Sunday 4 May 2008

Oh the times, they are a-changing.

Well, the Council Elections have come and gone. The Stat. Hounds have done their duty and I've got percentages and percentiles coming from my ears, none of which will be found here.

Strangely enough, every Party seems to have trumpeted their successes despite the fact that there's now more Councils showing No Overall Control than ever.

Interestingly, the four Councils with Overall Control are held by the Tories and Labour who have previously been thought of as heading for oblivion. The other Parties and Independents can continue with their quests for glory and will continue to irritate us all.

Plaid have had their wins and losses. Carmarthenshire now revels in its Plaid success, whereas Gwynedd seems to prefer Llais Gwynedd. Funny old world isn't it? Rhondda Cynon Taf is still dominated by Labour and Cardiff looks forward to another coalition. The Liberals have eighteen new seats and everything in the political garden is rosy. We in the None of These Turkeys Party have also had a bit of a crow, with the news that turnouts have been low again. We await the full result of the spoilt papers just to put the icing on our particular little cake.

All this, of course, has been overshadowed by the resounding success of Boris Johnson with his trouncing of Ken Livingstone in the London Mayoral Election.

What on Earth has this to do with Wales, I hear you ask? The answer's simple really. The people of London have decided that it's time for a change. Off with the old and on with the new.

Many new styles and fashions filter down to the provinces from London. Maybe this political change is one of them.

Boris has been frequently been described as a buffoon and a clown and he now has his chance to prove otherwise. The Londoners are certainly prepared to give him the chance. He has said in a post election interview that if he doesn't produce significant results within his four year tenure, the the London electorate "can kick him out with gusto." None of this recently heard "we're listening and lessons have been learned" malarky that has recently been heard around Westminster.

Gordon Brown and Alistair Darling's recent ill-thought removal of the 10p Tax Band for the lower paid combined with the increases in the cost of food and fuel added to the realisation that the newly increased Car Tax bands will include just about all of the lower paid's 'old bangers' which they are already struggling to keep on the road, will, IMHO, sound the death knell for Gordon Brown within a few months. This change from grey must continue.

Of course, Boris's detractors will continue to snipe at him from the sidelines but I think that they sorely underestimate his intellect and determination. A scholarship to Eton is not easily won. The man's no fool. It has been said that he has no experience of running such a large budget but if that were to be a qualification for the job, candidates would be pretty thin on the ground.

Boris will bring in a 'broad church' of expertise and with his inimitable style will hopefully oversee a renewal of Londoners' fortunes and quality of life.

It must be noted that the BBC graphics during our elections, were coloured grey to indicate an area where there was No Overall Control. I wonder, was this deliberate or a subliminal indication of the true political colour of Wales. Dull, boring and virtually bereft of any character whatsoever.

Maybe we should adopt the colour grey as our National colour. It certainly seems to fit at the moment.

It has been stated previously that Wales needs some character in its political sphere. Pretty soon Wales will be seeking a new First Minister. This post can be easily equated to the London Mayoralty, not that our budget is anywhere near theirs.

What do we have in the way of candidates? I'm afraid it's the same old crop of grey party hacks with their undisclosed sub-agendas which frequently have more to do with their own party dogma as opposed to an interest in bettering the quality of life for the population of Wales.

Wales needs its own Boris in order to bring about this wind of change.

Rhodri, who it can be said, is a bit of a character, has left his mark on the Assembly. His boots will be difficult to fill. Wales sorely needs someone of character and charisma to step up to the mark in order to continue this wind of change.

Poor old Ieuan's attempts at character and 'humour' on his recent Party Political Broadcast were absolutely pathetic and unfunny. Paul Murphy tried to be statesmanlike but still epitomised the greyness of Welsh politics. Mike German continued with his empty reassurances and the Tory, I just can't recall. Grey, grey, grey.

Where's our Boris? Where's the one to put a smile on our grey faces? Where is that elusive person who can unite the Welsh with a sense of purpose and with good humour.

At the moment they all seem to be scuttling around networking and seeking support for their own particular shades of grey. Wales needs no more grey.

Come out, come out, wherever and whoever you are. Your Country needs YOU.

Your pal.

johnny.

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6 Comments:

At 4 May 2008 at 12:33 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi Johnny
Grey yep and grey civil servants too. If you show too brightly coloured you have decolourer poured all over you or they try to close you down.The blogs show this with attacks and personal comments and threats sometimes. Think of those who have lost their jobs.
I am not sure whats happening with my blog at the moment , but all my feeds into aggregators have been stopped ( over a month ago) and now I get no alerts as to comments , most odd
I think most of Wales bright sparks leave and we end up with old chapel infused fodder.
Politics should have characters, we have lost many, the new breed of politicians dont look to colourful either

 
At 4 May 2008 at 21:32 , Blogger Robert said...

I think when you get MP's AM's who come out of school straight to Uni straight into politics they have nothing of real life to show.

It's hard to be funny when you have not lived, our old AM in llanelli once said to me after an argument, I will be a Labour AM for years to come, Llanelli is Labour, six months later Mary Helen Jones took the job, she said in the news paper I've given up with Politics.

We need people in these seat who have worked sadly in Wales the only jobs we have these days especially in my area is Tesco Asda and Morrison's, thats nothing to laugh about either.

 
At 4 May 2008 at 22:36 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

great minds think alike johnny i blogged on the need for s ome leaderhsip too today.

 
At 4 May 2008 at 23:59 , Blogger johnny foreigner said...

Hello Mam.

Your penultimate paragraph tells much of Wales' ills. The homegrown talent of Wales are usually away on their toes at the first opportunity to anywhere that just accepts you for what you are. It seems to me that too many Welsh people of the 'chapel infused fodder', a lovely expression, just wish to stifle out talent into conformity to their narrow doctrines.

I still live in hope that someone will emerge who can bring Wales into the 21st. century.

Robert.

I met up with my MP on Friday and, of course, I put the world to rights and offered my invaluable counsel and advice. Fortunately my MP is a product of the real world and in our conversation we were able to agree on much that ails Wales today, in particular the fact that there seems to be a real detachment from reality shown by many AMs and MPs.

Don't give up hope Robert, as Tony Bliar told upon his election: "Things can only get better". This applies even more today.

WL.

Nice to hear from you. It comforts me much to know that others are of the same mind. Unfortunately my comment on your blog may disagree with your choice.

Your pal.

johnny.

 
At 8 May 2008 at 20:52 , Blogger Robert said...

I was reading Nia Griffiths in the Chartist this week, my god she must be worried that Plaid are going to win the whole three, Plaid AM, Plaid Council and a Plaid MP.

 
At 12 May 2008 at 01:54 , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nia Griffith is shit scared! I know it for certain.

 

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