Doesn’t exactly have you running for the ballot box does it?I've just got back from this weekend's Labour conference in Swansea where Politics Cymru was eventually allowed in (Labour are apparently pickier about who they let in on the main days of their conference). So baring in mind I'd missed all the big names (Rhodri Morgan, Harriet Harman, John Prescott and even Gordon Brown himself) it shouldn't really be a comparable experience to the Plaid and Lib Dem conferences (also my audio recorder broke so there are fewer interviews to put up).
On the whole today didn't seem like the place everyone wanted to be. There were a few cheery faces outnumbered considerably by their more tired-looking counterparts.
Paul Murphy’s speech didn't help.
There were a few half-hearted rounds of applause for party members, Rhodri Morgan and taxing rich people but otherwise the hall was quiet and unexcited throughout.
The line from Paul Murphy was the same line we've been hearing from Labour for decades: Tories bad, nationalists bad, Liberals irrelevant. Vote Labour!
Leading party members wanted this weekend to remind everyone why they were Labour in the first place: social justice, compassion and community and the fringe events certainly seemed to reinforce those values.
So what about Europe? Well all the candidates were there and on show but there wasn’t a great deal of optimism. We "hope" to return two members, "It's going to be tough".
This from the party who have dominated Welsh politics for the better part of the last century.
Rhodri Morgan was still about too but there’s still no word as to when he might choose to go so we're all left with this vague date of his birthday at the end of September with most too afraid to ask for a more specific timescale.
I was told the troops were rallied, I was told there was a renewed sense of optimism and excitement. Maybe it was on show the rest of the weekend but it wasn’t really visible today.
Dewi Tri
PS with a bit of luck there's going to be audio from Paul Murphy, Carwyn Jones and Leighton Veale coming soon!
15 comments:
Not a very objective analysis. It'd be easy to look at all the party leaders' speeches and condense them to a "others bus, us good" parody. But you chose not to do that with the others.
Shame, as this site is usually very fair.
David/marcus why have you taken to going around the blogs of late spinning party lines. have some inderviduality
I am not Marcus and these are my views. Although in fairness the conference was quite depressing for the most party with everyone expecting election rejection i still think the analysis could have been more in depth
Fuck me, another apparent anon comment I have made.
I was actually watching thomas the tank engine with my son, reading the Guardian, and sweating out a hang over while it was made.
I think individuality is important, perhaps not when it comes to spelling though.
no need for such language Marcus really.
True, there is a child's bike outside and all.
If that was an attepmt at humor i'd stick to the day job mate. If you can keep hold of it that is.
Not too long ago you posted complaining that it was difficult for people like you to get nominated for candidacy within Labour marcus. I can't imagine trolling the bloggs throwing f words about is much of a help.
I don’t understand why people have a go at this site for it's objectivity or lack of it.
It seems to me (as a floating voter) that they don’t have an agenda, over the past few weeks they have given harsh analysis on all of the parties, there's also some positive stuff in there.
But as soon as they criticise one party loyalists come out and claim their being one sided or not objective - come on.
Keep up the good work boys
As I say, this site is usually very fair.
I feel Dewi Tri turned up a bit grumpy after having been turned away, did not like Murphy's speech and decided on the back of those two things to pen his piece.
As I say, lacking in the usual objectivity that characterises this site. Leaving a comment to that effect is perfectly legitimate - it's what the comments section is for.
Marcus/David,
if thats the case then it is a fair asssessment. New Labour turned Dewi away for fear he may not cover them in glory then when they did let him in the conference mood was miserable and the speech poor. What else is he supposed to take away from that. He says himself that he can't judge the conference on the first day.
Without wanting to deny your experience of conference in any way, just wanted to put on the record that whatever other failings the conference had, from where I was standing the media relations side was better than ever. Shame you didn't have the same experience. Cest la vie.
Did you apply for a pass in advance? Or did you just turn up, when you have senior government minsters attending an event there are police vetting procedures that simply cannot be sidelined...no matter how self important the 'journalist'?
I didn't see the BBC, ITV or even Valleys Radio (before you say the big boys get special treatment) having any difficulty gaining access to the conference or the delegates who attended.
I suspect you pulled a classic 'don't you know who I am' line and got a bit pissed off when no one did.
"I suspect you pulled a classic 'don't you know who I am' line".Haha, Harmon - if only we could!
We were late applying for accrediation as unfortunately we were unaware of the deadline. But we are very grateful to the staff at Welsh Labour for allowing us to attend the final day of conference all the same and we promise to be on the ball next time around!
As always, thank you all for your interesting comments.
Diolch.
Hi guys
Can I just add to that the only reason I mentioned that we weren't allowed in was to make the point that it wasn't a fair comparison with the other conferences - I wanted to make the point that I unintentionally missed all the highlights.
I'll also say that Daran is right - the media operation was superb. But it didn't really change the mood of the whole occasion.
I hope that clears up a couple of things.
Thanks again to you all.
D3
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