Cardiff Liberal Democrat campaigner Alison Goldsworthy gives us her insight in to Welsh politics, and looks ahead to next year’s Assembly elections.

It’s 100 years since the Liberal Landslide and 40 years since the Welsh Liberals were made distinct from the UK party. History hits everyone’s g spot once in a while, but mine? I get more excited by the idea of enacting the present and making the future better. In Wales, it is hard not to tingle a little at the thought of next years Welsh Assembly elections.

In 2004 we took the lead of councils in Cardiff, Swansea, Bridgend and Wrexham. In 2005 we doubled our number of MP’s taking seats from Plaid and Labour. The Tories didn’t, until that point, have any to take. In the Blaenau Gwent byelection –a work out if anyone ever needed one, steep, steep hills to be rewarded with anti Labour venom on a level I have never previously experienced – we were the only mainstream non Labour party to hold both our deposits.

And next year, when many of you enjoy an election free year we will be going full tilt at the Welsh General Election. And the future looks bright, we are on course to gain seats. How many is anyone’s guess, the complicated way that votes are allocated means that how well we do is dependent on the performance of our own and the other parties. But it wasn’t for fun that Kevin Brennan, a Labour whip admitted his party lost votes to the Lib Dems at the General Election or that Peter Hain warned of the potentially continuing haemorrhage the other day.

Some people get preoccupied by the potential power sharing after the assembly election. Rhodri Morgan currently runs the assembly on a minority administration and has had some high profile losses. Labour were forced to compromise on their policy towards student fees and lost the vote on last years budget. The arithmetic gives the place a completely different atmosphere to London.

Health is undoubtedly going to be high on the agenda, demographics and industrial heritage, have left Wales with a bigger challenge than England. Long waiting lists have characterised the first two terms of the assembly – and it effects peoples votes. And hard as they try Welsh Labour can’t distance themselves from the War on Iraq and Tony Blair. Philosophically there is much talk of clear red water, but in reality they are part of the same party and even Labour heartlands like Blaenau Gwent know it.

Jessica Morden, the MP for Newport East claimed that at last years Labour conference ‘Gordon [Brown] made love to us.’ There is not much chance of him or the rest of his party making the same impression on the rest of Wales.