The fact that Wrexham and Alyn & Deeside are now closer targets than Merthyr, Rhondda and Cwm Cynnon, places which have voted well for plaid in the past show that the policy of using socialism to appeal to the valleys voters rather than patriotism isn't working.
| Constituency | % Maj over Plaid | Vote Maj over Plaid | Holder | Plaid Place |
| Carm W & S Pembs | 1.9 | 250 | Con | 3 |
| Clwyd W | 7.3 | 1743 | Con | 3 |
| Neath | 7.7 | 1944 | Lab | 2 |
| Caerphilly | 8.8 | 2287 | Lab | 2 |
| Preseli Pemb | 13.9 | 3985 | Con | 3 |
| Clwyd S | 15.1 | 2944 | Lab | 3 |
| Gower | 15.7 | 4300 | Lab | 3 |
| Islwyn | 16.1 | 3799 | Lab | 3 |
| Swansea W | 16.6 | 3810 | Lab | 4 |
| Cdff West | 17.3 | 4689 | Lab | 3 |
| V of Clwyd | 19 | 4220 | Lab | 3 |
| Wrexham | 19.2 | 3755 | Lab | 5 |
| Delyn | 19.9 | 4328 | Lab | 3 |
| V of Glam | 20.3 | 6844 | Lab | 3 |
| Alyn & D. Side | 21.4 | 6798 | Lab | 5 |
| Cdff South & P | 23.5 | 6281 | Lab | 4 |
| Newport E | 23.6 | 4699 | Lab | 4 |
| Pontypridd | 24 | 5682 | Lab | 3 |
| Merthyr T | 25 | 5257 | Lab | 4 |
| Montgomery | 25.2 | 5628 | Lib D | 3 |
| Bridgend | 25.6 | 6289 | Lab | 4 |
| Swansea E | 26 | 5372 | Lab | 3 |
| Rhondda | 28.1 | 6215 | Lab | 2 |
| Cynon V | 28.8 | 5623 | Lab | 2 |
| Newport W | 30.1 | 7133 | Lab | 4 |
| Torfaen | 30.8 | 7195 | Lab | 4 |
| Aberavon | 32 | 6571 | Lab | 2 |
| Ogmore | 34.7 | 7900 | Lab | 2 |
| Cdff North | 37.9 | 12762 | Con | 4 | Cdff Cent | 42.9 | 9607 | Lib D | 4 |
| Bre & Rad | 46.7 | 13430 | Lib D | 4 |
| Bl Gwent | 49.3 | 1443 | Ind | 4 |
| Monmouth | 49.3 | 13296 | Con | 4 |
Good to see Alun Pugh made it after all.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, Plaid's two best shouts - on paper at least - are against the Tories. Wonder if this'll change the message.
Not sure all those figures are right e.g. Cardiff West: Labour 38.6% Plaid 21.3%. A lot less than a 37% difference.
ReplyDeleteQuite right miserable one - the Lefter than Labour strategy has failed to make any real progress in the Valleys in 40 years.
ReplyDeleteBlogger Sanddef is all for starting a new centre right party....mmmmhh sounds like too much hard work to me.
Better by far for the non-ideological wing of Plaid to win back the party for the centre a la Blair and New Labour
PS I know people don't like Blair but he did win 3 elections for Labour, so lets copy his success rather than his ethics
Thanks Normal Mouth and Lyndon for the corrections, very much appreciated.
ReplyDeleteIts difficult to write tables in blogs, having to add all the HTML codes to create the table and remember not to include any HTML that Blogger adds automatically and then making sure that the right info is in the right place (if anybody knows of an easier way to add "lesser used" HTML in Blogger I would be very grateful if you would share).
Because of this there may be other mistakes in the table too. All results can be checked against The BBC
"Better by far for the non-ideological wing of Plaid to win back the party for the centre a la Blair and New Labour"
ReplyDeleteAgree.
I think the majority in Caerphilly was even less (just over 1,800)
ReplyDeleteWith regards to tables and HTML, if you make a simple table in word (remove border) the copy and paste it into a blog post, it should work fine - lot less hassle.
The corollary is that Plaid needn't "risk alienating its core supporters in the Valleys" by entering into some sort of Rainbow Coalition because, of all the coalfield seats, they're second in only 6 and close in only 2 so there just isn't going to be a shift of Old Labour to Plaid. I know some of these Socialists vote Plaid on the list but it's almost impossible to "campaign" for a list vote as hardly anyone understands the system. Plaid has to go after constituency seats in 2011 and it's difficult to see where they'll come from.
ReplyDelete