New boss, same old problems

As Plaid Cymru big wigs gathered in Aberystwyth to rake over the ashes of their latest electoral setback there seems little acknowledgement among them of the hole the Party is in.

They have instigated a root and branch review of all Plaid Cymru’s activities to be led by Eurfyl ap Gwilym and appointed a new Chief Executive Rhuanedd Richards, a former BBC Wales employee and One Wales SpAd, who claimed it wasn’t a crisis but a sense of urgency that the party faced.

All well and good, but it looks like a shuffling of the pack rather than signifying any meaningful changes are afoot. After all these were some of the people in positions of influence when the party’s 2010 General Election fiasco was unfolding followed by May’s debacle, how can they be the ones to turn the Party’s fortunes around members will rightly ask?

And even if the review comes up with new ideas and policies, something Plaid Cymru are pretty good at, the dilemma as most Plaid and others bloggers have debated since the Assembly election, is which direction do they go?

Some want a harder nationalist message that they think will appeal to voters, another group think a few tweaks to the status quo and negotiation of a One Wales 2 Coalition is the answer, others meanwhile want more breathing space and to shift the focus onto economic matters that will chime with voters in these tough economic times, while others think the cultural agenda needs more prevalence – it’s not something the Ieuan Wyn Jones’s successor can’t easily resolve, but they will need to if they are to be more than minor players.

And then there is the issue of the Welsh language, whether Plaid like it or not they are still seen as the best language pressure group in Wales rather than a serious political party by many, a point reinforced their internal polling.

And as Professor Roger Scully said in response to Adam Price’s essay ‘Any party effectively ruling out 65% of the population is going to be likely to struggle.’ It’s a valid but hardly new or insightful point and one that needs thought and tackling head on if Plaid are not just to breakthrough, but build support in places they are currently nonexistent as well as keep their heartlands happy.

All the parties apart from Labour are struggling after the election and it would have been a period of reflection and readjustment for Plaid Cymru anyway with such poor Welsh Assembly results, but their problems are magnified when the SNP are riding the crest of a wave in Scotland. Only time will tell if they learn lessons and succeed in reconnecting with the Welsh electorate in a meaningful way.Any source