Resurfacing the street

A couple of weeks back our street got resurfaced. We were informed by signs being hung in the street giving us some notice. As far as I know, no cars got towed.

The street needed resurfacing. We had several patches that pushed the definition of "paved road".

The damage was really noticeable if it rained. Of course, in the driest summer on record, it rained the day before the road crew were due! 

I was impressed how much they managed to get sorted in a single day. The noise throughout the day (which caused the entire house to vibrate at one point) was worth it. We now have shiny new tarmac and the risk of losing a shock absorber is no longer a real danger.

And that, you might think, is the happy ending of the story, folks. But, no, there was a plot twist that nobody saw coming. 

The new tarmac was down for just EIGHT days before Welsh Water came along and dug up part of it! 

There's the seed of a new pothole, right there. 

Election Day! (Cardiff Council by-election)

It's election day in the council by-election. Three late pieces of literature arrived yesterday. This included a fourth leaflet from Plaid Cymru - the only one I haven't been out delivering myself. 

A Labour postcard arrived with the post. It's monolingual. Honestly, I quite liked the minimalist approach on one side. 

The other side shows the Labour candidate in Blaenclydach Street, which is where he lived as a child.  

The other leaflet we received was from the Green Party - a big double A4 spread. Cathy said they are trying to use up all the trees.

I have looked at the picture on the front several times and I can't decide if it's real or whether the crowd behind are photoshopped. I recognise the candidate but I don't know who the other people are.

It's a hung jury in our house about the next picture. I thought it was quite effective in trying to get across a message that people are planning to vote Green. Cathy thought it was "filler".

In a conversation online, a Green Party member told me that several Liberal Democrats joined the Greens after the Lib Dems entered their disastrous coalition with the Tories in 2010. That was their explanation for why so many Lib Dem tactics from 15 years ago are reappearing in Green campaign literature now. Like dodgy graphs. 

I would question whether putting another party in the lead on your election literature is a good thing. The Tories did something similar back in 2017 when they compared Jeremy Corbyn's chances to other "unlikely victories" like the Brexit Leave vote and Trump's first win. And of course, Corbyn forced a hung parliament in a much closer contest than most commentators expected.

We will find out whether it makes a difference tonight! 

Council by-election leaflet review

Since 2007, I've been reviewing election leaflets on this blog (there's a list on this page) but this year is the first time I've had 'skin in the game' because I've been out delivering some of them! (ICYMI, I joined Plaid Cymru last month!)

We are having a by-election because one of our four Labour councillors resigned recently. (Probably because of events covered in this rather unpleasant news story that doesn't paint the Cardiff Labour Party in a nice light, and I can understand why she left.) The councillor who resigned is someone I've talked to about problems with a local park being closed, and, on a personal level, I thought she was a good councillor. But she's left a party I feel has been failing Cardiff as a city for a while now. 

And the result is this by-election. So, with just a couple of days left before polling day, here is a run-down and review of the electoral campaign leaflets that I've seen. Looking back at the council election in 2022 and the General Election last year, I didn't do my usual thing of awarding and deducting points. So, I don't feel too hypocritical not doing it this year either. (Obviously, this year, I think everyone should vote for Plaid Cymru.)

I should also point out that not all these leaflets have come through our letterbox. I have been given some of them by other people. It's been fun being in the canvassing WhatsApp group and seeing people sharing different leaflets they have received - usually new ones ended up coming through our door too, so it was a bit spoilery. But that's fine. 

I'm going to assess the leaflets on whether they are bilingual, their 'photo effort' and also the number of dragons or other Welsh symbols that appear on leaflets. The dragon quotient (DQ) is important. I enjoy seeing graphs and 'race' or 'winning' diagrams so will mention them too. I'm also going to sum up their overall message.

I'm going to do this in rough order the leaflets arrived, and first off the mark were Labour. They may have had the advantage because they knew their councillor was resigning, and as they run the council they had some sway over when the election was set. Their 'Grangetown Labour News' and a generic leaflet actually arrived before I knew there was a by-election.

Party: Labour / Llafur

Number of leaflets: 3 (candidate leaflet, Grangetown Labour News, generic Welsh Labour "Delivering for you" leaflet)

Candidate: Khuram Chowdhry (only features on one leaflet)

Photo effort: 1 of Khuram by Grange Gardens; a group shot of Khuram with Labour canvassers. Grangetown Labour News had head shots of the three incumbent Labour councillors who haven't resigned. The generic leaflet had five photos of Eluned Morgan, the First Minister on it. There were also some stock photos and the artist's rendering of what the new Channel View Development will look like, if it's ever finished. It seems to have been stuck in a half-built stage for months. 

Cymraeg: Yes, all 3 leaflets. 

Dragon Quotient: 1, an arty one on Khuram's candidate leaflet

Graphs: none

Overall message: Labour and Khuram say they know what the problems are - parking, litter, antisocial behaviour etc. And they have plans in place to fix it. Although, as they are the party that runs the council, it seems fair to ask why they haven't already put those plans into action and fixed it. There was a nice nod to the community litter-picking group in the newsletter. On the candidate leaflet, Khuram lists a load of things he would like to see happen - things like "protecting our parks and green spaces", when the Labour Council has approved plans to build on a chunk of The Marl, one of Grangetown's few parks. It does feel like all the things he wants to do would put him in direct opposition to most of his fellow Labour councillors. 

Party: Propel

Number of leaflets: 2 (both candidate leaflets)

Candidate: Vincent Yewlett (local guy who runs a business on Clare Road)

Photo effort: 1 candidate photo used on both leaflets, of Vincent stood on Clare Road, 2 different photos of Vincent and Propel party leader, Neil McAvoy, looking at 'problems' - the overgrown river bank and some rubbish strewn streets. Vincent is wearing a Wales retro football top in those photos. 

Cymraeg: both leaflets were bilingual

Dragon Quotient: Propel have a dragon in the logo and Vincent had a dragon on his football shirt in two of the photos, so that's a total of 4 across the leaflets. 

Graphs: none

Overall message: Vincent goes hard on his local status and claims to be the only candidate "walking the streets" of Grangetown. Propel are the "new Welsh alternative", apparently. 

Party: Plaid Cymru

Number of leaflets: 3 (2 candidate leaflets and 1 generic leaflet about how Plaid Cymru will fix NHS waiting lists)

Candidate: Neil Roberts

Photo from delivering the leaflets

Photo effort: 2 different head shots of Neil and a group photo with canvassers next to the bandstand in Grange Gardens. A couple of photos of problems - fly-tipping and a new development that is blocking out light for residents. The NHS leaflet is all stock photos. 

Cymraeg: wrth gwrs!

Dragon Quotient: Plaid Cymru use a daffodil in their logo and it features as an embellishment four times besides the logos. No dragons, though. 

Graphs: 1, showing the recent YouGov national poll that shows Plaid ahead generally in Wales.

Overall message: Neil offers a change from Labour and promises to challenge the Labour run council as "a fresh voice for Grangetown". He also wants to celebrate the diverse communities in Grangetown and challenge divisive rhetoric, with a direct reference to dogwhistle terms used by the Labour Prime Minister recently. Having talked to him, I know Neil wanted to run a positive campaign focusing on his ideas for improving life in the community rather than criticising other parties - a different approach than most of the other leaflets we received.

Party: Green Party

Number of leaflets: 5 (3 candidate leaflets and 2 attack pieces aimed at Labour)

Candidate: Matt Youde (knocked on our door while I was out canvassing; Cathy said he seemed nice)

Photo effort: multiple reuse of two photos taken in Sevenoaks Park (not Grange Gardens for a change) and one of Matt with his arms folded in an alley next to a big pile of fly-tipped waste. Two photos of another chap, who I think is the prospective Senedd candidate in next year's election but it doesn't actually say that. One of the hit pieces has a picture of Kier Starmer - which is one more picture of him than all the Labour leaflets combined. 

Cymraeg: all 5 pieces are bilingual

Dragon Quotient: zero! (Disappointing)

Graphs: a dodgy line graph based on "doorknocking data"; a race showing Labour and the Green runners leaving everyone else behind; a set of results from the last council election that claims Greens placed second, even though the Greens were in an alliance with Plaid Cymru for that election and the result was therefore a vote for both parties.

Technically not true

Also, technically, not entirely true

Overall message: Despite three candidate leaflets, I don't think Matt is offering much different from other candidates. He talks about litter - and, across all five leaflets, that is the only thing mentioned that could be considered an environmental issue. Nothing about the climate at all. Rent caps get mentioned several times. 

However, what is really different about the Greens' campaign is their two hit pieces - one is a letter from a former Labour councillor who has now joined the Greens and the other just says "Punish Labour, Vote Green!" I mean, that's a take, and I'm sure this will appeal to some people who are really angry with Labour but long-term you want to be more than just a protest vote because those don't stick. 

Wanted: angry voters!

Party: None (Independent)

Number of leaflets: 1

Candidate: Ahmed Abdillahi Abdi Samater

Photo effort: 1 candidate photo

Cymraeg: yes

Dragon Quotient: zero

Graphs: none

Overall message: quite positive, but the leaflet is a bit all over the place in terms of topics. Also the text was all centrally aligned and I find that hard to read.

Party: Conservative

Number of leaflets: 1 (given this landed alongside a leaflet for a builder, I suspect this was delivered by a leaflet delivery firm rather than a volunteer)

Candidate: James Hamblin (a Tory I know told me James lives in London but will be a Senedd candidate next year, so this is really just about him being able to say that he ran for the council as part of his Senedd campaign)

Photo effort: pretty decent - six different photos on one A4 double-sided leaflet. Photos of James outside the new central bus station (had he just arrived on a bus?), by the Tramshed venue, with Darren Millar (leader of the Welsh Conservatives), outside the Senedd with Andrew RT Davies (former leader of the Welsh Conservatives), with another guy I don't know possibly outside a pub, and an action shot of him cleaning some graffiti on Virgil Street. They aren't all taken on the same day either, unless he had a change of clothes with him. 

Cymraeg: None (except for the bilingual Welsh Conservatives logo)

Dragon Quotient: Zero

Graphs: none

Overall message: The Conservatives are using the hashtag #fixwales and there is a mix of ideas here, like night buses for Cardiff  and supporting live music venues. But there's some proper bollocks on here about "Labour's war on motorists" and how the Senedd shouldn't be expanded. At the same time as saying "36 more politicians? No thanks!", they are also saying they want a community council for Grangetown, which would be, er, more politicians, wouldn't it? Anyway, this is probably a good insight into the key themes the Tories will be campaigning on for the Senedd next year. 

And the very last leaflet to land on our mat was from...

Party: Reform UK

Number of leaflets: 1

Candidate: Joseph Martin

Photo effort: 1 candidate photo, where, weirdly, he's not looking at the camera.

Cymraeg: ha, ha, ha, no. 

Dragon Quotient: zero

Graphs: none

Overall Message: minimal really. "Cardiff needs Reform" is the slogan. There's a claim that Labour will introduce three week bin collections, which isn't true as far as I'm aware. On the scale of scaremongering, it's picayune stuff, but still it's misleading. I try to be fair in these reviews, even to parties I would never vote for, but there isn't much to say about this. When you have three policy statements and one of them is opposing something that isn't happening, then it's hard not to think it's a deliberate attempt to hoodwink people. 

So, that's the round up. 

Thursday is polling day. If you live near me and are voting, then vote Plaid Cymru!

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.

Council election round-up 2022

It's council election day!

I've been blogging about election leaflets since way back in 2007. I don't always bother with council elections, but this year felt noteworthy for two reasons. Firstly, only two sets of candidates seem to be campaigning. Secondly, we have an electoral alliance that may herald a new joint approach in Welsh politics. 

We had people knock on our door on the same evening from both campaigning platforms. And we have had a bit of bumf from both of them. It seems a bit pointless rating them as there are only two. Here is a brief run down instead.

Firstly, here are the challengers - Cyngrhair Tir Cyffredin / Common Ground Alliance

Plaid & Green sounds like a terrible paint colour combo, but it's actually the alliance between Plaid Cymru and the Green Party of Wales. Both have put up two candidates for the four council seats in our wards. This may end up getting replicated in other elections, because it's probably the only way the Green Party are going to get influence in the Senedd, and it might just give Plaid Cymru the extra impetus they need to make headway outside their normal heartlands. 

We got six bits of bumf from them with their key pledges about improving local health services, more youth facilities and apprenticeships, affordable housing "for local residents not for greedy developers", better transport connections and better parks. 

I'm all for those. Although, realistically, health services aren't council jurisdiction so I don't know what they plan to do about the shortage of GPs in our area. I'm also jaded enough to interpret "better transport connections" as making it harder to drive anywhere rather than actually providing transport people want to take. Build me a monorail and I will be on it every day. 

One bit of bumf was a "letter" delivered on election eve ostensibly from a former member of the Labour party explaining why he was now voting for the Plaid Green Alliance. An interesting approach, but one I dislike. I prefer positive politics rather than having a go at other parties. 

In response, here are (three of) the incumbents: Grangetown Welsh Labour

If I was awarding points this time round, the use of a selfie of the four candidates would get a bonus point. But I'm not awarding points. Before I say anything more about this, I should point out that I've met Ash (the selfie taker) at recent Grange Community Action meetings and he has a genuine passion for the area, and another counsellor, Lynda, was very helpful sorting out some ongoing antisocial behaviour in our street. 

We had three bits of bumf from Labour. I noticed the careful branding choices that this is electoral communication from "Grangetown Labour" or "Grangetown Welsh Labour", almost as if the local candidates are trying to put some clear red water between themselves and the soulless binfire that is the Westminster opposition party at the moment. 

Promise-wise, there's some overlap with the Common Ground Alliance. Affordable housing, green stuff, opportunities for young people, reducing the number of cars driving around the city (they don't obfuscate that point). There is also an emphasis on education and promises of improving personal safety through tackling street crime. I saw some inflation going on in terms of the funding for the latter - in one leaflet they mention the specific figure of £432,000 being awarded from the Home Office to make streets safer. In another leaflet, this gets rounded up to £500,000. 

That sounds like a lot of money, but the average salary in South Wales Police is £42,000 per year. So, that's only about 10 new police officers. For the whole of Cardiff. And unless it's recurrent funding, at the end of the year, that's it. Breaking down really big amounts of money like this into what it can actually achieve is always depressing. 

There are apparently some other candidates standing but they can't be bothered to ask for my vote so I can't be bothered to go looking for their manifestos. Quid pro quo. Back in 2008 when I first blogged about the council elections, the Liberal Democrats were pouring resources into campaigning, but that party seems to have disappeared from the scene after becoming the enablers of Tory austerity in the 2010 "coalition" UK government.

So the choice this year seems to be just Plaid Green or Red.

You can't be black and Welsh, according to Cardiff Council

Or any other skintone, apart from white, at least according to the 'Community Engagement form' I just filled in for them.

The categories for ethnic background only included 'Welsh' in the white section.

Sorry, my non-vanilla amigos. The best you can be, according to the form, is 'British'.

The idiots are winning (but they'll still lose)

What gets me most about this news story about councils banning Latin terms is that most of the Latin terms they mention are now accepted English usage, like ad lib, for example. Most people wouldn't even think of it as Latin.

And as for the comment "the ban might stop people confusing the Latin abbreviation e.g. with the word "egg". " Well, maybe, but realistically, people will have to learn at some point that you spell egg with two gs.

This does seem to me to be mollycoddling people in their ignorance, rather than educating them to a position of knowledge. But maybe councils prefer keeping people in the dark, rather than empowering them with understanding. Knowledge is, after all, power. And councils don't like empowering their tax-paying citizens. It's so much easier to keep people under your thumb when they don't know they have alternatives...

Talking the language of the people

More bumf from the Liberal Democrats has come through the door and gone... IN THE BIN! Well, recycling anyway...

However I think the LD's are chasing a lost cause. We've had a leaflet through from Plaid Cymru and I think we're both going to vote for them on the strength of one phrase. No, seriously. When describing the impact community sweepers could have on Grangetown, they say:

"Community sweepers - a kind of Wombles for the 21st Century would help clear our streets."

You've got to vote for a party that namechecks the Wombles haven't you! Haven't you?

Incidentally being a bilingual leaflet, this is the equivalent Welsh sentence. See if you can spot the Welsh word for 'Wombles':

"Byddai Swyddogion Sbwriel Cymunedol - rhyw fath o Wombles i'r unfed gannif ar hugain yn helpu cadw'n strydoedd yn lan."

That's right! It's 'Wombles'!

How desperate are you?

The local elections are coming up on 1 May* and some of the parties are starting to campaign, particularly the Liberal Democrats. To date we have had several things through the door, a real live candidate knock on the door, and someone phone up "on behalf of the Liberal Democrats" to ask me how we voted last time and how we intend to vote next time.

Today we had a piece of post, and then after I picked Cath up from work, we got home to find another one of the 'Focus' newsletters shoved through our door. So that's two bits of junk mail on one day. (And, as Cath, pointed out, on recycling day too, handily!)

I haven't actually counted how many communiques we've received from the LD's, but it feels like they are incredibly desperate for us to vote for them. Cathy reckons we've had our own tree's-worth of paper from them.

What's interesting is that the LD's run Cardiff council. They're very keen to tell us about how much lower our council tax rises have been than they would have been under Labour (er, they've still gone up, though), and generally how pants Labour are. But I'm left feeling their desperation gives the game away. They obviously don't expect to win which is why they're courting our votes so ardently.

There is such a thing as over-communication.

*also, former Bromfield Streetians (you know who you are) might be interested to know our polling station has changed from the bowling club to the Sally Army on the end of Corporation Rd.