Save Bute Park

Did you know that Cardiff City Council are planning to build an Ice Hockey Stadium in the middle of Bute Park? Neither did I until I found this blog - makes for interesting reading and teaches me not to skim read the Echo (although I still maintain there's no other way to read it).

Top-up fall out

Students' Union Presidents across Wales and a couple of AMs have called for NUS Wales President James Knight to resign following the top-ups fees debate. He's accused, variously, of being less than enthusiastic in the top-up fees motion; encouraging AMs to vote against the anti-top up fees motion; furthering his career within the Labour party; not following NUS Wales policy; losing the confidence of union presidents and politicians; leaving the toilet seat up (I may have made that last one up).

Various rumours are flying around to what the next move is going to be from the unions, NUS, NUS Wales and Knight himself. Could be an interesting week for him.

In the news

Top-up fees fallout continues as the Rees report was published yesterday: Top-up fees report branded 'sideshow' and 'There just aren't many £20,000 a year jobs', the latter article largely featuring Bethan Jenkins, Aberystwyth Guild of Students President and our own Jenny Randerson...

Cardiff Central Liberal Democrat AM Jenny Randerson, whose constituency has one of the highest proportions of students in Britain, said, "During the recent general election campaign I spoke to many students in Cardiff who told me they were voting Liberal Democrat as they agreed with our opposition to top-up fees.

"I am glad that I and my fellow Liberal Democrat AMs have had this opportunity to keep our promise to the students of Wales and oppose top-up fees. Now we are further down the road of ensuring that Wales is a top-up fees free zone."

And in other news, Costly ID cards may stall due to poor technology covers the ID card price hike to £93 per person and recent trial showing failures in the technology. And the results of an election survey are out, with Stayaway voters did not trust the promises of politicians, which makes solemn reading. That article also mentions yesterday's POWER inquiry.

Jenny Willott's maiden speech

Jenny Willott made her maiden speech in the Commons yesterday. It is available through They Work For You and this here link will take you straight to it. It came as part of the adjournment 'debate' and seems to have been a good chance for many people to get their maiden speeches out the way, if you scroll up and down the page there are plenty of others to compare and contrast.

It is a fairly standard speech, paying tribute to predecessors and advertising the constituency, trying to fit in a few jokes and ticking off some important issues: Council Tax, health, student fees. Let us know what you think. Highlight:

A unique selling point that sets Cardiff, Central apart from every other constituency in Wales is the fact that it does not have a single sheep in it.

Jenny Willott publicity

Came through the door a few days ago, just a rough bit of A3 that I had difficulty scanning! Looks more or less as below.

ID cards

NO2ID.net is a great website that has all the facts and figures on ID cards. How much they will cost you, what they won't help solve, and the untold harm that will be done to society and civil liberties. Have a good read and then sign the petition.

There is an urgency about this, the government are trying to rush the bill through the Commons, the second reading of the bill is in early June. So we need as many people getting involved and signing the petition as possible. When you sign the petition you can sign up to receive emails about the campaign to keep you updated. Get your friends to read all about it and then (hopefully) sign. There isn't much of a Cardiff group operating as yet, but hopefully we can do something about that.

And more: Liberty Human Rights and the Law Society, and while we're on civil liberties: ASBO Concern.
In the interest of balance: Home Office Identity Cards information, BBC News and BBC overview.

In the news

More on the HE funding debate to be held today, with the report published on Thursday. Top-up fees vote 'daft' has heavy criticism of the Tories and Top-up opinions is a letter from the student union / guild Presidents of Aberystwyth, Cardiff and Swansea, the last on the page.

'New Labour's weasel project' is also a letter, from Cardiff Central's old friend Raja Gul Raiz of Respect, in which he stands up for George Galloway. It comes after 'What have they done?' a sort of critical follow up to recent reports on the cost of the new assembly building, they are on the South Wales Echo letters page.

Quangos: Morgan has personal vendatta (Western Mail) deals with the rather confusing issue of quangos, with one Morgan versus another in a smackdown between First Minister Rhodri Morgan and Professor Kevin Morgan of Cardiff University. That's my attempt to make it sound exciting.

E.U.R.O.P.E

MEPs defy Blair on working hours, Western Mail. Welsh Labour MEPs have voted in favour of ending the UK's 48 hour working week opt-out, despite the official line being that we should remain able to opt-out. In a stunning show of common sense and loyalty to the people rather than the party Eluned Morgan says...

"I came into politics to defend the most vulnerable people in society. That's what the vote is about.

The Europe issues is obviously a contentious one, with much mudslinging on both sides. But France goes to the polls soon in a referendum on the Constitution, followed shortly by the Netherlands.

There's plenty of information (mostly, naturally, incredibly biased) floating around on it all, so here are just a few general pointers:

What the Constitution says, from the BBC. Europa: Gateway to the European Union and the UK Office of the European Parliament.

Campaigning is hotting up: The No Campaign. And Britain In Europe, the Yes campaign.

News from your favourites, plus In Depth UK and Europe from the BBC.

The French vote and us: Consequences of a French 'non' (via Matt Strong), Now it gets perverse: Yes want a Non vote, and No want a Oui, from the Telegraph.

There are also many, many blogs: EU Referendum, Europhobia (not actually phobic)... Check them for links. Also Tim Worstall and Perfect.co.uk for more links and round-ups.

In the news

The usual suspects are on hand to give the government a bit of a kicking over 'gimmicksville' ideas in Retirement age hike gets a cool reception, from the Western Mail. There's also an opinion piece about Plaid Cymru, Wales and Plaid Cymru face clear choices, which is very interesting. And a good piece about Soaring property crisis threat to key workers, looking at a major omission from Mrs Windsor's speech: the home owning 'crisis'. It has a particularly epic opening..

HE Queen's Speech is a legislative behemoth, a total of 50 pieces of legislation to drive through over the next 18 months.

There are Bills to make our hospitals cleaner, our pubs and clubs healthier, our communi-ties safer and our elections simpler.

The Government wants to bid for the Olympics, stage a referendum on Europe, reform our welfare state, overhaul public services, give us all identity cards and make us all respect each other a little bit more.

But the crisis now facing tens of thousands of ordinary families desperate to get on to the property ladder does not warrant a mention.

As an aside, if you're interested in a bit of controversy over the Olympics / London thing check out the London 2012 bid site and then the anti-bid website No London 2012.

Looking for the least painful option in higher education funding from the Western Mail, at the start of a busy week for HE funding in Wales.

Wales on Sunday's postbag was crammed full of political issues: Welsh heroes and Gwynfor Evans, mining, hospitals and MRSA, the police and cannabis, the Assembly and calls for a new working class political party. Whew.

A bit of web-related content: Tourism's views of Wales 'need a web kick', Western Mail. A paper has criticised internet facilities for attracting tourists and says that the content is 'stereotypical', with lots of ideas for improvements. The Wales. One Nation website referred to is not linked in the article, so check it out. A spokesperson for the Assembly says in the article that their site is being improved. Update: Peter Black has blogged such things also today.

Blog updates and internet matters

Returning visitors may have noticed the blog slowly evolving in to a post-election broader look at political happenings in Cardiff Central, Cardiff in general, Wales, the UK and Europe.

All representatives who cover Cardiff Central have been added to the links though some are without a link as they have nothing even remotely resembling a decent website. I think I can feel a few letters coming on.

Jenny Willott's website has not yet been told that she has been elected and is still labouring away trying to drum up support for her. Another case of 'internet only as campaign tool' methinks.

There is a new blog everyone must check out, Newport East Watch. Also Delyn MP David Hanson has earnt himself a proxy blog. I believe this may be the first Welsh proxy blog. As I mentioned below there should be some Make My Vote Count action in Cardiff soon.

Cardiff Social Forum's fora have been attacked by a rampaging hacker, which is quite exciting. Rubberneck here. It has been like this for a few days now.

Finally, anyone doing anything even mildly politically related in Cardiff can always get in touch with details of their events, campaigns or meetings etc. Email cardiffcentral(at)hotmail.co.uk. We're always interested in gossip or ideas, email or leave comments at your leisure.

A bit of electoral reform

A meeting that has slipped through the net but has been blogged by Newport East Watch, Call this democracy? looked at electoral reform and there is a good discussion on the blog.

A little bird has emailed me to say that there will soon be movement in Cardiff for Make My Vote Count: the campaign for voter choice and a more representative parliament. There is currently no contact listed for Cardiff Central, but soon this will all change.

Jenny Randerson shuffled

Jenny Randerson, Cardiff Central Lib Dem AM, is to become Lib Dem spokesperson for Health, Lib Dems reshuffle Assembly team, icWales.

In the news

The Western Mail latters page has another letter about student votes from a more sympathetic angle.

HE funding mess

Higher education funding in Wales was in for a bumpy week next week with the publication of the Rees report, and now even more so...

Student funding to be debated just days before report, Tories urged to drop oppostion to top-up fees and Tories should wait for a better informed debate, all Western Mail. Academic sparks top-up fees row, from the BBC:

"To then have a debate on it two days before the report comes out is bonkers, frankly.

Not that it's really much to get excited about, seeing as the conclusion is so obvious and always has been. The Tories' timing may not be cricket but with minority Labour rule in the Assembly there is a potentially very interesting report. And who's at the front of urging the Tories to drop the motion, not because of scheduling but just because they disagree with the idea? University chiefs, happily sticking it to their customers.

Power Inquiry in Cardiff

POWER, an independent inquiry into Britain's democracy, will be visiting Cardiff on Thursday 26th May, one week today. It starts at 1.30pm at St David's Hotel, down in the Bay. There is a page and full timetable available, which includes contact details for the organisers. I won't be able to go as I'm in an exam but it looks super good. I'll ask again after but if anyone is going might they fancy feeding back to us?

Health

Health issues are back at the top of the agenda for the Assembly, today sees Minister's 10-year plan for the NHS, from the BBC.

Assembly powers debate continued

Plaid and the Lib Dems are lining up to criticise Peter Hain, Hain pressed on AMs' powers (Western Mail).

Jenny Willott even gets in there:

Liberal Democrat Cardiff Central MP Jenny Willott said she feared Labour had got cold feet on devolution.

She said, "The idea of fast-tracking policy is concerning. We shall have to wait to see exactly what the Government's plans are, but we must make sure that Welsh bills continue to be properly scrutinised, not rushed through without adequate debate. In its indecisive approach to devolution, Labour is leaving Wales caught between two stools.

"So far, the Assembly has been hampered by Labour's half-hearted approach. If we want the Assembly to work effectively we have to give it the powers to do the job."

The Richard Commission report is available online and there are plenty of summaries around, such as from BBC Wales.

Queen's speech aftermath

A round up of Queen's speech plans from icWales:

• Pensioners' champion hailed as major step forward
• Anti-smoking lobby presses for total ban or allowing Assembly to set limits
• Childcare and maternity leave boost for families

Blair faces crackdown opposition in Labour bid to restore culture of respect in society is something we'll be hearing a lot more about. In the article Elfyn Llwyd and Lembit Opik waste no time sticking the knife in.

Future of the assembly

icWales has Lack of significant new powers for AMs 'a betrayal':

LABOUR has been accused of "betrayal" after it emerged the National Assembly will not get significant new powers from Westminster in the long-awaited devolution White Paper unless a case can be made for a second referendum.

Wales Office Minister Nick Ainger has suggested the White Paper will outline plans for fast-track Welsh legislation at Westminster rather than the hand-over of primary law-making powers to the Assembly.

A more conciliatory tone further down in the article:

With Welsh Labour unable to resolve fierce internal opposition to devolution, the Wales Office compromise would leave Cardiff still reliant on Westminster but would clear some of the legislative log jam which has been caused by only one or two Wales-only Bills being introduced in Parliament each year.

And what it all really means:

Mr Ainger said the White Paper offered a "trigger" for the next stage of devolution without the need for another Government of Wales Bill but said he believed public demand for such a move was a long way off.

Mr Ainger said, "If the people of Wales want greater powers we are providing the vehicle for them to do that but I don't think at this stage there is that demand for full legislative powers or for a referendum for that but we are providing a vehicle for them."

It's a good read and worthy of further thought, which is exactly what Peter Black has. Speaking of referendums there is an interesting post by Third Avenue on The Sharpener that looks at the recent fondness for them, though from an EU perspective.

Assume crash positions

'Fasten your seatbelts for revamped Welsh Assembly' says Peter Hain, via icWales.

The government's legislative programme will see a Commissioner for Older People created and more powers over transport devolved to the Assembly, as well as giving Cardiff Bay the power to ban smoking in public places.

But changes to the Assembly itself are likely to prove more controversial. The government was to see the institution become "clearer and more accountable to the public", and the proposed Government of Wales Bill would separate the legislative and executive, change the voting system and provide "enhanced" powers.

But one aspect of the non-political revamp isn't going own very well with AM Jonathan Morgan, namely the £250 grand of art for the new building, Tory AM Morgan condemns cost of assembly's artwork...

Conservative AM Jonathan Morgan has condemned the spending as disgraceful, claiming money is being wasted on a 'palace for politicians'.

But the assembly has defended the cost, insisting the art is necessary to give Wales a landmark building.

And Cardiff Central will be battening down the hatches over the weekend for the FA Cup Final.

In the news

From The Guardian Rave notices for the new intake of MPs looks at 2005's new bunch and includes a little quote from Jenny Willott.

A letter to the Western Mail and another to either the Mail or the Echo probably need some sort of answer from someone a little calmer...

Vote against students...

SIR - Under the law governing elections certain categories of citizen, such as the insane and prisoners are ineligible to vote. In view of the travesty of natural law in Cardiff Central and Ceredigion, where well respected sitting members lost their seats due to student vote, could we not make students ineligible to vote, except at their home address.

In Wales we have the major problem that our universities and colleges have expanded beyond the demands of the indigenous population. Thus we now have large majorities in our universities who are not born in Wales. This has changed the nature of our universities but also has changed the nature of the towns and cities where they are located.

The distortion caused by this has been highlighted in the recent election. The presence of a large transient student body has in effect disenfranchised the indigenous population. Thus the people in the hinterland of Ceredigion lose the benefit of a good MP just because the students at Aberystwyth voted for the flavour of the month Liberal Democrat, an MP who will be there for the next five years, long after most of his voters have gone onward and upward in their careers.

And Can you keep your promises? ...

THE election is over and we in Cardiff Central have a new MP, not long since a student herself, running with a policy of the "abolition of student top-up fees". She obviously successfully mobilised large numbers of the student vote to support her in this area.

The real choice of Cardiff Central's long-term residents (regardless of which political party) has no doubt been influenced by what are, after all, "short-term visitors".

Surely students should vote in their home town constituencies.

Can I ask our new MP, how she intends to deliver on the promise and "abolish student top-up fees"?

One month on

Please bear with me for a little naval gazing, posted here for everyone's benefit so we can learn a little and hopefully get some feedback.

30 days since the blog began. We have had 1,055 unique visitors totalling 2,756 hits between them. 284 of those visitors have returned, some every day. The busiest day was 6th May with 89 unique visitors. Attendance is now dropping off considerably.

There have been 83 posts thus far and a total of 77 comments, which is the bit I'm most proud of. There have also been some emails and miscellaneous pieces of gossip, for which I am grateful. The photos have been well received, there are 40 up and available for your perusal.

Google is hooking people up searching for all the candidates bar Jon Owen Jones, he of considerably more fame than the others. A lot of people are also searching for the blog name or something similar "Cardiff Central Blog" etc which makes me think the posters and leaflets must have been seen. Many visitors did not have a referring link which I assume means either they knew the address or had it with them, another score for the publicity.

Also, if anyone's interested, the total cost of this all was nil. Okay, so £3.50 for some cardboard for posters and a bit of blu-tak. Blogger is free, the blogspot address is free, Flickr (the photo place) is free. Publicity scans were hosted for free by a friend. Setting up and posting can take as little or as much time as you want it to. Get on the web. Get your area on the web. Get your worries or ideas on the web.

A critique: 'Cardiff Central' Watch is a bit of a misnomer as I don't think the blog really made it outside of Cathays and Roath in terms of photography, publicity and reportage. I appreciate that many visitors came from elsewhere in Cardiff Central and apologise.

Despite many emails to politics societies and groups and the occasional bits of furious networking on my part the blog was largely ignored as an opportunity of publicising events. Though perhaps this is because there were no events. The lack of public events in itself needs to be addressed.

Any thoughts from anyone?

First day

Two very similar articles on Jenny Willott's experiences of Parliament, Nerve-wracking time for Jenny (South Wales Echo) and Nerve-jangling first day on the job for Jenny (icWales) as well as New MPs given Westminster tours (BBC) look at the rigamarole involved in beginning a Parliamentary career, all nice insights in to the running of the House, including these important features, highlighted by JW:

"I know where the ladies' toilets and the bar are which I think are two of the prerequisites."

Post-election things to do

The horribly talented and active people at mySociety have now produced I Voted For You Because... where you can go and tell your newly elected representative what you do or do not expect them to be up to for the next 4/5 years.

If your mountains of campaign material didn't go straight in to the recycling send them to the good people trying to collect and preserve 2005 Election Leaflets. They even have freepost.

And if you're one of those newly elected representatives you'll be off to London to visit swear an oath to the Queen. Parliament fires up again as of Wednesday 11th. I am looking forward to Willott's maiden speech. I predicted some time ago that her "Standing up for our area" slogan was just dying to get a look in as some clever pun in the chamber. We shall see.

Around the blogging political communities the cry of "where next?" goes up. I will proxy blog Jenny Willott as she heads off to Westminster and see where things go from there. What would be very useful is if people took a few moments to provide a little feedback about the blog and perhaps ideas about what they might like to see happen from here. Ideas on a postcard, in the comments or an email, cardiffcentral(at)hotmail.co.uk.

In the news

I won't quit, vows Blair as Cabinet rift opens in the Observer today has Jon Owen Jones as one of a number of defeated MPs blaming Blair for the hits they took:

Jon Owen Jones, who lost his Cardiff Central seat to the Liberal Democrats, said it was because of issues such as Iraq and tuition fees. Asked if there was anything that could have saved him, he said: 'If he had decided to stand down that would have been different. I would have had a good chance whereas, effectively I had no chance.'

And on a happier note Jenny Willott has a South Wales Echo article devoted to her, 'It still hasn't sunk in' - new MP Jenny, where she talks about current pride and future mania:

“I’m just looking forward to getting my teeth into the job. But it is going to mean a phenomenal change to my life – I’m supposed to be in London on Monday,” she said.

Jenny Willott publicity

How polite...

In the news

Obviously there's quite a lot about Cardiff Central about at the moment, so this is something of a selection.

From the Western Mail, The signs in the changing landscape:

The Liberal Democrat success in Cardiff Central and Ceredigion show both the old and the new in Welsh politics. In Cardiff, Jenny Willott had taken Labour's Jon Owen Jones to the wire in 2001 before succeeding with a handsome 5,593 majority on Thursday. The success of Jenny Randerson in two Assembly elections for Cardiff Central and the capture of the county council by the Liberal Democrats last year all gave an air of inevitability to Jenny Willot's victory and show the Liberal Democrats as an urban, activist, pavement-politics, modern party.

Catherine Taylor-Dawson makes the national news in Singing candidate polls one vote from the BBC.

Willott well groomed for corridors of power from the Western Mail has a look at JW's career and experience:

Young, photogenic and capable, Ms Willott is set to become a rising star in a party whose "right on" credentials do not extend to having a credible number of female MPs.

Lib Dems thank students for support (Guardian):

Phil Willis, the Liberal Democrat education spokesman, said the student vote was "crucial" to the gains in Cambridge, Cardiff Central and Leeds North West.

"They were the three key areas and ones where we certainly targeted students. I've never seen such mobilisation of the student vote before. What, of course, we also managed to do was to get students to register and vote in those constituencies. That was a deliberate tactic and it paid off," he told EducationGuardian.co.uk.

The results in full

Here are the full results for Cardiff Central, pulled shamelessly from the BBC.

Jenny Willott - 17,991 - 49.8% (+13.1%)

Jon Owen Jones - 12,398 - 34.3% (-4.3%)

Gotz Mohindra - 3,339 - 9.2% (-6.7%)

Richard Grigg - 1,271 - 3.5% (-1.3%)

Raja Gul Raiz - 386 - 1.1% (+1.1%)

Frank Hughes - 383 - 1.1% (+0.5%)

Anne Savoury - 168 - 0.5% (+0.5%)

Captain Beany - 159 - 0.4% (+0.4%)

Catherine Taylor Dawson - 37 - 0.1% (+0.1%)

Majority 5,593 - 15.5%

Turnout 36,132 - 59.2% (+0.9%)

There we go. Does anyone know the number of spoilt papers?

So, congratulations to Jenny Willott, Lib Dem MP for Cardiff Central. How are people feeling the afternoon after the night before? (The fact that it is the afternoon and not the morning shows how late I stayed up)

Off to the polls

Voted? Happy, unhappy? Confident, optimistic?

Leave some comments with analysis, experiences and prediction.

Have a good polling day. Tomorrow the post-poll analysis starts!

In the news

The Independent's Reasons to be cheerful: Kennedy bullish on poll's eve has lots about Brent East, a bit about electoral reform and much Kennedy, also this:

The Liberal Democrats are optimistic of snatching Cardiff Central and Birmingham Yardley from Labour.

The election hour by hour (Guardian) is a useful breakdown of what might happen when and if it's important, including:

Other dramatic results at this point could see the Lib Dems take Durham and Cardiff Central from Labour - places where the student vote will be crucial.

Labour could lose a fifth of Welsh seats says the Western Mail...

Cardiff Central candidate Jenny Willott, the woman most likely to succeed for the Lib- Dems in Wales, defended her own election leaflets which branded the Government liars over Iraq.

It was not negative campaigning, she insisted, to use the word against an institution rather than an individual like Mr Blair but she conceded she preferred the word "misled".

And 'Six Welsh seats to change hands' (icWales) is full of punditry.

Finally, from the South Wales Echo, Quiet start to political day of destiny.

Labour publicity

This is the leaflet referred to below, handed out in front of the students union. A5 glossy card.



And this is the new life one of those leaflets found, reincarnated as a paper aeroplane...

Cardiff Central photos

Out and about in Roath...

Cardiff Central photos

Out and about in Cathays this morning...

Jenny Willott publicity

Just in case you had forgotten what day it was here's a handy reminder from the Lib Dems on a photocopied A4 sheet...

Things to do before polling

Visit They Work For You ( or go straight to the Jon Owen Jones page). You can browse all the votes by MPs, their speeches and get great info on their performance.

If you're bothered by all the spin go to Channel 4's Unspun pages. Factcheck especially is good for assessing everyone's claims.

The BBC has a great manifesto comparison tool. Choose parties and contrast their key manifesto pledges. There are also links to the parties's own manifestos.

If you're not going to vote explain why at Not Apathetic. And if you're not going to vote because you feel your vote doesn't make a difference or are upset about that anyway visit Make My Vote Count, a campaign for electoral reform.

Finally, get lots of food in for a big election night party and get an early night for staying up until 6 in the morning.

Respect publicity

A rough A5 photocopy popped through the door today. It mentions 'Cardiff Central' but not the name of the candidate, Raja Gul Raiz.

In the news

Something of a bumper crop today...

Welsh leaders in final push for votes (icWales) and Welsh parties woo voters (ePolitix) cover much the same ground, mostly an overview of the campaign and the seats still to play for.

Twas the night before polling... (Western Mail) looks a bit more at the activities of the leaders, with more Labour scaremongering about the possibility of a Tory government come 6th May. Leaders feet do the talking in battle of marginal Britain (Times) also covers the last ditch attempts of the party leaders.

Liberal Democrats: on course for best result in 80 years (Independent) is, unsurprisingly, about the Lib Dems.

Liberal Democrat strategists are confident Labour seats in Birmingham Yardley and Cardiff Central will be their first gains.

Last-ditch fight to win over floating voters (Guardian) also has much Lib Dem emphasis and predicts turnout to be on the up.

Our very own Captain Beany has been the star of many articles in world papers about British election 'eccentrics' such as Eccentrics blow 'wind of change' through UK elections (The Learning Channel).

And Jenny Willott strikes again in Lib dems launch Council tax attack (South Wales Echo). It also contains this interesting idea:

And bookies have suspended betting on the Liberal Democrats winning Cardiff Central, with Labour candidate Jon Owen Jones now 11-2 to hold onto his seat.

Anyone feeling brave for Labour?

Declaration time

The Press Association website has a list of estimated declaring times. The Cardiff ones are all due at 2 in the morning.

Jenny Willott publicity

A double dose of JW today! First a letter that came through the door, about 6ish. Hand addressed and individual in a little blue envelope. It is an A5 faux-handwritten written letter.



And then a leaflet that was being handed out at Cardiff University Students Union this afternoon. Rough A4 folded in half.



Any comments?

Cardiff Central Lib Dem encounter

Look at what I found at the union... some Lib Dems!



Check out all the photos at Cardiff Central Watch Photos.

I also had a chat with some of the volunteers. I asked why they chose to get involved with the Liberal Democrats... "Because I think it's the fairest alternative for the country. The ideas that the Liberal Democrats have about liberalism, it's their own brand of social democracy, I think it's the best way the country can take."

This chap, volunteer 1, had been interested in politics before this campaign but not with any party. We talked about motivations for getting involved. Volunteer 2 said "This is the first election I've been able to vote in, so it encouraged me to get out and really get involved." Volunteer 1 chipped back in again with "It's been really good fun. There's a strong camaraderie involved in the air. With the leafletting as well, it's hard work but it's been worth it I think". Volunteer 2 was also interested in making a difference: "It's been worth it with the levels of voting in the different parties it's worthwhile here, you know you can make a difference. It's definitely encouraged me to get out."

I also impeded Jenny Willott's leaflet-handing-out abilities for a while to have a chat.

I asked her how her campaign was going in general. "It's fine, very positive. Students are very friendly, on the whole. Much friendlier than you might expect, given that it's an election and people are sometimes quite anti-politician. But a lot more interested than you'd think. It's going really well."

Mindful of our recent debate I asked her opinion on the 'home' and 'away' student voting habits, and whether students were registered in their term time addresses. "An awful lot of them are registered, in February we ran a voter registration drive in the union and we had loads and loads of people come and sign up. But a lot of people already knew they were registered, which was quite interesting. I think because everybody's known for such a long time that there was going to be an election a lot of people have made sure they were registered in advance. There are some people who aren't registered here, most seem to be. Some are choosing to vote at home rather than here. But I think because it's marginal here people are choosing to vote here more than at home."

I remarked on her advertising bus, with the majorly yellow Britain. "It's interesting actually because it makes you realise actually in so many areas people don't vote Lib Dem because they think we can't win, but actually if everyone who thought that voted Lib Dem then we would win. It's catch 22."

Except that the Lib Dems themselves discourage people from voting Plaid and Conservative by saying they can't win in Cardiff Central. Is that not sort of the same? "No but that's because if everyone who wanted to vote Plaid voted Plaid they still wouldn't win. They get less than 5% each time. The chances of winning the seat, are..." Indeed.

But on to the happier policy of electoral reform: "It's a problem with the voting system we've got. First past the post. You either vote for the person you want or vote against them, for whoever the next best option is. It's a very negative system to have."

I bid JW and her supporters good bye and took a few photos of them on my way off. Their leaflet will go up shortly.

Cardiff Central photos

Six new photos are up from out and about in Cardiff Central, check out the Cardiff Central Watch Flickr pages. My personal favourites are the Anti-Tory spoof posters and Jenny Willott's anti-anti-corporate gesture. For reasons of humour and ingenuity only, of course. Plus you get a Plaid car thrown in for free. Check them out.

In the news

Talk of margins and swings in The marginal election battle from the BBC, with only a slight mention of Cardiff Central, but an interesting read nonetheless.If you think all this talk of marginals being targetted is silly go to Make My Vote Count and get involved.

Peter Law becomes bookies favourite in Blaenau Gwent from the Western Mail speculates on the apparant abandonment of Labour incumbents:

Welsh Secretary Peter Hain acknowledged Labour faced a "tough fight" for Blaenau Gwent on Thursday night despite a majority of more than 19,000 votes.

But he denied party candidates in Labour's ultra-marginals, like Cardiff Central and Monmouth, had effectively been abandoned to their fate while Labour tried to shore up support in Britain's fifth safest seat.

And further, a bit like adding insult to injury...

He said, "Labour has got people pouring into this seat and have obviously given up on some other constituencies. I don't know what Huw Edwards or Jon Owen Jones feel about it all."

Labour candidate Mr Edwards is fighting to prevent Wales' most marginal seat from falling to Tory candidate David Davies while Mr Jones faces the prospect of defeat to the Liberal Democrats.

Jack Brown's has closed the book on the two seats but both candidates remained in defiant mood yesterday.

Mr Jones said, "I still feel that the battle is not over in Cardiff Central. If we can get our vote out, we will hold the seat. Obviously, we would welcome all the support from safer seats that we can get."

Gair Rhydd goodness

Roll up, roll up, get your Gair Rhydd politics pages as PDFs now...

http://www.jacuzzipixie.com/ccwatch/03gr785.pdf
http://www.jacuzzipixie.com/ccwatch/05gr785.pdf

And because the front page is so beautiful, here it is...

Charlotte Church to date Prince William by law

A roundup on the BBC site of the more unusual policies from some of the smaller (one-man) parties. Cardiff's Captain Beany is discussed as well as the Vote For Yourself Rainbow Dream Ticket Party.

Personally I'm quite impressed by some of the policies of some of the smaller parties. Hanging graffiti artists and giant pics of Johnny Vegas in Heathrow to deter foreigners would get my vote every time.

Gotz Mohindra speaks out

On immigration. Hands up who's surprised?

With this and the helecopter he seems to have been pretty active in the last few days.

Get Your Vote Out

Kat Fletcher, Sian Davies and other NUS bods will be in and around Cardiff Central tomorrow (mostly the Students' Union, I'd imagine) encouraging students to 'Get Your Vote Out'. Yes, that's what the NUS campaign is called. And yes, it provoked the inevitable smutty comments in my office.

From what I've been lead to believe, wristbands will be involved as part of this day (no sniggering at the back please).

Jenny Willott's leafy London 'controversy'

The latest Jon Owen Jones Labour publicity (scans below) has, on the back page, a section on "Who do you want as your MP?" The last of the three small paragraphs is devoted to "Lib Dem candidate" Jenny Willott.

No other candidate in Cardiff Central has a record to match Jon's. The Lib Dem candidate caused controversy after abandoning her leafy London Council seat halfway through her term. Hardly a track record of standing by those she is meant to represent!

Intrigued I set about finding out a bit more about Jenny Willott's previously unheard of London career and the controversy JOJ alleges to have occurred.

First stop is JW's website - the website-in-a-website - and her biography page. There are details of her time in London at university and working for Welsh Lib Dem MP Lembit Opik. On her BBC News Vote 2001 profile page she is listed as having been a councillor in Merton (London) 1998 - 2000.

References to her resignation appear in Merton Council records of meetings on 27th September 2000 and 4th October 2000 which notes a byelection to be held 9th November 2000. The only news report that can be found is Ambitious plans cause councillor's resignation from 6th October 2000, which reads:

Ambitions to become an MP have fired Merton councillor Jenny Willott and prompted her to resign from the council.

Miss Willott, 26, will be standing as Liberal Democrat candidate for Cardiff Central at the next general election.

She has called it a day as one of three Lib Dem councillors for West Barnes.

She is confident of being returned at her first attempt, having targeted the Welsh seat after her parents moved there six years ago, but says she will miss Merton.

There will be a council by election on Thursday, November 9.

When asked about this controversial abandonment a Cardiff Central Labour party worker was excited "Yes! Yes she did!" Speaking to Jon Owen Jones, who didn't have all the facts to hand, was an interesting experience. He saw a connection with Lembit Opik and her parents moving to South Wales but had little to add further to what was published.

Jenny Willott's party workers were engaged in a debate about the "line on London" when JW herself arrived and took charge. There was nothing controversial, she insisted. One could not live in Cardiff and represent people in London. People move around politics all the time. There were details of her West Barnes ward experience available, she said. When pressed as to why none appeared on any material produced by her or her campaign she said she thought it had been put on her 2001 publicity but that London was a long time ago and didn't seem so relevant. She also said that obviously had she known she would not be serving her full 4 years on the local council she would not have stood.

There doesn't seem to have been much controversy from the records we have, but 2000 was still a very long time ago for the internet and we can't claim there were no more reports or opinions - absence of evidence is not evidence of absence after all. But equally this might have been the extent of the 'controversy'. JOJ's campaign isn't using this as a central plank in their argument or anything but I felt it was a mention that deserved further investigation. To what extent we care I will leave up to the comments.

In the news

Wales@Westminster has Lib Dems and the L word, a look at the Lib Dem policy of keeping the election clean, and how they aren't.

...candidate Roger Williams warned that accusations of lying "undermined" the body politic. He clearly hasn't been reading his party's leaflets in Cardiff Central, which claim that Labour lied over the war in Iraq.

The Independent's Spirited battle for Labour's soul in heartland of Foot and Bevin mostly covers the Blaeneu Gwent / Peter Law debacle but includes the following...

The contest for Blaenau Gwent is the most spirited in Wales, where only a handful of seats are likely to change hands. Just three Labour constituencies appear vulnerable. Cardiff Central could fall to the Liberal Democrats, partly because of the introduction of university fees. The constituency has a high number of student voters - a large percentage of whom say they will turn out.

And the Financial Times looks at the NUS's efforts in Student union pushes its members in marginal seats.

But analysts expect only a handful to fall on Thursday night. Uppermost in the Lib Dems' mind is Cardiff Central, where Labour's 659-vote lead is likely to be overturned by Jenny Willott, a young and attractive party worker. Ms Willott likes to think her fate is not totally in the hands of Cardiff Central's student population, even if she does boast that the male students appreciate her charms.

"We will win here because of more than just a one-off, antiwar vote by students," she said. "The local party has a good record of working with young people and has lots of experience working with them."

Jon Owen Jones publicity

Exhibit: some stuff from Jon Owen Jones. It was delivered late yesterday (1st May) maybe around 7 o'clock. It consists of an A3 sheet folded to page a 4-side A4 booklet and an individually addressed letter targetting a specific household member known by the party to have Labour sympathies. Or just a lucky guess.



The little graph is a twist on the Lib Dem tactic - it shows nationwide support for Labour, the Tories and Lib Dems. There are numerous references to a vote for the Lib Dems allowing the Tories in. One inside page promotes Labour's achievements, the other rubbished Lib Dem plans. The choice of national polls is an interesting one - they choose one (they don't say who by) that shows just a 1% margin between Labour and the Tories. It also includes the immortally chilling line (in its literal sense): "Go to bed with Charles Kennedy and you might wake up with Michael Howard!". JOJ emphasises his record of rebelling against his party and his long relationship with the city of Cardiff and 13 years as an MP. There's also an interesting hint of something else, which is being looked into, report shortly.

Other stuff of interest

Since my last post on this matter I've now received leaflets for all the candidates at least once, an extra leaflet from Gotz Mohindra, another two from Jon Owen Jones, and a shedload from Jenny Willott, the latest being a "personal" letter addressed to me.

On ITV Wales on Tuesday they're holding the last of their 'Wales Decides' studio debates, this time with the leaders of the main parties. Ok, so there's nothing DIRECTLY relevant to Cardiff Central but it should make for interesting viewing nonetheless.

Blatant plug alert

Those of you with access to reading materials (i.e. eyes) may want t pick up this week's gair rhydd. The four main candidates (Labour, Lib Dem, Tory, Plaid) have been shadowed by a GR journo and the results are quite interesting. Also three of the candidates, Jenny Willott, Jon Owen Jones and Richard Grigg have commented on last week's lead story about lack of facilities for medical students at the Heath Hospital (which is actually in Cardiff North, or so I'm lead to believe). Strangely no comment from Conservative candidate Gotz Mohindra despite the word "bandwagon" clearly screaming from the page in large letters (well, technically at least).

And before you all rush off the read the articles on the gair rhydd website you might want to know that it's still 'under construction' so there's nothing up there yet. Hey, what did you expect - quality journalism AND a working website?