THERE’S LITTLE doubt that the Euro-elections will prove a problem for the two main parties because of the revelations about MPs’ expenses.
But where will the votes shift ? Expect Plaid to gain. The party will certainly gain votes. But will that gain turn into more seats from the four allocated to Wales ?
And what about the other third party in Wales – the Liberal Democrats ? And how will the minnows do ?
In Bristol, the Greens were hoping of a gain for themselves in the South West constituency – a two per cent rise in support would manage this, they said.
There’s no such hope in Wales. The Greens have been sidelined for years, since the onslaught of Klaus Armstrong Braun, from Deeside, an elected councillor and an individual who seemed to believe that his own position on any issue placed him superior to the entire party.
The son of a soldier in Hitler’s army, brought up after the war, firstly in Ireland, he has certainly always stood out a little…
UKIP face not-dissimilar problems. In this case, the problem is its consistently anti-Assembly stance – when the existence of the Assembly has nothing to do either with the party’s reason for existence - except in its own fevered imagination – or for its decision to stand for Europe. This means that it will only attract nutter-votes.
The party is in any case usually considered an import from England, over-peopled by colonels from Sussex and their type.
The only other fringe party of any concern is the British National Party, a group which gives an appalling name to nationalism. That their leader lives in Wales is immaterial – he is merely hiding away in the most inaccessible part of Wales he could find so that decent Englishmen couldn’t find him.
The Lib Dems’ lead candidate for Wales, Dr Alan Butt Phillip, was asked at his party’s press briefing how the Westminster expenses scandal was affecting the vote. People are “disgusted”, he said. In protest, some would refuse to vote.
But others saw it as a strong reason to turn out. Party leader Kirsty Williams said she felt the Lib Dem vote was holding up. But beyond that it seemed difficult to guess.
