Going "Big P" political

Recently I was asked if I was political. I said I feel I have always been "political with a small p", because I'm interested in politics. I have been involved in some active political campaigns, going back to things like Jubilee 2000 campaigning for debt justice, through to marching in my first March for Independence earlier this year.

But now I feel that I have become "big P" Political. For the first time in my life I have joined a political party. I am now a member of Plaid Cymru and have the card to prove it.

So why Plaid? 

I've been voting for Plaid Cymru for a while, having felt disaffected with Labour. I like their broadly socially progressive policies. Unlike Labour, they aren't pandering to right wing populists regarding immigration. They've also spoken out about Gaza - one of the few UK political parties to criticise what is happening there. And, of course, I support the idea of Wales being an independent state, which is Plaid's ultimate aim.

So I have been thinking of joining for a while and then recently a few things gave me a push.

At the end of June, I was invited up to an evening with Rhun ap Iorweth, the leader of Plaid Cymru, in Pontypridd. My friend Sara, who is on the candidate list for Pontypridd, Cynon and Merthyr in next year's Senedd election, asked me along. 

I like Rhun's pragmatic approach to things. Despite the audience being almost all Plaid Cymru members, he had some tough questions chucked at him and he handled them well. There were no ridiculous promises. Generally the tone was positive and optimistic. And it appealed to me. 

The other prompt that finally got me to sign up was learning there is a council by-election in our ward on 14 August. One of the current Labour councillors has resigned due to misogynistic attitudes among the Labour group on Cardiff Council. It's a shame because I've asked her for help regarding green space issues in Grangetown and she was very helpful. 

But there's a lot of decisions coming through from the council that I don't agree with, including encroaching on some of the aforementioned green space on the edge of The Marl, one of Grangetown's rare parks. 

I met Neil, the Plaid candidate for the council election, after the Keep Grangetown Tidy litterpick. (He had been litter picking too; it wasn't a random thing.) We had a good chat. I think he would be a good councillor. And so I thought, now is the time. 

An election is a good time to join a party. I have been helping with the campaign, delivering leaflets and knocking doors. It's been a great way to start out being Political with a big P.