Carwyn Ready for New Chapter Opening ; for Scores of Welsh Labour Supporters, the Idea of a Weekend in Llandudno in February Sets the Pulse Racing. This, Writes David Williamson, Is Because the Party Is Converging On the Seaside Town for Its Pre-Election Conference and Hopes of a Resurgence Are High

Wales on Sunday › February 13, 2011

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Summary

Q: There won't be much sunshine for Labour delegates when they arrive in Llandudno with the powerful shadows of David Cameron and Nick Clegg stretching across Britain, will there? A: What are you talking about? A party which a couple of years ago seemed in the throes of an identity crisis is now aglow with optimism. First Minister Carwyn Jones is rallying his party for an election they hope will establish Wales once again as a bastion of non-Tory ideas. The shock of finishing behind the Conservatives in the 2009 European elections is now a hazy memory of an unpleasant event in the past - like getting nipped by an aunt's spaniel during a childhood picnic.

Repeated polls give Labour a towering majority of up to 45% - ahead of the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru who repeatedly score in the low 20s. Mr Jones' legs may be moving at frantic speed below the murky waters of Welsh politics as he responds to the challenges of shrinking public finances, but on the surface he has projected a blend of Zen calm and quiet assurance, punctuated with moments of wit. A little more than a year on since his election, he does not appear to be a man traumatised by the responsibilities of office. He has also skilfully avoided ruptures in the party over the March 3 referendum on full law-making powers for the Assembly. He has snuffed out notions that this is a nationalist plot and instead presented it as an opportunity for Labour to take Wales in a bold progressive direction. The decision of former Labour Welsh Secretary Paul Murphy, who was once a foe of devolution, to back a Yes vote demonstrates the success of the ideological revolution that the likes of Mr Jones and Rhodri Morgan have staged without splits.

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Extract

Carwyn Ready for New Chapter Opening ; for Scores of Welsh Labour Supporters, the Idea of a Weekend in Llandudno in February Sets the Pulse Racing. This, Writes David Williamson, Is Because the Party Is Converging On the Seaside Town for Its Pre-Election Conference and Hopes of a Resurgence Are High

Q: But when I look at UK party leader Ed Miliband on the evening news, I don't think, "Wow, Labour looks like a party in which life is fun and success is around the corner."

A: No. Mr Miliband has described being in opposition as "frankly c**p" - and at this stage in the electoral cycle it is. Less than a year after a defeat, the party is sti...

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