Blog Review 19

• Adam Price suggests that ex politicians like Ron Davies should be congratulating the progress made at the Assembly instead of sniping from the sidelines.
• Gwe looks at the socialist view of Plaid and the Labour party.
• Seneddwr claims Gordon Brown is setting his Deputy up for a fall.
• Ceredig looks at who has suffered the most through the deals.

Blog Review 18

• Adam Price offers his views as why Red-Green offers the best option for his Party and states that the Lib Dems have found themselves politically damaged.
• Bethan Jenkins gives her approval to the agreement. Ever the party loyalist
• Martin Eaglestone vows to back Rhodri Morgan in this agreement.
• Amanwy looks at the Labour “No” campaign.
• Guerrilla Welsh Fare states why Plaid should not listen to those calling for opposition.
• Pro Rainbow supporter Ordovicius comments on recent blogs by Adam Price and Bethan Jenkins.
• Senddwr comments on the inner workings of the Labour party.

To the faithfully departed

The departure of missed friends.

A few blogs have left us recently. Blamerbell has hung up his blogging boots, a day before that famous handshake! Ted Jones has also finally decided to go fishing for good. We have also lost Clear Red Water.

Thank you and good night.

Blog Review 17

There is obviously a lot of reaction to the Labour-Plaid announcement yesterday as well as the departure of Tony Blair.

• Betsan Powys looked at the handshake and its implications.
• Vaughan Roderick notes the battle to come between Labour at the Assembly and Labour at Westminster.
• Alun Cairns suggests the Red-Green deal is positive despite missing out on Tory Ministers.
• Adam Price states why he couldn’t give Blair a standing ovation.
• Peter Black claims the Lib Dems are far from down and out.
• Glyn Davies says becoming the official opposition is not much of a consolation and berates the leadership of Mike German.
• Cascittini gives his views on the changes in London and Cardiff.
• Glamorganshire blogs about the need to reorganise the cabinet.
• Guerrilla Welsh Fare looks at the candidates to enter the cabinet from Plaid. More on this by Ordovicius.
• Gwe looks at the implications if Welsh Labour failing to deliver a deal.
• Independent Wales gives some cleaver sporting comparisons to the political parties.
• Normal Mouth gives the statistical impact Blair has had on Wales.
• Ted Jones posts the One Wales document.

Blog Review 16

Quick afternoon round up……

• Blamerbell sees the coalition talks hampering the Assembly’s effectiveness.
• Clear red Water calls for an increase in the number of Assembly Members.
• Glamorganshire looks at the calls to introduce St Davids day as a Bank Holiday.
• Guerrilla Welsh Fare says its up to Labour to keep the Tories out.
• Ted Jones questions who calls the shots at Labour in Wales. An idea echoed by View from the Glen.

Blog Review 15

• Blamerbell sees Labour’s U-Turn on the way the Assembly is funded as a sign of things to come.
• Tomos Livingstone suggests the decision by Labour MP’s to push Rhodri Morgan to work with the Lib Dems may in fact force a Rainbow solution.
• Tom Bodden feels like he’s stuck in Groundhog Day.
• Peter Black looks at what impact a deal will have on Labour MP’s and calls for a decision soon.
• Ceredig gives his/her reasons for not believing the Tories have changed, as does Welsh Ramblings.
• Guerrilla Welsh Fare gives reasons why people should rejects a Labour-Lib Dem pact. He also notes Gordon Brown’s decision to offer up Peter Hain’s job to the Lib Dems. More on this by Glamorganshire.
• Valley’s Mam notes an interesting event being lined up by positive politics.
• View from the Glen looks at how the treasury has fought back after the Assembly’s announcement to review funding.
  

On a lighter note Ordovicius has published his list of categories for the first Welsh Blog Awards. I am sure information on voting will follow.

Blog Review 14

• Blamerbell looks at how Ieuan Wyn Jones has manoeuvred through coalition negotiations. He also says two things about Gordan Brown in a feedback quiz. Which Ordovicius declined to join in!
• Bethan Jenkins gives a round up of the day at the Senedd, as does Alun Cairns.
• Gwe looks at the possibility of Labour continuing in a minority Government and the cheek of the Lib Dems.
• Ted Jones looks at the choice words of a Labour councillor and suggests there’s no wonder Peter Hain’s deputy leadership campaign is in trouble.

Blog Review 13

• There has been a lot of blogging about Leighton Andrews’ apparent decision to back a Red-Green agreement. Comment on this comes from Guerrilla Welsh Fare, View from the Glen, Glamorganshire and Welsh Ramblings.
• Tom Bodden reports Plaid AM Gareth Jones dismay at the delay for Assembly headquarters in north Wales.
• Alun Cairns raises the issue of the lack of effort made for the 50th anniversary of the naming of the Prince of Wales and the heckling he received for bringing it up.
• Leanne Wood notes Tory comments about the Assembly being accountable to Westminster.
• Peter Black states that the Lib Dems have agreed to wait on Plaid to decide on a coalition.
• Glamorganshire looks at the unlucky career of Rosemary Butler.
• Welsh Independence looks at how the Government of Wales Act caters to Labour’s needs.
• Ordovicius looks at how the plenary session will be influenced by coalition talks.
• New blogger Senddwr examines politicians employing members of their family.
• Sion Owain shows a copy of the email to all Plaid members from Ieuan Wyn regarding meetings to consult about a possible coalition.

Blog Review 12

Not much happening on the blogs today. Here’s a few that did stand out.

• Blamerbell looks at what has Tony Blair has done for Wales as well as a humorous look at an Assembly football line up.
• Vaughan Roderick reports on the morning conferences held by Plaid, Labour and the Tories.

Blog of the Week: 1

This is the first blog featured in the Blog of the Week series.

The choice of blog covered is done randomly and I am hoping to cover most of if not all of the blog on my blog roll over the coming weeks and months.

First up is Ceredig. This is a new blog running since the start of June and so is still in its infancy with only 10 posts. (At the point of writing).

I have been very impressed with the way the blog has started compiling some detailed comments on the issues of coalitions. It is certainly a welcome addition to the Welsh blog scene and I am looking forward to further blogging. (Even if Ceredig has yet to add me to his blog roll!!!)

Blog Review 11

As you can imagine the blogsphere has been dominated by the Plaid Conference and the Lib Dems recent movements.

• Betsan Powys reports the goings on at Plaid’s National Exec meeting in Aberystwyth and rumours that a Red-Green deal is too good to refuse.
• Alun Cairns notes the desperation of the Lib Dems and turmoil within the Labour party.
• Bethan Jenkins gives the view of a Plaid AM on the Aber conference and warns against Mike German’s ability to deliver his party’s backing for a deal with Labour.
• Glyn Davies suggest that the Rainbow agreement could be fading as does Ceredig.
• Amanwy suggests that a failed Rainbow coalition could see Nick Bourne go to the House of Lords and Glyn Davies step back into the Assembly.
• David Peter thinks the Lib Dems are drifting towards the rocks.
• Glamorganshire gives his views on Mike German’s changing position.
• Gwe looks at the Plaid decision to continue discussions with Labour.
• Guerrilla Welsh Fare comments on the bizarre political strategy of the Lib Dems.
• Miserable Old Fart looks at how a Red-Green coalition would affect the SNP in Scotland.
• Ted Jones comments on the Lib Dems continued farce.
• Labour Mark can’t understand the mentality of the Liberals.
• Welsh Ramblings looks at the splits in the Lib Dem camp.

Blog Review 10

• Tom Bodden remarks on Labour’s decision to sanction a special conference to discuss the proposed Plaid-Labour deal. More on this by Tomos Livingstone.
• Alun Cairns notes Peter Hain’s bad performance on question time and his U-Turn on the Red-Green coalition.
• Bethan Jenkins looks at the reaction on the door to coalition talk.
• Peter Black confirms there would be strong opposition to a deal with Labour.
• Glamorganshire looks at the split in the Labour ranks.
• Guerilla Welsh Fare comments on the position the Lib Dems find themselves in.
• Luke Young gives a Labour members view on the Red-Green agreement as does Red Anorak.
• Normal Mouth asks what what’s wrong with the Lib Dems.
• Ted Jones looks at the internal warfare in the Labour camp.

Blog of the Week

There are some very interesting and thought provoking blogs about at the moment. Irrespective of your own personal politics there are some very interesting and constructive debates that are maybe not getting the recognition they deserve.

Part of the aim of this web log, aside from keeping regular round ups of the blog debates, is to promote all blogs in the welsh political blogsphere. As it stands the debate is concentrated on a few select blogs, which is fantastic. The success of Blamerbells is undoubtedly as a result of the vibrant comments section he has.

In an attempt to promote comment on other blogs I am going to run a weekly feature highlighting individual blogs. Sometimes it will be those blogs that maybe don’t get the credit they deserve, sometimes the big hitters that deserve to be recognised and sometimes a blog that has caused a stir with some interesting posting.

I will begin next week.

Hopefully people will find this constructive. Obviously normal blogging reviews will continue.

Blog Review 9

• Tom Bodden talks about Peter Hain’s touting of a special conference for the Labour membership.
• Vaughan Roderick looks at the importance of the Assembly and the possibility of winning a referendum vote.
• Ceredig looks at who has come out of the negotiations looking the cleverest.
• Guerrilla Welsh Fare notes that Plaid are the only party set to be in Government.
• Gwe gives his views on the possibility of a grand coalition.
• Normal mouth discussed the condition of Labour support for a referendum as part of any coalition deal.
• Ordovicius says Red-Green will not happen.
• Pontygwindy blames the Lib Dem National Executive for collapsing the rainbow.
• Ted Jones suggests the Red-Green coalition is being pushed from the very top of the Labour ranks. He also looks at the implications of such a deal for Peter Hain following Rhodri Morgan’s backing of a Hain opponent in the deputy leadership contest.
• Labour Mark claims that the polls are showing Labour are on the up against the Tories.

Welsh Blogging Recognised

Congratulations to Blamerbellbriefs for winning a top blogging award. More details about it here.

It is really exciting times in Welsh politics and good to see that a Welsh political blog has been recognised in this way.

The Welsh blogsphere are having their own awards so don’t forget to check out the details.