Originally Posted by
Keyser Soze
Greens are like UKIP - a pressure group with claimed domain knowledge of a specific areas. But even if you agree with the Greens policies, they lack funding, are full of hippies (who don’t make good leaders) and lack any strategy. In that sense they suffer the same faultlines as Plaid Cymru.
UKIP and now Reform at least have one or two leaders who are powerful, have worked in high politics and are savvy with social media, PR and can draw on wealthy finance.
The Parliamentary system also prevents Reform or Greens making headway due to inability to win seats, despite being able to get votes. Labour have a chance to change that, but they have the odd strategic conundrum in that changing the voting system would allow Lib Dems, Greens and Reform to become more highly represented and votable. Turkeys and Christmas? I think Labour will talk reform but they won’t do it. It isn’t in their interest as a top two party to concede Parliamentary seats to minor parties who would then present new threats. Strategically it is best to have one enemy in the Conservatives, be able to be the leading opponents or winners.
Plaid? Plaid in my opinion have had 10-15 years of opportunity to get it right. I find Plaid interesting because if they were backed and advised by a professional team they should be able to be at least competitive with Labour and mimick SNP success. But they are like the Greens and Lib Dems in that they are full of teachers, intelligent academics, nice people with a vision that is like the SNP. But they are so weak as a political machine it is incredible. They have weak finances, a lack of data analysis, poor strategy, awful leadership, weak tactics, a lack of street fight, good campaign management, limp PR: all the stuff required to be professional winners. They have no sense of realpolitik either. They work with the SNP closely allegedly, but don’t appear to replicate any of their methods.
The SNP were no different to Plaid in that far from being Lefties they are hotpotch of centrists, Tartan Tories, Social Democrats and Socialists - who coalesce around Nationalism. Plaid has plenty of people who are moderate, centrists and fair but not woke. If Plaid positioned themselves in the moderate centre as Salmond and Sturgeon initially did (until she moves Left and woke), then sorted out the professional stuff I mentioned, then Plaid should be winning more often in Wales. But their soft idealism just doesn’t land with most Welsh people who want a combination of pragmatic solutions to every day problems, but with a Welsh flavour.Like the Greens and Lib Dems, they can’t seem to mature as a party beyond “enthusiastic students and sixth formers”.
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