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Opinion

Conciliation is the only way to resolve Plaid Cymru’s internal discord

28 Sep 2019 6 minute read
Dewi Evans (left) and Alun Ffred Jones (right). Alun Ffred picture by the National Assembly (CC BY 2.0).

Dewi Evans, candidate for the position of Plaid Cymru Chair

At Plaid Cymru’s conference next weekend members will have the opportunity to vote either to retain the present chair, Alun Ffred Jones, or vote for me to replace him.

I have already made my pitch for why people should vote for me on Nation.Cymru here. However, subsequently, Olaf Cai Larsen, who sits on the party’s Executive Committee, has written claiming that my election would “cause chaos” in the party.

He makes a number of assertions in the article, but it is difficult to take his comments regarding my campaign seriously when he is so careless with his facts.

First of all, his assertion that “only one Llanelli member is currently excluded as a result of disciplinary proceedings” fails to note that four were expelled in 2017. Two submitted their resignations before receiving their expulsion letters, ‘because I can’t be expelled if I’ve already resigned’ as one of them told me recently.

Forty left in disgust at the way Gwyn Hopkins, a Plaid County Councillor for 30 years, and his colleagues were treated. Hardly ‘some members’, as Larsen claims. As far as I know, none has applied to rejoin the party. That’s a lot of leaflets that won’t be delivered through a lot of doors any time soon.

As for the ‘courage’ of the Chair regarding decisions he took in Llanelli, the 2107 Westminster election was Plaid’s worst result in the constituency for a generation. Ffred’s decision to “temporarily” exclude Llanelli Town Branch has had permanent consequences. The constituency office has closed and the building sold. Local members cannot claim an office that boasts a Plaid Cymru sign.

Current chair Deris Williams has achieved miracles in recruiting new members and holding branch meetings across the constituency. There is hope of a constituency office, a logistical necessity during any campaign.

But why were people expelled? Where was the light touch from the Chair, often required to massage disappointment and keep all the team onside when candidate selection has not gone your way. And why is Llanelli still waiting to get back its Assembly office? Should not Tŷ Gwynfor [Plaid HQ] apply its own brand of gentle encouragement to expedite this long-overdue decision?

Larsen is at his most disingenuous in suggesting that disciplinary processes ‘cannot be influenced by people who don’t sit on the Committee’. Really? Page 50 of the party’s Standing Orders [2019], relating to ‘Standing Orders for Membership, Discipline and Standards’ states: “The Chair of the Party may, at her/his absolute discretion, suspend or exclude a member when urgent action is necessary.” Neil McEvoy’s current expulsion was the result of a complaint from the Chair himself, Alun Ffred Jones.

Larsen cannot be familiar with the concept of ‘unconscious bias’ a process where naturally, and perhaps not unreasonably, fellow members of an organisation or committee may close ranks in support of one of its own, especially someone holding such a senior position as Chair of the Executive.

Olaf Cai Larsen is best known outside his own ward for his prolific use of social media. Profligacy in the mono-dimensional world of the blog and the tweet does not of necessity lend itself to mature judgement when assessing the multi-faceted challenges that define human relationships.

An organisation’s Standing Orders can easily become a substitute for rational decision making, creating an Orwellian dystopia where ‘SOs’ evolve into a form of newspeak where words mean what you want them to mean.

Discord

Larsen’s denial of conciliation as a key part of conflict resolution is an astonishing admission. I’m not sure how he dealt with conflict during his time as headteacher of a primary school of 80 pupils in idyllic Llŷn, where the teachers were dedicated, the children are lovely and the parents supportive. I can assure him that during my time as head of a large, busy, and frequently highly stressful paediatric department in Swansea no one got sacked [or expelled].

This does not mean that we had no disagreements. There were. But the conflict was managed in the traditional way, through meetings, discussions, allowing people to cool down. Conciliation is as good a term any. Robust too. We all stayed together for the sake of the children.

But of course conciliation is an alien concept to some. The biggest split in Plaid Cymru’s history occurred in its Gwynedd stronghold at the turn of this century, Larsen’s political home. The Plaid led Council opted to close a number of schools. Protests led to the formation of Llais Gwynedd. Several able Plaid councillors lost their seats at the subsequent election.

Their local Assembly Member at that time was Alun Ffred Jones, recent ex-leader of Gwynedd CC. Could not a gentler touch, an eye for consensus, a willingness to listen, have helped avoid the discord and division? Should not Alun Ffred have used his councillor experience, his local knowledge, his role as someone outside the immediate councillor group, to facilitate an outcome that placated local emotion, allowing Plaid Cymru to build on its recently acquired power base?

Llais Gwynedd’s continued presence, still holding six seats on Gwynedd CC, would suggest that consensus, a willingness to listen, does not form part of the lexicon of our current Chair and his faithful acolyte. The virus of political discord, formed in Gwynedd, has replicated and gone south, taking hold in some of our most winnable seats. Sadly, Ffred, Larsen and their supporters have failed to learn form their earlier mistakes.

The damage sustained by the Llanelli and Cardiff West constituencies as a consequence of the authoritarian dictat of Alun Ffred Jones during his troubled Chairmanship will be irreversible unless we make a serious effort to reach out to our members, all of our members, across the whole of our nation.

This starts with the election of a new Chair.


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Richard Jenkins
Richard Jenkins
4 years ago

I think this may be the first time I’ve seen a call for conciliation written in such vitriolic hatred! So in effect, Dewi appears to think the best way to achieve a consensus is to humiliate and bad mouth all those dreadful people who oppose him! Surely members will see through this embarrassingly thin veil that attempts to disguise a concerted attempt to turn Plaid Cymru a populist misogynistic organisation led by populist figures with a fond adherence to the act of jumping straight to the front of the next available bandwagon. I shall be voting to retain Alun Ffred… Read more »

Dewi Evans
Dewi Evans
4 years ago

Nice rant Rich! Try objectivity and evidence.

Glynn Edwards
Glynn Edwards
4 years ago
Reply to  Dewi Evans

https://mobile.twitter.com/RussellRElliott/status/1178269881474732032

You ok with him tweeting and amplifying this bigotry? You want him back though, so you obviously think there’s a place for this crap in a decent party. Don’t expect a reply, silence is the cowards way.

Richard Jenkins
Richard Jenkins
4 years ago
Reply to  Dewi Evans

Like you , you mean! Don’t make me laugh!

Glynn Edwards
Glynn Edwards
4 years ago

The good thing about Mcevoy is he flushes out other bigots who want to defend him and not put his bigotry down. Feel free to say it’s our of order to retweet that crap Richard.

Glynn Edwards
Glynn Edwards
4 years ago
Reply to  Glynn Edwards

Apologies to Richard jenkins, thought his comment was aimed at my post. I’m sure Dewi will condemn Mcevoys retweet.

Jonathan Edwards
Jonathan Edwards
4 years ago

Something has to change. As is well known, I want Plaid to give more priority to Indy, and to get a wider membership base. Oh, and go easy on the zealotry, the desire to suppress dissent. Not only McEvoy, banned from taking on Drakeford for Plaid. So I support Dewi. To the extent of standing for election as Poiicy Director. Here’s what the people who disagree with me did. Nation.Cymru (which I helped to set up) will not answer emails, never has. I offered to debate Plaid policies with John Osmond, the other candidate, on Nation.Cymru. Not even a reply.… Read more »

Les Keen
Les Keen
4 years ago

Where can i find the other side of the argument please?

Huw Davies
Huw Davies
4 years ago
Reply to  Les Keen

Easy, just check out the absurd conduct of the leadership team over much of the last decade, or go back further if you have time and a strong stomach. The electorate is taking a keener interest nowadays due in part to much of the nonsense being played out on social media and other parties, competitors for votes, increasingly and gleefully drawing attention to the stunts of people who ought to know better.

vicky moller
vicky moller
4 years ago

it would be such a tragedy if Plaid at this crucial time was subject to the self destructive impulses we see in Labour and for different reasons in Conservatives. Expelling good hard working people is not the way to build unity, it sows division. I have run political face-book groups and controlled trolling and run organisations all without expelling anyone, though some have resigned themselves to my relief. There are other ways to deal with strong or difficult personalities. I have fallen out with nobody throughout my decades in Plaid. Any criticism I had of the party I took to… Read more »

Neil McEvoy
Neil McEvoy
4 years ago

Richard Jenkins, misogynism is a red herring and is worn like a badge. Under Leanne Wood, whether or not complaints were taken seriously depended on who the complainant/alleged perpetrator supported politically. Ffred swept matters under the carpet and so did Leanne. It is easy then to project. I’m currently supporting a woman who one of the #metoo AMs did not support, after being presented with the case. Her son who lives in Cardiff wrote to me and I’m now doing my level best to make sure due process is followed. Ironic, isn’t it? There’s talking and doing. I prefer to… Read more »

Clive king
Clive king
4 years ago

If plaid want a wider base then hold Plaid politicians to account when they shout at the membership because the politician does not have the mental agility or patience to understand the subject matter. Some great people in Plaid but the party is a lost cause.

John Francis
John Francis
4 years ago
Reply to  Clive king

Plaid is a lost cause, especially as they have brainwashed Carmarthen County Councll into making Llangennech schools Welsh only and intend making five other schools in the county Welsh only for the first five years of education. ” Giving the pupil the gift of bilingualism”. A gift without a choice. Are we going back to the mid 1800s when pupils were mercilessly thrashed for speaking welsh, but now punished for speaking English? Plaid Cymru is a racist Political Party.

kenneth taylor
kenneth taylor
4 years ago

i speak as an ordinary member, former vice chair in my constituency of ynys mon. and quite frankly a totally disillusioned member along with many others, i say this , i will never vote for any other party as long as i live, but, things have to change, here where i live, and across wales and within plaid generally. if you,re not middle class it seems you do not fit at all within the upper echelons of the party, you have to be in the clique so to speak to get on. thats not what im about i can tell… Read more »

Glynn Edwards
Glynn Edwards
4 years ago

https://mobile.twitter.com/RussellRElliott/status/1178269881474732032

Stay classy Mcevoy. Retweeting nasty crap like this is disgusting.

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