A masterclass from the man who shook up Welsh politics
bioe...@gmail.com
masterclass in grassroots politics.
I walked for several hundred yards along the main street, which on
Fridays is full of market stalls. Progress was slow, because more than
two-thirds of the people we passed acknowledged or stopped to talk to
Peter Law, the man who had represented them at council and then
National Assembly level for more than 30 years.
The esteem in which he was held was tangible. When he confirmed at our
lunch venue on what was his 57th birthday that he would definitely be
standing for Parliament, I had no doubt that he would beat Maggie
Jones, the Labour candidate selected from an imposed women-only
shortlist.
Much has been written since about Mr Law's extraordinary general
election victory, which saw Labour defeated in its safest seat in Wales
and fifth safest in Britain. But to understand why he won, you needed
only to walk with him along that street.
Two days afterwards, he collapsed at home and was diagnosed with a
brain tumour. He withdrew from the parliamentary election, underwent
surgery and re-entered the race.
The consequence of his victory had more impact at the Assembly than in
Westminster: Rhodri Morgan had now lost his majority and with Peter
Law's crucial vote the opposition was able to stop top-up fees for
Welsh students attending Welsh universities. They were also able to
force significant changes in the Assembly budget.
Sadly, however, Mr Law's health has now taken a turn for the worse. He
is undergoing chemotherapy treatment and is confined to a wheelchair,
unable to travel to Westminster or Cardiff Bay. As a result, Labour has
effectively regained its majority at the Assembly and there are
unlikely to be further significant victories for the Assembly
opposition.
Labour is already eyeing up the prospect of Blaenau Gwent returning to
the fold. It has selected local council leader John Hopkins as its
Assembly candidate, and this week announced it would not use an
all-women shortlist to select its candidate for Parliament. According
to the party's Blaenau Gwent constituency secretary Lyndon Moore, there
is a need to get a candidate in place soon 'to rebuild the bond of
trust' between the area and the party.
Mr Moore said, 'The procedure used for the last general election was
done with the best of intentions, but the people of Blaenau Gwent
flatly disagreed and we have listened to the verdict of the people.'
Labour cannot, however, necessarily expect the seat to come back to
them. The expulsion of 20 local party members who backed Mr Law last
year created the nucleus of what is now a 92-strong group called
Blaenau Gwent People's Voice.
Mr Law's agent, Dai Davies, is the group's acting secretary. The former
union convener at the now closed Ebbw Vale steelworks, he has announced
his intention to stand for the Assembly.
Yesterday he said, 'I don't think it will be as easy for Labour to win
back Blaenau Gwent as they might think. Some of our members were Labour
Party stalwarts of 30 and 40 years standing. Although there was strong
opposition to the issue of the all-women shortlist, disillusionment
with Labour goes deeper than that.'
Blaenau Gwent and Wrexham - held by another former Labour AM, John
Marek - have been singled out by Rhodri Morgan as the two seats Labour
needs to gain to win an overall majority in next year's Assembly
election. The First Minister's fate could well depend on whether Mr
Law's victory last year was a one-off fluke or indicated a more lasting
change.