Unrhyw un arall?

Wel, bellach mae yna bedwar person wedi datgan eu bwriad i fynd am arweinyddiaeth Plaid Cymru. Mae'n anodd gwybod be ddigwyddith. Mae gan bob un eu cryfderau, ac mae'n siwr o fod yn gystadleuaeth ddifyr. Ond, fydd yna unrhyw un arall yn mynd amdani cyn y mae enwebiadau'n cau gan ei gwneud hi'n ras 5 neu fwy ceffyl? Amser a ddengys! Efallai bydd penderfyniadau yn cael eu gwneud gan rai pobl dros y Nadolig!

Mae'n beth iach cael cystadleuaeth mor agored, a dwi'n gobeithio bydd y ffaith bod cynifer o ymgeisyddion yn ysgogi aelodau i fynychu hystings a clywed beth sydd gan yr ymgeisyddion i'w ddweud. Bydd angen i'r ymgeisyddion i gyd ein argyhoeddi o'u gweledigaeth ar gyfer y Blaid ac ar gyfer Cymru. Mae yna dasg fawr yn gwynebu pwy bynnag gaiff eu hethol, a bydd angen i bwy bynnag sy'n ennill gael cefnogaeth y sawl sydd yn eu herio ar y funud.

Mae etholiadau mewnol yn bethau anodd iawn. Mwy anodd na unrhyw etholiad arall, lle mae rhywun yn herio Plaid arall gyda daliadau gwahanol. Yn aml, mae'r person yr yda chi'n ei herio yn ffrind, neu'n rhywun yr yda chi'n eu hedmygu. Rhywun y bysa chi'n hoffi cydweithio hefo yn hytrach na cystadlu yn eu herbyn. Ond dyna ydi gwleidyddiaeth. Ac mae'n rhaid i rywun fynd ati'n aeddfed wedi unrhyw etholiad mewnol i dderbyn y canlyniad a cefnogi pwy bynnag yw'r ennillydd.

Yn bersonol, o'r rhai sydd wedi datgan hyd yma, Elin Jones sydd wedi creu'r argraff fwyaf arnaf. Fel yr wyf wedi dweud droeon ar y blog yma yn y gorffennol, mae gen i barch aruthrol iddi hi fel gwleidydd a dwi'n meddwl bod ganddi'r weledigaeth a'r ddawn i arwain y Blaid i Lywodraeth yn y dyfodol. Edrychaf ymlaen i glywed mwy ganddi dros y misoedd nesaf. Dwi'n falch iawn o weld Leanne yn mynd amdani hefyd. Mae gennym ferched cryf iawn yn y Blaid a da gweld mwy ohonynt yn mynd am y prif swyddi! Mae'n hen bryd i ni gael merch fel Prif Weinidog Cymru. Dim byd yn erbyn y dynion, ond mae'n beth da cael ymagwedd wahanol o dro i dro!

Dyddiau difyr o'n blaenau yn 2012. Arweinydd newydd ar gyfer cyfnod newydd... Pwy a wyr be ddigwyddith rhwn rwan a hynny!

Taw piau hi

Ar ol bron i dair blynedd o ymgyrchu, rhwng yr Etholiad Cyffredinol Prydeining yn 2010 a'r un Cymreig yn gynharach eleni, mae hi wedi bod yn anodd setlo i fywyd go-iawn dros y misoedd diwethaf.Ond setlo sydd rhaid, ac mae'n rhaid i rywun ddysgu mai taw piau hi am gyfnod o leiaf. Yn amlwg, dwi ddim wedi stopio ymddiddori mewn gwleidyddiaeth, ond o ran bywyd proffesiynnol, mae angen canolbwyntio ar hynny am gyfnod ac o'r herwydd, mae'n well imi beidio ysgrifennu am bethau sydd yn mynd ymlaen yn y Cynulliad tan gobeithio y caf y cyfle i fod yn ymgeisydd eto rhyw ddiwrnod.

Nid ei bod hi'n hawdd o weld yr hyn sydd wedi bod yn digwydd ers mis Mai! Yn sicr, dwi yn meddwl bod Emyr Jones Parry wedi bod yn llygad ei le i gwestiynnu sut mae'r Aelodau Cynulliad yn defnyddio'r grym newydd sydd ganddyn nhw. Mae yna le i fod yn fwy creadigol ac uchelgeisiol, a dwi'n gobeithio y bydd hynny yn amlygu ei hun dros y blynyddoedd nesaf. Does dim diben ymladd am rym os nad yda chi yn fodlon wedyn ei ddefnyddio er gwell! A cyn i neb ddechrau cwyno - dwi'n credu bod hyn yn wir am aelodau o bob Plaid nid dim ond y Blaid sydd mewn grym. Y gwir ydi, os na wnawn ni rywbeth ar fyrder am yr economi, gwaethygu wnaiff pethau. Mae angen i ni herio'n gryfach yr hyn sydd yn cael ei orfodi arnom gan Lywodraeth Llundain. Mi yda ni angen ac mi yda ni'n haeddu gwell.

O ran y Blaid, dwi'n falch ein bod yn cynnal adolygiad trylwyr ac yn cwestiynnu sut yda ni'n datblygu fel Plaid. Oes, mae yna gwestiynnau anodd yn cael eu holi'n fewnol, ond mae nhw'n rai angenrheidiol os yda ni am barhau i fod yn effeithiol fel Plaid. Ac yn arbennig felly, os yda ni eisiau dod yn brif Blaid yn y Cynulliad yn y dyfodol agos! Mi fydd hi'n ddifyr gweld pwy aiff am yr Arweinyddiaeth yn y diwedd hefyd. Yn bersonol, dwi'n falch iawn o weld bod Elin Jones wedi rhoi ei henw ymlaen. Dwi'n ffan mawr ohoni hi, a dwi'n meddwl y bysa hi'n Brif Weinidog penigamp i Gymru. Cawn weld be ddaw dros y misoedd nesaf, ond yn sicr, mae yna le i fod yn bositif bod pethau da ar y gweill o ran dyfodol y Blaid.

Er bod hi'n od peidio bod mor amlwg wleidyddol, rhaid cyfaddef ei bod hi'n braf cael mwy o amser i ddal fyny gyda ffrindiau a theulu a hefyd dechrau diddordebau newydd. Dwi bellach yn mynd i wersi Tsieiniaidd (siarad nid bwyta) a hefyd ioga poeth ac yn mwynhau'n arw. O ran y cam nesaf yn wleidyddol, dwi ddim yn sefyll am y Cyngor flwyddyn nesaf ond mi fyddai yn ceisio cael fy newis fel ymgeisydd yn etholiadau'r Cynulliad tro nesaf bydd etholiad. Ac yn lle? Wel, byddai yn well gen i fynd am etholaeth yn y Gogledd yn hytrach na'r rhestr tro nesaf ond mae hi'n dibynnu pa etholaethau fydd yn bodoli erbyn hynny. Ac os bydd rhai o'n aelodau presennol yn sefyll eto! Ond pwy a wyr be ddigwyddith rhwng rwan a hynny.

Felly, ymddiheuriadau bod y blog yma ddim yn mynd i fod mor wleidyddol a hynny am dipyn. Ond mi wna'i drio sgwennu o dro i dro i'r rhai hynny sydd wedi bod yn driw o ran darllen y blog. Wythnos nesaf, dwi'n cael mynd i China am y tro cyntaf yn fy mywyd felly dwi'n siwr bydd digon i'w ddweud ar ol hynny!

Hwyl am y tro, a gobeithio bod pawb yn cadw'n iawn.

Lighten up?

On a whim yesterday, I bought the Independent on Sunday rather than the Sunday Times and came across this article on page 3. One positive thing about the story - a Plaid Cymru MP makes page three of a non tabloid UK paper. The negative - it is a completely ridiculous and ignorant piece of journalism.

First of all Mr Matthew Bell, who wrote the article, could you please interview some actual Welsh people if you want to find out what we're thinking? The way you've gone about it is a bit like asking white people after a white person has made a racial slur against a black person if they think he or she was being racist!

Lembit Opik MP is not Welsh. He may have represented Montgomeryshire at one point, but he is most definitely not Welsh and not a natural spokesperson for us.

Chris Bryant the MP for Rhondda was brought up in Cardiff, Spain and Cheltenham. I would not say that his identity is one of a Welshman.

The reporter then goes on to say that Stephen Fry and Gyles Brandreth also support the criticisms. Both NOT Welsh.

However, he did find one genuinely Welsh person to support his view that we are being ridiculous to take race slurs so seriously: Carol Voderman. Her words of wisdom: "Shrug your shoulders and have a glass of something fizzy to celebrate that life is never dull". Oh dear...

And so it seems that the UK press, even the Independent, believe that racism towards the Welsh is one of the last acceptable forms of racism. Jonathan Edwards was completely right to complain about the article. It was sick and racist, and to be honest, the article that appeared yesterday was racist as well. Why should we allow people to slur us in this way? I hate the way that if we complain about our treatment by the UK press, we are always accused of being oversensitive, thin skinned and paranoid. If that's the case, then surely that's the advice that should be given to everyone who feels discriminated against? Luckily, that's not the case, and the police do take forms of discrimination seriously.

That's not to say that we shouldn't ever be able to laugh at ourselves. Everyone needs to have a sense of humour and accept that people will make fun of different attributes and characteristics of a nation. But there is a line, and when it is crossed, some attacks are racist rather than funny. And we are right to stand up for ourselves when such a line is crossed.

In 5 years time...

For about two hours on Friday, I thought there was a real possibility that I was going to be elected. And for about fifteen minutes, I thought I was definitely in. As I was driving to the regional count in Denbigh, I heard on the radio that Plaid Cymru were going to get two regional seats in North Wales and as I arrived, a few people that I know from other political parties congratulated me. Then I spoke to my fellow Plaid Cymru people, and heard the truth. We'd just missed out by a few hundred votes and that was the end of that. But at least Llyr was in, and I'm delighted for him as I know he'll be an excellent Assembly member.

It was a strange experience, driving back from Denbigh to Caernarfon. My phone was going mad, and people were still speculating on the radio that I was about to be elected. There was nothing for it but to stop the car, and put up on twitter that I definitely wasn't it. Within five minutes, that was being reported and the phone calls stopped. I plugged my ipod in, and the first song to play on shuffle was the following. I had to laugh at the irony!



It was always going to be a long shot for me to get in, so I'm not devestated but I am upset that other Plaid Cymru candidates didn't make it. The Assembly will be a poorer place without Nerys Evans, Helen Mary Jones, Chris Franks and Dai Lloyd. I truly hope we'll see them return in 2016. Wales needs them!

As for what went wrong for Plaid Cymru, I'm going to ponder for a few days before posting something a bit more subtantial here. Lessons need to be learnt without a doubt, and something dramatic needs to happen so that we transform our fortunes in time for the 2016 election.

By then, I hope to be standing as a candidate in a seat rather than a region. It's not an experience I'd like to go through again, because you're competing against your own team in order to have a chance of being elected. Even though I desperately wanted us to keep Aberconwy and I worked hard there alongside Iwan Huws, a small part of me knew that we had to lose the seat in order for me to possibly be elected. And that's wrong. Also, it's impossible to set definite goals as a list candidates. You end up doing a bit here and there in every constituency, and have no real control over the votes as your name doesn't appear on the ballot paper. Those you do convert to voting for you then struggle to understand how to cast that vote. At least in Montgomeryshire I could set a goal of coming third and be proud when we did achieve it.

I have to say that I was seriously impressed with our candidates across North Wales, who all worked incredibly hard and deserved better results. Mabon ap Gwynfor, Marc Jones, Carrie Harper and Shane Brennan are all names to watch out for in the future, and I very much hope to see Eifion Lloyd Jones and Iwan Huws run again as well. Seeing worse candidates being elected in some seats is depressing, but that's democracy unfortunately. We'll just have to keep up the good fight and hope for a breakthrough in the end, as happened for the SNP this time.

Thank you to all our activists - we couldn't have achieved anything without them! They're a fantastic group of people, and I've very much enjoyed campaigning with them and making new friends. Also, the Plaid Cymru staff who gave it their all - they are amazing. Mawr fydd eich gwobr yn y nefoedd!

Boring?!

Any other candidates/ activists fed up of hearing the press moan that this has been a boring campaign? Well, I certainly am especially as I've been out campaigning every single day with various campaign teams across the whole of North Wales and know that is not the case on the ground! We've had large teams out in every constituency trying to raise awareness and promote our ideas for a better Wales, and have also been updating websites with blogs, videos and pictures to convey all that hard work. We've had our first ever cinema advertisement, a manifesto brimming with ideas and countless press opportunities. And still they moan!

Most of the moaning comes from journalists who have remained largely based in Cardiff for the duration of the campaign, perhaps because of tight budgets. No surprise that things seem quiet where they are as all the politicians hoping to eventually make it to the Senedd are in other parts of the country! Also, to be fair, coverage has been hampered by the Royal Wedding, the AV referendum and also this week, Osama Bin Laden's death. How are we as political parties supposed to get our messages across if the world is focused on other issues?

We knew that the royal wedding and the AV referendum would pose challenges in terms of coverage, which is why we've focused on meeting as many people as possible and running effective local campaigns. Because of this approach, I believe there will be a few shock results tomorrow, that will take journalists by surprise. Or at least, that's what I'm hoping!

Could the parties have done more? Well, yes, I think some parties could have done more in some constituencies. For example, I've been shocked to see the lack of opposition to Alun Ffred in Arfon (great for us though) and the low profile nature of the Conservative campaign in Aberconwy in the crucial last two weeks. But ultimately, although there are a few excellent journalists in Wales, I think it is clear to all that ultimately, unless the press cover our new ideas and approaches then how are the political parties supposed to excite the masses about the campaign? I have to say the past two days in Aberconwy has been anything other than boring, with placards destroyed, the office being vandalised and a Labour pamphlet containing a number of untruths being forced to be withdrawn! There are some stresses one could do without!

Anyway, all will be revealed before long. I still have faith that Plaid will do better than predicted in today's polls as I honestly think that we have the best vision for Wales as well as the best team of candidates. Fingers crossed that the electorate will agree!

03.05.11 Video Blog

03.05.11 Cymraeg