The BBC’s Newsnight programme recently commissioned and broadcast a voter survey on attitudes to the various UK party leaders and their policies from the same people that helped guide Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. The methodology and findings were predictable, essentially uncontroversial and hedged with provisos – one of these being that the UK is not the US. The contention is that Politics in the two countries may be different but people share the same aspirations and attitudes so it is still valid to consider analysis and research into people’s views derived from professionally run focus groups.
In relation to Welsh politics, it is sometimes argued that Wales is not England and that this justifies a small nation, separate language political agenda such as might be followed by certain sections of Plaid Cymru. However, it seems to be clear that this will never chime with the majority of Welsh voters and will never lead to significant progress on the road to Independence in the same way as Ireland or even Scotland. This is because all surveys, focus groups, analyses, invariably point to the same Clintonian mantra – it’s the economy stoopid! (that matters).
The things that people ARE most interested in/concerned about and reflect ‘voter intention’ can be crudely listed as:
- Jobs
- Family/Community
- Health
- Cars/Mobility
- Housing
- Safety/Policing
- Sport
- Environment
- Shopping/Money
- Education
The things that do not influence (most) voter intention:
- Nationalism
- Language
- Identity
- Culture/Heritage
- Politics
- Government
- Independence
- Business
- Tourism
- Media
Clearly, it is the business of government to be interested in and deal with the issues that people are not (list 2) and this is their civic responsibility. However, we are not talking about ‘governing’, we are talking about getting elected in the first place with a proper mandate from electors. If this is the premise, then Plaid Cymru appears to have the wrong policies, the wrong agenda and the wrong people to lead them to the kind of political significance that the people of Wales deserve.
Independence as a small nation in Europe is a worthy goal/vision that could be achieved but not without addressing fundamental voter concerns and aspirations and these are economic – jobs, business. Plaid Cymru membership appears to be dominated by people from the public sector, farming or walks of life that have no resonance or meaning in a modern or future economy.
The Party of Wales does not have as its sub text … The Party of (Welsh) Business.
This is what needs to be changed otherwise the economy will not thrive and people’s concerns about jobs and economic aspirations will not be met. As a businessman, I find it very very hard to find reasons/justification to vote Plaid despite being extremely proud of my country and heritage – this means I end up voting Plaid because of personalities like Adam Price (who has a business background of sorts) and not on issues. Now that Adam Price is leaving, the challenge and plea to Plaid is … give us clearly spelled out business reasons to vote for you.
interesting post, Plaid Cymru should know much of this info already since becoming a main stream party. It just shows how much work they still have to do not just to convince other voters to back them, but to move their own supporters from their comfort zones on independence and language matters to economic ones.
It all depends on whether you think that improving Welsh democracy will deliver better jobs, better housing, services and more community cohesion. I happen to think it will.
I also believe the interests of big business and finance capital are totally at odds with the needs and interests of small businesses,on which we are far more dependent here in Wales. Small shops are part of the community whereas multinational supermarkets destroy communities.
Plaid has focussed on community issues from a progressive point of view without losing sight of the need to achieve self-government, because that’s the way we ensure that decisions about Wales are taken here in Wales by people answerable to the Welsh electorate.
Seren.
…whether you think that improving Welsh democracy will deliver better jobs.
No. There is a strong argument that it is the other way around. A better business environment will give confidence to people to vote for a better democracy or even independence.
The fact remains that, in Wales, over 70% of the working population work in the public non-wealth creating sector. Something like 30% of the population is economically inactive for reasons of age or incapacity. Small (retail) shops are essentially disappearing in Wales, are not supported by EU grants or WAG initiatives (ineligible). Tourism contributes something like 2% of the GDP of Wales despite being hailed as a major economic driver.
You can count on one hand the number of big businesses that are Welsh owned or run.
The reality is that a balanced small nation economy needs global business and big finance to provide a sustainable economic base. This adds to Frank Zappa’s requirement for a proper country … decent beer, a football(rugby) team, an airline and nuclear arsenal. On this basis Wales only qualifies on one count.
I agree with the main post author that Plaid Cymru are not convincing to the business community no matter how big or small. The much touted ProACT and ReACT schemes are just that …schemes. Designed to ameliorate a dying economy not to take Wales forward as a small ‘clever’ nation of innovators.
Look back at Maslow hierarchy of needs that should tell politicians where to focus their policy.the lowest level is associated with physiological needs, while the uppermost level is associated with self-actualization needs, particularly those related to identity and purpose. Iron Deficiency needs must be met first. Once these are met, seeking to satisfy growth needs drives personal growth. The higher needs in this hierarchy only come into focus when the lower needs in the pyramid are met. Once an individual has moved upwards to the next level, needs in the lower level will no longer be prioritized. If a lower set of needs is no longer being met, the individual will temporarily re-prioritize those needs by focusing attention on the unfulfilled needs, but will not permanently regress to the lower level.
So if you are worried about feeding your family , having shelter etc democracy isnt a factor.So get a job feel safe and the rest follows
Maslow also had a great deal to say about the evolution of the human psyche and so-called ‘peak experiences’. Should be required reading for politicians.
I have to say that the British parties are not all that convincing either. Both Labour and the Tories have based their model on Financial Services rarther than production and have both also given the UK and so Wales less employment protection than the rest of Europe, exposing us to greater job losses at times of recession due to the fact that we are cheaper to sack.
While London pull the economic strings, Wales is fairly powerless to do anything about it, although a Parliament should attract new people and ideas into Plaid.