European Elections (From Western Telegraph)

European Elections

11:43am Tuesday 9th June 2009

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Having been down at the election count in Haverfordwest I have to say that I was very pleased with the European results for Plaid Cymru. We’ve seen a big increase in support for the party across Wales which puts us on course to take extra seats at the next general election. In the two Pembrokeshire constituencies along with the Tories we pushed Labour into third place which means by the time the General Election comes around it will be straightforward battle between Plaid and the Tories in both Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire as well as Preseli Pembrokeshire. Since 2007 it has been clear that the days of Labour's hegemony over Welsh politics are over and that the Welsh electorate trusts Plaid to put their needs and aspirations first. Some of the results from around Wales have shown a big increase in support for Plaid, and in crucial constituencies we have proved that we can take votes from the London parties. Following Labour’s collapse at these elections, many of their seats will now be at risk when Gordon Brown is finally forced into calling a general election and like in the rest of Wales Labour in Pembrokeshire are failing badly. This result is also a vote of confidence in the record of Jill Evans in standing up for Welsh workers, families and communities in the European Parliament.

I am however concerned by the fact that the UK Independence Party has won a seat. If we are being honest there isn’t much point in having a UKIP MEP representing Wales since members of their party don’t even bother voting on any of the important issues in the European Parliament. However, I don't believe that there is an anti-EU tradition in Wales - and all parties need to re-double their efforts in explaining the benefits for Wales from being a part of the European Union