Remain parties would ‘cooperate again’ to take seats in General Election after byelection win
Plaid Cymru, the Greens and the Liberal Democrats are ‘committed’ to cooperating again to deny the Conservatives and Brexit Party seats if a General Election was called.
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said that the result in the Brecon and Radnorshire byelection, where the Liberal Democrat candidate Jane Dodds narrowly won with 43.5% of the vote, showed the alliance had worked.
“If the prime minister is intent on a general election, he should know that Plaid Cymru and the other pro-Remain parties are committed to cooperating so that we beat Brexit once and for all,” he said.
Both Plaid Cymru and the Greens had decided to step aside in a seat where they had little hope of success, in the hope that their supporters would put the Liberal Democrats over the line in the previously Conservative seat.
Despite the Brexit Supporting parties having 3,000 votes more than the Remain alliance, the Lib Dems triumphed under the First Past the Post system.
The result has left new Prime Minister Boris Johnson with a Commons working majority of just one.
Ms Dodds, who is the Welsh Liberal Democrat leader, said: “My very first act as your new MP when I get to Westminster will be to find Mr Boris Johnson, wherever he’s hiding, and tell him to stop playing with the future of our community and rule out a no-deal Brexit”.
The final result was:
- Lib Dem: 43.5% (+14.3)
- Conservative: 39.0% (-9.6)
- Brexit Party: 10.5% (+10.5)
- Labour: 5.3% (-12.5)
- Monster Raving Loony Party: 1.0% (+1.0)
- UKIP: 0.8% (-0.6)
‘Beat Brexit’
Adam Price said the result justified Plaid Cymru’s decision not to stand in the seat.
“In these deeply serious times, we need grown-up politics that puts country before party,” he said.
“The single most important thing in this by-election was to put party politics aside, and deliver a pro-Remain MP for Brecon and Radnorshire.
“That is why Plaid Cymru decided not to stand a candidate in this by-election – because we believed that to be the right thing to do in the national interest.
“I am proud that the leadership shown by Plaid Cymru in creating a spirit of cooperation between pro-Remain parties has led to the election of Jane Dodds as the new MP for Brecon and Radnorshire.
“The people of Brecon and Radnorshire have spoken. It’s now time that people throughout these islands are heard, too, in a Final Say referendum.”
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But who could an independence voter have voted for?? – life is more than Brexit
Unless Plaid Cymru want Welsh Independece supporters to vote for UKIP as Plaid is standing down in support of Unionist parties!!
Why would a voter switch to BXP/UKIP if their primary concern is Welsh independence, considering BXP are explicitly against Welsh independence? The thing you fail to realise is that people are impressed by leaders and parties that work for the greater good and who are honest and stable; who aren’t just in it for short-term gains and for themselves. It attracts normal people to the party and to its goals (eg. Welsh independence). Without that, it’s just a fringe issue The same thing is happening in Scotland. Nicola Sturgeon and the SNP are fighting for what’s right, not what’s best… Read more »
Polarising half the electorate will not get Plaid Cymru power …. in most of East Wales they barely register or exist…….I support them as they represent my belief in empowerment …. but their strategy leaves me bemused
An alliance between Plaid and Lib Dems is the easy part. Makes a difference at the margin, yes just, as in B&R. Here’s the real challenge – what about Preseli and many others. What will tribal Labour do – play selfish yet again?
So the Liberal Democrats tried to use the Brecon and Radnorshire by-Election as a second referendum by fielding one united Remain candidate and getting Plaid and the Greens to stand down and join forces. The Lib Dems and the Remainers can gloss over this however they like. The FACT is the majority of voters voted for a full-on Hard Brexit and if BXP hadn’t have split the Leave vote, the Tories would have won the seat again. So when the Lib Dems candidate says she will button-hole Johnson in Parliament to honour the resulty of Brecon & Radnor he can… Read more »
Not sure why you think all of the Tories are leave-voters? You can’t lump them in with BXP+UKIP any more than you can Labour with the remain parties
Polls have consistently shown that 1/3 of Tory voters are remain supporters. That’s a lot here. The Tories would have lost some leave voters to BXP and some remain voters to the Lib Dems
You really can’t at all claim this is 2nd referendum vote at all, cause it’s not. It’s always far messier than that
There’s a valid question about any kind of “progressive alliance” whether in a first past the post system this will be anything other than one way, where one party tries to convince people intending to vote for other parties that only they have a chance of beating the Tories,
This is a big non-event. A squabble over nowt. Sooner we have Brexit, maybe it will accelerate the next stage of breaking up – busting the AngloBrit dominated Union. Once out of that we can start seeking partners who will be content to trade and generally engage with the Welsh Nation State not some westerly region of London dominated UK. Or are our politicians too comfy in their permanent opposition roles posturing daily without the real concern for getting things done ?
All Plaid Cymru needed to do was sit on the fence sniping … We are not Scotland…we cant afford to polarise over half the brexit leaning population
Granted, this was a difficult decision for AP. Awful, absolutely awful to have to support the devious and duplicitous Unionist party, the Lib Dems, but then Labour’s dismal showing suggests that Plaid’s vote would have been similarly squeezed here. Price seems to have been vindicated here therefore. And now there’s talk of further co-operation with the unionist parties.But, I’m really not sure how comfortable even die-hard Plaid supporters would be about that. And for all the bravado, it looks odds-on that the UK will leave the EU on October 31. One doesn’t take a genius to sense that a huge… Read more »
Actions will speak louder than words. When the Lib Dems unfairly smeared Mike Parker, the Plaid Cymru candidate as a fascist in Ceredigion – these types of things would take an an action of goodwill to overcome for me. All I see is Plaid Cymru playing the nice guy over the years and getting burnt by political reality. Im failing to understand their long term strategy as an “umbrella” party ….. taking a strong remain position is very polarising against over 50% of the Welsh population … are they trying to emulate Lib Dems at their own game? Many softly… Read more »
Plaid Cymru being a pro EU party is not surprising the SNP is also pro EU. There is more support for the EU in Scotland than there is in Cymru. Is that because the relationship and experience Cymru has with the EU is worse to that of Scotland’s or is it because of the overbearing influence of our neighbor to the east has on us? There is more support for leaving the UK in Scotland there is in Cymru. Is that because the relationship and experience Cymru has with the UK is so much better than that of Scotland’s or… Read more »
For the so-called “Party of Wales” not to field a candidate in a Welsh constituency is a disgrace. If this were about a “Remain Alliance” why was it Plaid and the Greens who stepped aside? Surely, here in Wales, it should have been the Lib Dems and the Greens making way for Plaid? Of course… that would not have worked and Adam Price knows it. Brecon and Rad’ was never going to vote Plaid in great numbers. Better to claim a proxy victory through the Yellow Tories than to poll a paltry amount and have to face the facts that… Read more »
The people I convinced to vote Plaid Cymru over the years are saying “never again” as Plaid Cymru is not accepting the referendum result……..a dangerous precedent in a democracy
What an absolute dire state confused insular Wales is. Given the nature of a significant number of our populace, I cant see Wales raising itself out of the quagmire of a very poor and bankrupt European country for a very long time! Oh forgot- those net benefactors ticked out in the opinion poll. Jeezzz. Ps good luck MP for Brecon – hope remainers prevail, but I don’t think Boris will be quaking in his is boots when you arrive. You’ll need a more robust plan that a stern telling off.
some interesting analysis of the result here……..
https://www.taxresearch.org.uk/Blog/2019/08/04/where-did-the-lib-dem-votes-in-brecon-and-radnorshire-come-from/