RETURN TO MAIN PAGE 

[With Ed George; May 1991; Draft Article submitted to Socialist Outlook*]

The recent local elections produced important changes in the political geography of Wales. In the Labour heartlands of the South valleys, Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, made significant gains from Labour. For the first time since its formation 17 years ago Labour lost control of Taff Ely council. It also lost seats to Plaid in the Rhymni, Cynon and Lliw valleys and in Neath. Anti poll tax activists who formed a 'Council of Action' unseated the Labour deputy leader of Merthyr council. In these areas of almost monolithic Labour dominance local councils had implemented poll tax collection in a most brutal fashion. The swing to Plaid represents a sharp rebuff to many Labour councillors for their slavish obedience to Conservative government policies. This follows a pattern set in the recent Pontypridd and Neath by-elections, where Plaid sharply cut large Labour majorities. Plaid also regained a number of seats in Gwynedd in North Wales, particularly in Blaenau Ffestiniog.

In more metropolitan Cardiff Labour had previously ruled as a minority in a hung council. Here the result was very different, with Labour making large gains from both Conservatives and Liberal Democrats and winning overall control of the city. In the key Canton ward of the city, which saw a massive swing to Labour unseating the three sitting Conservatives, anti poll tax activists mounted a prominent 'Don't Vote Conservative' fly-posting campaign based on a spoof of the Conservative election leaflet.

There is a clear pattern as to where the anti-Tory vote fell in South Wales. Where Labour was monolithic and slavishly right wing voters looked outside it to register a protest. Where it was a minority, as in Cardiff, they turned towards it to more thoroughly put it to the test.

The Cardiff result is a significant victory. Now the task of poll tax activists and others on the left is to bring pressure on the Council to stop it doing the Government's dirty work as it has done so often in the past. Labour councillors can no longer use the excuse that their hands are tied by the lack of an overall majority.

This must be the approach throughout South Wales and its valleys: to bring local Labour councillors to book. We must be clear that Plaid is no alternative to Labour. In Taff Ely they have already indicated that they will form a council with the Liberal Democrats and Independents, hardly the action of a genuine left opposition to Labour. The party remains unable to comprehensively confront right wing Labourism. Plaid itself has shifted significantly rightwards in recent years, as its refusal to back mass poll tax non-payment illustrates.

Paradoxically, both the increased vote for Labour in Cardiff and for Plaid in the valleys represents a left swing by sections of the Welsh working class. Although the left is not well placed to take the initiative there are a number of opportunities open to it coming out of the local elections. The local activists who provided the backbone of the campaign against the poll tax, in the face of Labour's abstention and Militant's sectarianism, now need to link up with the left inside the Labour Party. They can find common cause in a campaign against the continued effects of the poll tax on jobs, services and local democracy. Equally left wingers inside the party need to join forces with activists outside to strengthen their position and bring their own leaders to account.

Alongside this the rise of Plaid Cymru presents a new challenge. Although voting for Plaid in opposition to corrupt local Labour Councils is not a viable alternative, the swing to Plaid is clearly a swing to the left. We must address the issues that prompted this swing and engage Plaid activists in fraternal dialogue; ensuring that our alternative comes from the left. Unfortunately, student supporters of the Campaign Group, the only organised left group in the Welsh Labour Party, have a record of consistently attacking Plaid inside UCMC/NUS Wales from the right. Their chauvinistic, anti-nationalist approach has more in common with Kinnockism than the type of left wing we need to build in Wales.

In the coming months the poll tax and its effects on local government jobs and services will continue to be felt as the recession deepens in an already depressed area. It must be a time of organisation and preparation by left wingers in Wales both inside and outside the Labour Party. Many of the key issues that will confront us were spelled out in the local election results.

*The version of the article finally published - in Socialist Outlook 2 (18 May 1992) - suffered badly at the hands of the sub-editors. To clarify the points made in the original draft (reproduced above), the following letter appeared in Socialist Outlook 5 (6 July 1992):

Readers may have gained the wrong impression of our view of Welsh nationalism from our article in Socialist Outlook 2. We feel that the essential point about Plaid Cymru is that the Welsh nationalist movement, of which Plaid Cymru is a part, represents a new challenge to the British left. Whilst we believe that Plaid is not an alternative to Labour it is not enough to baldly state this as some kind of definitively finalised fact, which is unfortunately the practice of most the left. Our approach must be to address issues that have created Welsh nationalism, recognising both its weaknesses and its progressive content, and engaging Plaid activists in an open dialogue. It is in this context that our remarks on Campaign Group Students in Wales make sense. We argue that they do exact the opposite: they adopt chauvinistic, anti-Welsh language, anti 'all-nationalisms' stance, which is coincidentally that of Neil Kinnock. The contrast between this and their slavish support for the ANC is stark but illuminating. We hope that this letter clarifies our arguments.

Return to main page