn Beagles who stood in Cilycwm is a London barrister, but for some others it was more difficult.

Chris Salmon, who wants to be elected as Police Commissioner for Dyfed Powys in November, will tell us only that "I have worked in business".

Equally shy is Andrew Morgan who stood for the Tories in the Assembly elections for Llanelli in 2007 and 2011, and for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr in the Westminster general election in 2010. He was challenged by Plaid Cymru to tell voters what he did for a living, but preferred not to.

He finally came out of the closet this week in an advertisement placed in the Carmarthen Journal by stockbrokers Brewin Dolphin. It turns out that he now works in the broker's Swansea office, although prior to that he tells clients on the firm's website (here) that he worked for 11 years in "the City". Champagne and bonuses all round!

Finally the demure and youthful Henrietta Hensher who would like to represent the people of Cenarth ward has just changed her profile picture on Facebook. Most people select a mugshot, but Hattie has chosen to represent herself with a snapshot of a typical Carmarthenshire home:

Is this on Kevin Madge's list of council houses to be upgraded?

Incidentally, anyone interested in the US election might like to see where they would be in the US political spectrum. Are you a Republican or a Democrat? Here's a quick survey to show where you stand. The chances are that if you are anything like most Welsh voters, you will find yourself way out on the far left lunatic fringe of the Democratic Party.