Alun Lenny, one of Plaid's county councillors in Carmarthen, recently gave a superb lecture on Carmarthenshire's history of rioting and civil disobedience. Our forbears were certainly a more lively lot, and if they were around today it is likely that the glaziers would be kept very busy repairing the windows at County Hall.
Perhaps the unruly days of the past may yet make a return. The other day council leader Kevin Madge was predicting cuts of "biblical proportions". Perhaps he is more prescient than most of us thought because a couple of days later Ed Milliband and Ed Balls promised to deliver just that if they get back into power in Westminster.
What has not changed is the volatile nature of politics in the county. The old Carmarthen constituency had a continuous history from 1542 until it was abolished in 1997. In the nineteenth century it returned Tories on only two occasions for very brief periods, and in the twentieth century it accidentally acquired a Tory on only one occasion for a couple of years when a Liberal switched sides.
For most of the last 200 years then, Carmarthen has consistently backed the forces of progress and radicalism.
The constituency has twice made history since the Second World War: firstly with the election of Gwynfor Evans as the first Plaid Cymru MP in 1966, and secondly for its pivotal role in the 1997 Referendum. It has also punched beyond its weight with some of the politicians it has returned to Westminster since 1945, including Megan Lloyd George, Gwynfor Evans and Adam Price (the latter representing Carmarthen East and Dinefwr which was carved out of the old constituency).
With Jonathan Edwards and Rhodri Glyn Thomas the constituency also stands out from the pack.
Adam Price announced yesterday that he would be putting his name forward as a candidate to represent Carmarthen East and Dinefwr for Plaid in the Senedd following the retirement of Rhodri Glyn Thomas.
Adam is one of the most exciting and interesting politicians around, and not just in Wales. He has a clear vision and a natural ability to communicate his ideas. Above all, he conveys a sense of optimism and hope.
Croeso 'nol Adam. Gall Cymru.
13 comments:
The Rhodri/Jonathan team has been effective and incisive and certainly active. I suspect an Adam/Jonathan combo could be dynamite. Whether they are Plaid supporters or not, the people in Carmarthenshire E have good and honest representation in Cardiff and Westminster....pity we've got such a crap local authority.
Hip hip hooray!
Adam Price is back from the USA as Rhodri's annointed; it seems Plaid is not averse to both hereditary and nepotistic principles. But as the 3rd/4th party of Wales they have to be pragmatic: Coronets anyone?
Anon 04.42 - Adam and other candidates will take part in a series of hustings, and all 1,300 party members in the constituency will get a vote. If Labour worked in the same way, David Milliband would have been elected to lead Labour rather than his brother. Nepotism? Hereditary annointing? Not in Plaid.
Someone needs to ask Adam Price why he is seeking to make a political comeback. Have his business interests all gone belly up? Or is he seeking to improve such interests by political means?
As for 'Carmarthenshire's history of rioting and civil disobedience', people have learnt that if they want/need to live off the largesse of 'others' they must obey the rules of these 'others'.
Modern society has no time for the troublesome few.
is this the same Adam Price who left us at the time we needed hi most to defend against tory cuts?
i for one dislike coronations like this.
Here we go again. It's not a coronation but a democratic, one member, one vote selection by members in the constituency. There is still time for you to join up and choose the candidate you like best.
Adam Price in any capacity is a strong voice for Wales!
The Jonathan/Adam Team will move mountains!
I'll never forget the South Wales Guardian story the week Adam Price announced that he would not be contesting the 2010 election. Labour leader Kevin Madge came out with a comment along the lines of..
"Adam Price is leaving at a time when this constituency needs him most".
I mean, Madge and his Labour colleagues had just spent eight and a half years slagging him off, and then they wanted him to stay!
I am a Plaid member and very much looking forward to voting in the local hustings. We work on a one member-one vote system. We don't do coronations in Plaid.
I hope Adam is elected. He's a class politician and a strong representative for the area. I'd love to see the colour drain of Kevin Madge and Calum Higgins faces when they see the result.
Ymlaen!
Believe me Madge and his colleagues didn't want him to stay, they just wanted to have a go at him. Damned if you do and damned if you don't.
Anon 16:35 said:
"is this the same Adam Price who left us at the time we needed hi most to defend against tory cuts?"
Adam announced he was standing down in 2009 - in advance of the 2010 election in which the Tories were elected. Although it felt like the Tories were in office, it was in fact the Labour party that was in power with Gordon Brown as Prime Minister.
In saying that, given that the Labour party has this week again signed up to Tory spending plans, does it matter which of the two unionist parties are in office?
Thankfully we've got people like Jonathan Edwards, Rhodri Glyn Thomas and Adam Price who are willing to fight for their constituents.
Carms County Council politbureau are so blinkered as are some of the commentators on this blog showing their ingnorance of the selection procedure . What these ignorant people do not understand about politics in Westminster is the esteem in which the Plaid Cymru group have always been held in the UK parliament. I worked there 20 years ago and have worked with people who work there now as Parliamentary staff who have great respect for PC MPS as they punch above their weight. Adam has a wealth of experience as do some of the other candidates and good luck to them all its not a coronation but a selection
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