Congratulations to Jean Lewis who has romped home in Trelech. The results were as follows:
Jean Lewis (Plaid Cymru) 598
Hugh Phillips (Ind) 181
Selwyn Runnett (LibDem) 96
The Trelech by-election confirms the long-term decline of the Independents in Carmarthenshire, something which can only be welcomed by anyone who wants to see more open, accountable, honest and professional local government.
13 comments:
Good. I also want to see the decline in Labour party support....all over Wales and beyond.
Llongyfarchiadau mawr! Hearty congratulations!
Newyddion da o lawennydd mawr!
Llongyfarchiadau.
Excellent result - congratulations to Jean Lewis and all who worked for her victory.
An overwhelming victory for Plaid Cymru.
It's curious, though, that given the Labour party runs the council, that their candidate is campaigning full time in the hope to take the seat from Simon Hart MP, and that they have a paid party official working in the constituency Labour didn't field a candidate.
What could possibly be the reason?
They've probably got no base in rural areas such as Trelech or, what I suspect is more likely, they struck a deal with the Independent Party not to stand in some anti-Plaid Cymru pact.
The by-election in the Llanelli constituency will be very interesting indeed. Are we likely to see a UKIP candidate? Will Sian Caiach have a representative of People's First standing? Could these candidates and an increasingly unpopular Labour party help Plaid Cymru win a seat back there?
Whatever happens could give us some insight into the General Election result....
Who said politics was boring?
A 17% swing to Plaid from the Independents. A similar swing in this rural part of west Carmarthenshire would easily hand Cynwyl Elfed and Llansteffan to Plaid. Of the 13 Carmarthenshire council wards in the Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire constituency, the six town wards are now held by Plaid, two of the seven rural wards are also held by Plaid and a further two are now highly marginal. A strong local government base can only help Plaid in the General Election next year.
Anon 18:18
It is clear Labour have no rural base in western Carmarthenshire any more. There was a time when Labour had some support with small dairy farmers in particular. The post war milk cheque kept many a small enterprise going. These people had no interest in the Tories and many families remember bitterly how their parents and grandparents were treated by the Tory backing landed estates when they were tenant farmers. Labour have forgotten the needs of rural working families and are wrapped up in London centric games and only are interested in the needs of the south-east in general. They are a shell of the party they were.
As it is Trelech could it even be, "Plaid wins by a country mile"?
How does this leave the arithmetic of County Hall seats? Will Plaid now get more committee positions at the expense of the Indies?
Anon@20.27 The Independents are now down to 21, while Plaid is up to 29. Labour is also currently on 21 following the death of George Edwards. There are 2 non-aligned councillors, taking the total to 74.
There are still nearly 2.5 years to go before the election, and what would be really interesting is if Labour dropped to one councillor less than the Independents, thereby losing its claim to the leadership.
Trelech does not change the electoral maths or the composition of committees, but it means that Labour and Independents are dancing ever closer to the cliff edge.
LLONGYFARCHIADAU MAWR i Jean a'r tim i gyd - canlyniad anhygoel.
HUGE CONGRATULATIONS to Jean and the whole team - incredible result.
YMLAEN!
Nice to see so many condolences for George Edwards and his successor being discussed before he is even buried. Such empathy in some political parties. :P
Anon 11:50
Please note my message which can be found on this website.
Here is a copy for you
Blogger Vaughan Williams said...
Sad to hear about the passing of Cllr George Edwards. Heartfelt condolences to his friends and family.
5 December 2014 at 10:22
Please note the condolences offered to Cllr Edwards' family on my behalf as Plaid Cymru candidate from Llanelli on Twitter the day after he died.
Kind regards,
Vaughan
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