Whatever you might say about the Welsh Liberal Democrats we are tenacious. From standstill in last May’s Assembly elections; to summer chaos, as we attempted to forge a coalition with the wrong parties only to see Plaid Cymru walk away to join up with Labour; to a set of local election results in which we not only held our own but actually advanced on our 2004 high.

Of the 33 net gains by the Liberal Democrats on 1 May, 21 of them were in Wales. In three of the four Councils we lead we increased our representation and consolidated our position, whilst elsewhere we became key players in future administrations.

In Cardiff we gained three seats and confirmed our status as the largest party. Talks are now underway to form a coalition there, ending four years of minority control. In Swansea, we made a net gain of four seats and look set to lead a majority coalition with the independents. In both cases this is reward for the way we have turned around both Cities after decades of Labour neglect.

In Wrexham we now have three more Councillors and are the largest group. It is likely that we will once more be leading a coalition administration there. In addition to these the Welsh Liberal Democrats now form part of the new administration in Anglesey and could play a significant role in any anti-Labour alliance in Flintshire.

It is likely that the handful of seats we won in Blaenau Gwent, Conwy, Gwynedd and Torfaen, as well as our more significant presence in Merthyr, will lead to us either being part of the administrations there or having influence. It is also likely that we will play a major role in Ceredigion, where we defeated the Plaid Cymru PPC, and Newport, where there are two deferred elections for six seats, three of them currently held by us.

Although we are the smallest opposition party in the Assembly we continue to punch above our weight. We demonstrated previously how we could make a success of government at an all-Wales level, now we have a further opportunity to show voters in many more Council areas what we can do at a local government level as well.

* Councillor Peter Black AM blogs here.

Several months ago, I wrote a piece for LDV setting out what I thought was a golden opportunity for the Welsh Lib Dems following a disappointing night in May.

Now, 100 days have passed since Plaid decided to kick the prospect of alternating government in Wales into touch and instead prop up a discredited and unpopular Labour administration.

The “one-Wales” government as it is known has had nothing but gentle times so far. The position within the year and the Welsh electoral cycle have not presented the real and serious challenges to the stability of coalition politics. And yet, relations between the two governing parties have been anything but amicable. It all started when Peter Black pointed out the immature and almost laughable way in which back-bench Plaid AMs were failing to adhere to the principal of collective responsibility. They were openly attacking government announcements and claiming that because they were made by Labour Ministers, their party bore no responsibility for them. It beggars belief what the relationship will be like when times actually begin to get tough.

Those within our party who argued against joining Plaid and the Tories in Government, were particularly concerned by the lack of clear costings and affordability of Plaid’s manifesto. The party’s immaturity was clear when it offered a succession of promises to the Welsh public such as free laptops for kids and big grants for first time buyers. This “happy-meal” politics as Kirsty Williams called it, took no account whatsoever of the tougher budgetary times ahead. With the CSR announcement earlier this month, it has become clear that the one-Wales agenda is worryingly unaffordable.
Read more »