Elin Jones has the unusual distinction of being the only Welsh AM to receive death threats – a measure of the enormous political and social backlash which followed her decision (while Rural Affairs minister) to allow the culling of badgers in an attempt to control bovine TB.

Currently among the favourites to lead Plaid Cymru, she was born in Lampeter and gained a B.Sc. in Economics at Cardiff University, followed by a Masters in Agricultural Economics at Aberystwyth – both providing a springboard for a career in economic development with the Development Board for Rural Wales, which involved liaising with businesses, communities and social enterprises.

Little wonder then, that Elin Jones was to develop an interest in local democracy and politics which saw her gain a seat on Aberystwyth Town Council (where she eventually became Mayor) in the name of Plaid Cymru – an experience which was to take her into the Welsh Assembly in 1999 as AM for Ceredigion. With Plaid in opposition, she first became their spokesperson for Development, and then for Environment, Planning and Countryside. It was the creation of the ‘One Wales’ coalition with Labour in 2007 which saw her appointed minister for Rural Affairs and brought about her brush with threatened death.

Looking back, Elin Jones now appears entirely relaxed about the affair. “I got a lot of nasty E-mails,” she recalls, “but most of them did not appear to be an obvious threat – they were from other parts of the world, or were obviously the result of hasty anger. Even so, any minister who takes a position on animal rights has to take account of security, but I tried to keep a level head and keep going.”

Since the coalition ended, the proposed cull has is still ‘on the agenda’ of the Labour minister, but he is yet to take a final position.

Since leaving the coalition, Elin Jones has been Plaid spokesperson for Health, a subject close to her heart since she has been heavily involved in the controversies surrounding the future of Aberystwyth’s Bronglais Hospital.

She points out: “I became concerned about the downgrading of Bronglais when Plaid were in opposition before 2007, so when we entered government with Labour, we insisted on protection for and investment in Bronglais. This led to an investment of £32 million in the hospital, yet now Labour is in control again, the centralization elsewhere of Bronglais services is once more on the agenda.

“However, I am campaigning not just for Ceredigion but all of Mid-Wales in preserving Bronglais’s role; after all, how many communities in the region are within safe distance of a good District General Hospital”.

But she is also very much concerned with the bigger political picture, and is not afraid to state outright: “My long-term ambition is for Wales to be a successful independent state within the European Union. This will not happen overnight, but only when the people of Wales decide.”

That said, her vision of an independent Wales within the EU does not necessarily extend to Wale’s automatic membership of NATO – a question, she says, “which would have to be decided by the new independent government”.

More immediately, Elin Jones believes the day-to-day work of Plaid Cymru is to see the transfer from Westminster to Cardiff of more functions relevant to Welsh economy, governance and national identity. “Some obvious possible areas,” she argues, “are policing, criminal justice, broadcasting, and control over energy and water resources. I am working with the new Silk commission, which is looking at transfer of fiscal powers and some executive and legislative powers”.

Elin Jones also believes that Plaid’s less-than-expected support at the last election was the result of a poor strategical approach to the poll, and not an indicator that the party is in electoral decline

She points out:. “I believe 100% of our focus during the early part of last year was on getting a Yes vote in the referendum, while other parties focused less on this and more on the election. Therefore, Plaid had to switch its efforts into election mode almost overnight, so the message to vote for Plaid did not crystallize succinctly.”

That said, Elin Jones believes Plaid Cymru “must expand its support base. We must be more relevant to a wider audience; we must break out of our ‘comfort zone’. We’re too reliant on farmers’ unions, Cymdeithas yr Iaith, and demonstrations: we must go into rugby clubs and British Legion halls and extend our reach to more sectors of society”.

As to the ‘big question’ (why has Alex Salmond been so successful in Scotland?) Elin Jones sends out a warning to all those who are all too happy playing the short-term political ‘game’ without any thought for the long term outcome – and to the romantics who fail to appreciate the real politik facing Plaid Cymru.

She points out: “Alex Salmond has built up his reputation over a long period of consistent advocacy. He is also a very shrewd politician who is unrivalled. The SNP success is also due to his team, which is wholly focussed on independence. That level of consistency and focus has endeared them to the Scots electorate and gained its loyalty.

“Unfortunately, a lot of Plaid Cymru supporters hope that an Owain Glyndwr will suddenly appear and romantically lead the nation to independence.

“Modern politics is more about the hard slog and keeping commitments; they are about getting arguments right in order to gain the confidence of the public.”

Who would have thought that the bookies’ outsider candidate for Plaid Cymru’s leadership had once been the party leader and had presided over the formative years of the National Assembly?   But that’s where Lord Dafydd Elis-Thomas finds himself.
Possibly this is because he’s very much his own man – a quality not greatly appreciated in the world of politics. It’s usually the ‘yes’ person who climbs the greasy pole. However, Dafydd El (as he’s known) often tells his party what it just doesn’t want to hear.
Take the thorny subject of independence. This is the holy grail amongst party members, yet many Plaid supporters – according to recent opinion polls – don’t themselves want independence. So, all too often, party leaders in the past have treated the issue like an elderly relative in the corner of the room – to be tolerated, ignored even, but never rejected.
That’s not the Elis Thomas way. He jumps in feet first: “I am very much in favour of devolution, and am even more in favour of what the Scots call ‘devo max’.” So while strongly in favour of devolution with greater powers, he’s equally dead against “the creation of a Welsh nation state on the 19th and 20th century models, I think those are dead”.
But the old academic in him comes out when pressed on where he sees the devolution road leading.
“I don’t see devolution and independence in Europe as different routes – I see them as part of a wider field, which I would call (in the way I was taught in political sciences during the ‘50s and ‘60‘s) ‘comparative federalism’.”
He pulls no punches on Plaid’s last election campaign and what went wrong. His answer is simple: “They forgot that they’d been in Government. Plaid has learnt from long experience how to lose but has not yet learnt how to win, or to celebrate its victories.”
He expressed great wonder that, while he was seeing off Llais Gwynedd in his Dwyfor Meirionydd constituency, “the party campaign was continually attacking Labour, the party which has been our comrade in government, yet it forgot the Tories, who should have been our main target. After all they were the party leading the UK government.”
He even refused to join the party’s high command in staging – as he describes it – “stunts such standing outside hospitals and claiming they were about to be down graded and all sort of stuff.”
And his reasons why are absolutely clear: “I think the politicisation of the health service is one of the most dangerous things Plaid’s been involved in these last few months. What it’s trying to do in Wales – or to get the Labour Government to do in Wales – is follow the Conservative line in England. In other words, it is interference in the clinical management of the health service.”
But for Dyfydd El, Plaid will only win when it starts to engage with the voter. It has to “listen to people. Unfortunately, over the years it has become a rather sect-like organisation. A political party should be in continual engagement with the public on policies and pragmatic issues, not engaged in trying to recruit converts. This is a serious issue, because some people sound like the religious right of the USA. They seem concerned that people must believe ‘properly’ in political positions. This is posturing, and not about listening too and co-operating with all the citizens of Wales and offering them pragmatic and helpful policies.”
His response to the idea of a ‘vision for the future’ is, in its way, the hallmark of his approach to politics, for he questions the very premise of the question.
“I’d prefer discussing insight rather than vision. There are too many alleged visionaries around. The important thing is to have insight into the political and social content of a particular time. Where we are now is hugely exciting, with what’s happening in Scotland.”
Yet Dafydd El puts much of Alex Salmond’s success down to the failure of his opponents. “That has been his great advantage. He is, of course, a very clever politician, as are the others in his cabinet. Nobody has produced an insight into Scottish politics and the future of Scotland the way they have. But this is also against the background of the failures of the Scottish Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat Parties – and the ability of the SNP to gather those votes across the political spectrum.”
Above all, he points out somewhat pointedly: “The SNP would never argue -like some members of Plaid – that the party has to target only a particular section of the electorate for votes.”