Wake Up!!! What makes this seat more interesting than others is that it is a fight between the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru, where very often in other parts of the country and the rest of the UK, it tends to be a fight between those boring bastions (you thought I was going to say something else there) namely Labour and Conservative. We've had 17 years of 'Hard Labour' in Wales since the talking shop started in 1999 and what have the people of Wales done to deserve such punishment. Only now, with his position of power under threat is Carwyn Jones showing anything like a personality. The 'Grey Lady' of Welsh Politics is to dynamism what Nigel Farage is to Race Relations. Which brings me to the candidates for UKIP. Now we know that Nathan Gill, the leader of the kippers in Wales is not too enamoured of Aberystwyth University old boy Neil Hamilton and less so of his wife after yesterday's outpourings but I would have thought it more sensible for the party if they had put Gethin James in as the lead regional candidate for Mid and West Wales to be elected via proportional representation. This is why everybody is getting hot under the collar because they know that Sir Neil of Tatton and various end of the pier shows has a jolly good chance of getting in under this system. Parochialism always dictates under such circumstances 'Mae Gethin yn siarad Cymraeg'. Gethin James speaks Welsh. When I last looked under the rock, Ceredigion is still a Welsh speaking county so common sense would dictate that you have a representative that spoke the local lingo but since when have UKIP been interested in common sense and strategy.
From the mug shots you will see that the Greens have the youngest, brightest looking candidates, untainted by the cynicism of middle age. We should be voting for them on that fact alone. If there were no faces to go with the party symbols and colours, how would this change our voting habits? We all like a character and the Conservatives have those in abundance. Dr Felix Aubel, the Conservative candidate for the seat has been called 'Donald Trump Trelech', the Donald Trump of the village in Carmarthenshire where he is the incumbent Congregationalist minister. Certainly as 'boorish' as Boris Johnson but very unfair to compare him with the Republican Zealot. It is refreshing that the Labour candidates are not even worth mentioning, because they are Welsh Labour who I emphasise time and time again must be differentiated from Jeremy Corbyn. He is a Socialist. This brings us in conclusion to the front runners, the incumbent Elin Jones has been there since the beginning and she will be hard pushed by Elizabeth Evans if the roadside placards on the coastal strip are anything to go by.
Further inland, around Lampeter, is Plaid Cymru's stronghold. Their list candidate is Simon Thomas. It is said, all be in it in the Cambrian Liberal News, that he threw the General Election away, against Mark Williams in 2005 with a poorly thought out strategy and many were surprised that he thought himself suitable to put himself forward as a candidate for the Leadership of the Party. The Liberals then went on to consolidate the seat and expand their majority considerably by 2010. So hardly an inspiring lot for my family to choose from but choose they must for this is Democracy apparently. I will be casting my 'loony toon' vote in Cardiff South and Penarth where I still have a second home. I will be voting Green but they don't have a cat in hell's chance down there amongst the concrete and Labour but they DO have a chance here in Wales' #Green and Pleasant Land.
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