PROFESSOR DYLAN JONES-EVANS

On Monday, the final leadership campaign for the three main parties in Wales will be complete. This, in many ways is the most important as the next leader of the Welsh labour Party will also, unless there is political earthquake, become First Minister on the 12th of December. And the campaigns for the Labour leadership by Mark Drakeford, Vaughan Gething and Eluned Morgan have generated many new policies that hopefully will not just be left on the campaign trail but will be considered for potential implementation during the remainder of this Assembly term. Unfortunately, this column will not do justice to all of the ideas that have emanated from all three campaigns so I will instead try to examine succinctly some of the big ideas from each of the candidates. The Finance Minister Mark Drakeford passionately believes that the creation of worthwhile, properly rewarded employment is the most effective way out of poverty, the best route to fulfilled lives, and has a positive impact o...

Daily Post column 16th January 2012 During last week, it may have dawned on Ed Miliband that being Leader of the Opposition is probably the worst job in British politics. At a time when the economy is struggling and the UK government is managing a massive reduction in public expenditure, his popularity should be at an all-time high. Yet, not only have the Conservatives overtaken Labour in the polls but, following a series of gaffes reported in the press, even Nick Clegg is rated higher than Mr Miliband. As cartoonists continue to draw him as Gromit, there are already whispers of plots to replace him only fifteen months after he narrowly won the Labour Party leadership. And when you start to become a comic caricature, then it becomes difficult for the public to consider you otherwise. In fact, other leaders of the opposition have faced the same problem in recent times. Michael Foot, one of the great political thinkers of his generation, was reduced to comparisons with a tr...