A Nice Day Out

Some people enjoy their Saturdays out shopping. Some enjoy shooting beautiful tame birds. And there are even some who enjoy watching Wrexham playing fooball. None of these things appealed to me today. I much preferred spending most of it at the Montgomeryshire Conservative Association AGM.

There were 70+ members in Trefeglwys Village Hall and the ladies had prepared an excellent lunch. I was billed to speak after lunch - alongside Montgomeryshire Assembly Candidate, Dan Munford. Dan is making a real impact and he deserves to do really well on May 3rd. I suspect Mick Bates is feeling the heat, especially with all the Lembit ridicule still rife. I knew Dan would cover all the well deserved courtesies, so I decided to give full vent to my ideas on the sort of Party I want us to be.

All the usual stuff about change - and voting 'Blue' to go 'Green'. But then, I went brutal about how awful the last two Assembly election results were for us and how we have to change in Wales, to put this 'English Party' image behind us. In Wales, we're a Welsh party, committed to Wales, the Welsh Language, Welsh culture, a 'Scottish model' National Assembly, and willing to work with Plaid Cymru and the dreaded Lib Dems to bring to an end the Labour one-party-state that Wales has been for most of the last century. I said anyone calling for the Assembly to be abolished, (which I accept is an entirely coherant policy) just loses us electoral support. I said any Conservative not voting in the Assembly election on principle (because they do not believe in the Assembly) just hands power over to the Labour Party. And I said that within a very few years, the Assembly election will be seen as far more important than the Westminster election (Our MP helps here by being so much a camera chasing media opportunist).

I do not know if everyone agreed with me - but it seemed as if they did. Perhaps they sensed the wild-eyed fervour with which I think these things and were too polite to say anything. Montgomeryshire people are essentialy reasonable and I am one of them. Anyway, I thought it was a nice day out.