One of the myths of modern politics is that ‘personality’ doesn’t matter. The argument goes that the only thing that is important is the policies a person stands for. Policies are of course important but the ‘personality’ of a person standing for elected office is also vital.
This is true whether we are thinking of a Councillor, a Member of Parliament or indeed an Assembly Member. As the MP for Caerphilly for the past ten years, I have had literally thousands of people either attending my advice surgeries or contacting my Constituency Office seeking assistance. For a person to approach their elected representative, that person must have confidence in the discretion, integrity and honesty of their representative.
In the forthcoming Assembly election in Caerphilly, the ‘personality’ of the candidates will be an issue. Most people believe that the contest in Caerphilly is between Ron Davies, the Plaid candidate, and Jeff Cuthbert for Labour. I know both individuals very well. As an MP, and indeed before I was an MP, I worked with both Ron and Jeff and I have absolutely no doubt that Jeff Cuthbert has an abundance of the personal qualities which a good representative needs.
Some might say that I am being hard on Ron. But just take a glance at his election address. In it he claims to be personally responsible for, amongst other things, achieving European Funding for Wales, the new hospital in Ystrad Mynach and the on-going regeneration of Bargoed.
Take European Funding. It was not Ron Davies who succeeded in obtaining Objective One funding for West Wales and the Valleys, it was Tony Blair.
I was a Member of the European Parliament at the time and I saw firsthand how the British Prime Minister won this funding. Ron, as Welsh Secretary was, at best, a minor player.
Then there is Ysbyty Ystrad Fawr. Ron may have been an Assembly Member at the time the hospital was agreed but he was not a Member of the Welsh Assembly Government which made the decision, nor was he even an ‘Independent’ Councillor when the then Labour-led Caerphilly Council decided to make available the land at Ystrad Fawr.
Importantly, it was the people of the Caerphilly Borough who campaigned for this hospital for over 30 years and it is they who deserve the credit for it being built.
Similarly, in his election address, Ron claims credit for the Bargoed by-pass and the town’s regeneration. Yet it was when Caerphilly Council was led by Labour, with councillors from Bargoed playing an important role, that the work was agreed and begun in earnest.
I believe the people of the Caerphilly Constituency are already making up their minds. They will vote for the candidate who has consistently displayed discretion, integrity and honesty – Jeff Cuthbert.
Wayne David
Labour MP for Caerphilly
jeff has most sertanly dun a grate job as our AM for meany years. were as i rembeber ron being one of the most out spocken aenst plid in the past. if he can make that big a u-tern once he can do it agen. leving it verry unclear what he will do should he get electid as AM, were as Jeff's track record shows him to be a lot more relieble.
whitch is why i am suporting jeff for re-election
Ask yourself this – would Wayne David write this drivel ever week if he was not concerned about the fact that Ron is winning ?
Then ask yourself this – public services are being cut a meeting is about to take place down the corridor, to discuss allocation of resources for Caerphilly – who would you send in to fight this towns corner ?
Ron of course !
David piles in again before he takes his own advice which is to `think these things through`.
Fact; The Labour/Plaid coalition run Assembly have certainly let the down the town of Caerphilly by its failure to back, financially, major regeneration projects placed before them by private developers.
Fact; The Plaid Cymru led Caerphilly CBC have failed to back private initiatives in the Town, for instance, they failed to back the regeneration of the Market Hall, they had a prime opportunity to purchase this building for £155.000 at auction recently and turn in into a major Civic Market Hall attracting many thousands of shoppers a year to the town, as it turns out they claim credit for a second best private initiative funded completely by private money, whilst niftly sidestepping investing any money in the imaginative project.
Fact; Both Labour and Plaid Councils have failed to do anything which has manifested itself in changing the appearance of the now iconic Co-Co`s building in the town, whilst at the same declaring in September 2008 that " We have resolved the Co-Co`s building issue whilst Labour failed to do so" it is now three years later, make your own mind up on that one.
Fact; Plaid Cymru Caerphilly CBC have been the victim of the Bank collapses, what could they really have done with an extra 15 million pounds in the kitty?. Who`s fault is that?
So all in all, based on facts, who is really to blame for the inactivity in respect to regeneration issues in this town, one thing is absolutely certain though, if it were down to "effort` alone and not based just on results Ron is a hard man for ANYONE to beat, the consumate and reliable politican, but it is not just down to Ron`s huge commitment to the Borough, (or his undoubtable consumate knowledge of working in the dark and murky corridors of `power`),shown since he was re elected as a Councillor, he has now to convince those to who`s party he now belongs to pull their collective fingers out, and do `the right thing` for those who elect them, and in some respects that is an uphill task. Jeff Cuthbert? Ron Davies? who knows?.
What the National Newspaper of Wales -The Western Mail, said about Jeff Cuthbert :-
JEFF CUTHBERT, CAERPHILLY, LABOUR Voting fodder whose unquestioning loyalty to the party leadership is unlikely ever to be rewarded with a ministerial role.
MARKS: 4:10 ( one of the lowest if not THE lowest !)
(The Western Mail, is part of the Mirror Group – always supports Labour)
Come on Trevor, he's a second rater !
David- The Western Mail, read mostly by the Welsh Establishement, will not influence this Assembly Election one `jot.
Their, the Western Mail`s, assement of Jeff Cuthbert is `academic` and will not determine who is voted for by the people of this contstiuency, you really must give the voters of Caerphilly more credibility to make their own minds up on who they will select to represent them for the next four years. I agree, it may well be Ron,if it is I am sure the people will not be denied the representation they hoped for, he would fight for and represent everyone in the constituency without favour or fear, unlike the representation we get from his current political colleagues who represent the town wards in the CCBC chamber. The voters in the town should not judge Ron`s ability by comparing it with that of his political allies. He deserves better consideration. But there again, much the same can be said about Jeff Cuthbert, this is not a one horse race.
and David- lets not quote what the newspapers say about Jeff, or particularly what they have said in last six or seven years about Ron, most if not all of which is drivel and based on political licence and in no way on fact.
I hope that there are very few voters who will cast their vote according to ratings given by the Western Mail. Most newspapers align themselves to one or other political camp and cannot be relied upon to be impartial. The Western Mail is a parochial little paper that I, for one, take no notice of.
The rating that really matters is the ballot in May where the voters will, hopefully, judge the candidates on not just their past performance but on what their vision is for the next four years. The only candidate who consistantly does this is Owen Meredith, whether you like the Tory party or not, he has to be given full marks for effort.
I also await some sort of response from contributers regarding the list of facts supplied by Trefor Bond. I too remember Plaid saying the Co-Cos is now sorted and that we are getting our money back from Iceland. It has all gone quiet now that an election approaches.
Just two brief points.
1) David Hughes says "who would you send in to fight this towns corner". I assume he means Caerphilly by "this town". For residents of Llanbradach, Abertridwr, Hengoed, Gelligaer, Bargoed, Tir-y-Berth and elsewhere outside the Caerphilly basin, this is highly concerning, and summarizes Plaid's campaigning priorities.
2) David also refers to the Western Mail being part of the Labour supporting Mirror Group. However, David seems ignorant of the fact that the Mirror Group employs a policy of editorial independence for its various papers – which renders his point completely irrelevant.
Jeff Cuthbert has done and will continue to do a superb job for the people of Caerphilly. For example, where there has been an odour problem from a recycling plant in my area, it was Jeff who arranged the meeting we held with the Assembly Minister. It was Jeff that established a committee to deal with the problem. It was Jeff that arranged for a petition to be delivered to the Assembly Committee and it is Jeff that has called the Environment Agency into action.
Wherever we go in the constituency in this campaign, everyone knows Jeff and can relate something he has done for their area.
We are picking up an incredible amount of personal support for Jeff, regardless of party political allegiance. I don't want the Caerphilly campaign to be about personalities but about the work that has been done by the candidates- and on that count, Jeff Cuthbert is the winner every time.
Richard Williams says that the only rating is the ballot box on 5 May where voters will judge the candidates; will Caerphilly seize this opportunity and be brave enough to make A Positive Change for Caerphilly and vote Owen Meredith. Let's hope so.
I totally agree with Wayne David, personality and the ability to get the job done is vitally important when seeking election to whatever office. As a Caerphilly town councillor I have had the privilege of working with Wayne David As my MP. Jeff Cuthbert as my AM, and also Ron Davies, the cabinet Member for regeneration at CCBC. Whose guidance The Caerphilly Independent alliance sought in order to stand as candidates in the 2008 Council elections, Ron being an Independent Candidate himself at that time and the advice he gave at that time was invaluable. Which is more than can be said for Plaid Cymru who treat their political opponents with distain? Then we have the rank outsider Owen Meredith, who on first contact has impressed many of the potential Voters in Caerphilly.
Let the games Begin and the Best man win.
IF YOU WANT ACTION NOT WORDS VOTE FOR JEFF.
man of action who dus a lot as an AM (from out colecting signechers for partions to helping constituants when they need it. on top of his job at the asembly)
or
a man who is part of the councle that keeps makeing u-terns (park and ride chargis and colesing the local cash ofice's to name but two)
not sutch a hard chose for me
I not a big Ron Davies fan but seeing that both Wayne David and Jeff Cuthbert got their respective positions (Wayne David becuase Ron Davies stepped down as an MP to focus on the new Welsh Assembly) and Jeff after Ron's 'situation' pretty much forced him out of Politics. These two must be concerned about the competition he is now offering them.
I would be interested to hear weather Mr David supports the Yes or No campaign on AV. I guess even if AV came in he would be one of the 200 MPs left with a safe seat but it definitely would food for thought with Plaid's new 'old' head in the running for their jobs.
@ gethyn i dout our mp will is that safe with the borders being redran and wales losing 25% of its MP's if i was with the curent coalition i whould ax the so called safe seets ferst so i whould say caerphilly is probly on the choping block
A vote is a valuable thing, even a commodity, to be traded.
Like all `trade deals` each candidate in this election, in particular, has to earn and negotiate the votes that are available to them from the electorate in Caerphilly.
The way that is done, and, the most sucessfully executed, will win this election, it is up for grabs like no other Assembly Election has been.
A message to the candidate(s) who feels that he or she does not have to `negotiate` those votes is living in the clouds and is out of touch and does`nt deserve to be given the job of representing the people of the constituency in the election.
My vote is as valuable as any other, yet there are candidates in this election who I have not seen, not heard from and who appears to not want my vote, how many other voters are in this position?. I have to say, and I will only vote Tory when the sun melts rock, that Owen Meredith has hand delivered two leaflets to my door, he has promptly responded to a question I posed to him in an e-mail, and he has knocked my door, and every door in my street, twice, he stopped and engaged with a group of residents in Windsor Street in Caerphilly whilst out canvessing with his father, probably a very dangerous precident, to engage in the old fashion way with your electorate, If the sun did melt Rock he would get my vote for pure personality and endevour ( Wayne`s words and description of a winning candidate).
Ah the conservatives have joined the blog. Nice to see you lads. I guess this means you think you're doing alright and in your youthful bliss you are hoping to come through the middle of this nasty feud. At least your comments aren't personally berating, which is nice.
If Owen is Owen M, I hate to say that I agree with you, EXCEPT that I suspect that your canvassing tactics consist of mostly the South end too (which explains why you knocked the same area twice.) At least you realise there is a Northern bit of the constituency. Fairplay, if you can come second you might really go places.(As opposed to joining the lengthening list of NEETS your party is currently creating.)
And David Hughes – your comments are, as ever, base blind drivel. You should stick to Evas style.
Kat, I'm pleased to say that I am not Owen M.
The Conservatives are trying hard in Caerphilly so Labour voters beware. That's where the battle really is, and those of us, and any of the other Parties, who remember the way Wales has suffered under every Tory Government in the last 80 years should realise that they are now no different under the control of Cameron and Osborne. Thatcher is alive and well with the likes of them.
Vote for Jeff if you want to keep the Tories out.
Kat, youre right about David Hughes. It's not worth replying to such drivel [ although I hope he keeps it up.It must be winning us votes].
Derek – within minutes of anybody saying anything about Wayne David and the nonsense he writes here – you post a reply !
Why not go out and canvass butt – the sun is shining and the valley is looking great !
Better than sitting looking at the screen day & night.
Has the fact that the constituency is covered in Ron Davies posters bought on a dose of agoraphobia?
Can we get you a pair of horse blinders so you can pop into Asda ? No Ron posters in Asda Derek – that would be wrong.
Or – Perhaps the real reason, is that Jeff thinks your too cantankerous to be out on the knocker.
Yet again another pathetic comment from David Hughes. No substance just drivel. Its no wonder your loyalties lie with Plaid Cymru!!
I have heard nothing but good about Owen Meredith, his reliability and determination, and what is within the first insult I hear? A reference to Thatcher. What happened to looking to the future, and not the past?
If you would like to play it that way, perhaps I should point out that Ron Davies should be shunned for the same, if not more, thanks to HIS past. A past which is not related to any of his superiors – but then again, how could you even relate him to his superiors when he changes party all the time? Completely unreliable.
Jeff is a perfectly viable political candidate, perfectly friendly and approachable. He has proved himself to be capable, and I only wish the AV system were in place, so I could give him my second vote. (Ew Labour?)