Doing a Gibbons
Have you ever 'done a Gibbons'?
Yes, and which will guarantee the then-Health Minister's place in pub quizzes for years to come.
He seems on course to become the Malcolm Nash of Assembly politics, as in 'Which Glamorgan bowler was hit for six sixes by Sir Gary Soberts in August 1968?'
But he's not alone in pressing the wrong button.
We've all done it, I've certainly done it more than once and now someone deep in Neath Port Talbot's Plaid Cymru branch has done it. He's pressed a button and sent Plaid's confidential local election campaign themes to the relevant strategy group, to Plaid AMs and to "our resident PR expert".
And to a 91Èȱ¬ journalist who - absolutely remarkable I know - wasn't THAT excited by the rogue message. She must have a life.
But thankfully she pressed the right button: forward, not delete.
So how does Plaid Cymru intend to fight local elections against Labour when, on a national level, they're big pals?
Well theyre planning to "refer to the positive successes of the One Wales government programme" while also ensuring they "enable local focus". But bear in mind that this One Wales is made up of two halves.
They'll argue that "New Labour in power are failing our communities" while welcoming "Plaid's 'One Wales' commitment for increased spending on local roads". They must have a special copy of the One Wales agreement that shows which party owns which bit.
They'll attack "New Labour's Poor Record in Neath Port Talbot" and "the bad deal for local government and public services from London Labour - under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown".
They'll hit the streets with a promise that "Plaid Cymru's policy is to scrap Labour's Tory tax [the council tax] and replace it with a local income tax based on the ability to pay".
In other words they seem set to attack London Labour, Neath Port Talbot Labour and praise the One Wales Agreement - the bits identified as Plaid's anyway. Oh and they're looking for an English translation of "Gwneud y pethau Bychain". In case you didn't know - "it's from Dewi Sant!"
The Tories revealed yesterday that they'll launch their local election campaign on April 3rd. Which gives them just enough time to secure the services of a resident PR expert.
I'm Betsan Powys, 91Èȱ¬ Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on .
°ä´Ç³¾³¾±ð²Ô³Ù²õÌýÌý Post your comment
How can Plaid Cymru possibly attack Neath Port Talbot Council, when even the Western Mail recognises that it - a Labour controlled authority - is the best performing council in Wales? That's hardly a "poor record" is it!
Labour's record in Neath Port Talbot is a strong one. It was top of the table when it came to "value added" in education, is the best council in the UK in terms of refuse collection, and has a number of other national accolades to its name.
Plaid Cymru are running scared in Neath Port Talbot because they know they are going to struggle to retain certain seats because of their poor local record in certain areas of the county borough.
Given the amount of council tax we pay NPT Council should be a far better council than it is. If you listen to the claims made by Labour supporters then we have brilliant public services but unfortunately that is not the experience on the ground.