Plaid Cymru’s new National Chair says the party needs to increase its activist base

Martin Shipton

Former Plaid Cymru chief executive Karl Davies has been elected as the party’s new national chair after telling members it needs to increase its activist base.

In a vote at Plaid’s annual conference in Llandudno, Davies defeated Gwynedd county councillor Elin Hywel and former Ynys Môn Westminster candidate John Rowlands.

Davies said: “It has been great to experience the enthusiasm and positivity within the party over the last couple of days at the conference. It’s clearly in a better place than it has been in the 101 years since it was founded.

“The message that I tried to get across in the hustings meeting is that we need to build on the momentum that has been created since May’s victory in the Senedd election. We have seen a lot of Senedd Members making excellent contributions during the conference, and that’s great, but if we are to consolidate our victory and move the party forward, we need to nurture the party’s base in all parts of Wales, with activists who are able to put forward ideas and participate fully in policymaking at both local and national levels.

“I think my words at the hustings were very important in deciding the result of the election, as many members came up to me afterwards and told me they agreed fully with what I had said.”

In the manifesto Davies sent to members in the run-up to the internal election, he wrote: “A new generation of people needs to come into the party as activists, and there must be sufficient political education for them to make sure that they make a meaningful contribution to the party’s success in the long term.

“… For this to happen, it is essential that the members come first. We’ve seen in other parties what happens when the elected members lose the connection with their grassroots, and it is invariably disastrous. In fact, our members must be emboldened and empowered, as it is from those roots that the party grows and thrives.

“This year’s magnificent successes would not have been possible but for the work of party members and activists over the last 100 years. It’s that work and that activism that’s got to be sustained and strengthened to ensure that the party achieves its aims.”

Davies stated that it was essential for the party to continue to develop policies that reflect members’ knowledge of their communities – a process that had to be dynamic, involving all parts of the party.

He added: “Obviously, the elected members have the crucial role of implementing policies, but it’s local activists’ knowledge of their communities that makes sure that the policies which the party promotes reflect what people need and want.

“We could achieve an enormous amount in next year’s council elections, and to do that we need to be clear about our strategic priorities. Cooperation between government in Cardiff Bay and local authorities in Wales is essential for Plaid to be able to implement its manifesto policies.”

Davies, who was brought up in Abergele and studied history at Aberystwyth University, was Plaid’s chief executive from 1993 until 2002, covering the period of the first National Assembly election, when the party performed better than had been expected.

Adviser 

Previously, he was BBC Wales’ political editor and, before that, an adviser to Plaid MPs Dafydd Elis-Thomas, Ieuan Wyn Jones and Dafydd Wigley at Westminster.

Subsequently, he was director in Wales of the National Association of Head Teachers and then head of governance and accountability at the BBC in Wales for 14 years.

From 2018, Davies spent four years in China teaching English.

He is currently head of learning Welsh for adults in the Vale of Glamorgan.

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