Title : Election Tour 2017: Stew, a shouty interview and a fox
link : Election Tour 2017: Stew, a shouty interview and a fox
Election Tour 2017: Stew, a shouty interview and a fox
A small fanfare for Y Cneifiwr's blog which has just notched up one million hits.Once you have calmed yourselves after that exciting news, settle down for this week's bus tour.
_____________
22 March marked the start of nominations for the council elections in May, and we won't know the full list of who is standing where until late on 4 April. If you don't like elections, you may want to dive back under the duvet and stay there for the next six weeks because despite the commotion of the last couple of months, the main show has yet to get underway.
Felinfoel and Llannon
When it does, all human life will be there, and this week's edition of Y Byd ar Bedwar on S4C provided a powerful reminder of just how dire some of the current batch of elected representatives are.
The programme looked at the school row in Llangennech. There was Hugh Richards (Independent, Felinfoel) looking well past his sell-by date mumbling incoherently from a script which could have been written by his old friend, Meryl Gravell. Meryl told gobsmacked councillors a few years ago that her grandchildren's Welsh had improved no end since leaving Ysgol y Strade and moving to London.
Richards is a former president of the National Farmers' Union Wales who picked up an OBE in 1999 for services to agriculture. In 2008 he was prosecuted and fined for breaching animal welfare laws after he was caught transporting lambs suffering from foot rot to market.
Hugh Richards will be nudging 80 by the time we go back to the polls in 2022.
Even less appealing was Cllr Kim Thomas (Labour, Llannon) who put on a shouty, angry performance for the cameras. She had come in for a lot of criticism for saying that phasing out the English stream in Llangennech was apartheid, and she went even further in her interview with Y Byd ar Bedwar, questioning the value of Welsh medium education and the Welsh language. You couldn't even use it in Swansea, she said.
Despite holding these views, Cllr Thomas is governor of the Welsh-medium Ysgol Cross Hands.
Unlike Cllr Thomas, many parents and pupils know that being able to communicate effectively in Welsh as well as English is a very useful thing to have on your CV, and it opens up opportunities in a whole host of fields, ranging from local and national government (in Cardiff, Cllr Thomas!), the health service, the law, education, the performing arts and the media as well as in the private sector.
The BBC also helpfully reminded us this week that 47% of all Welsh speakers live within a 50 mile radius of Swansea.
If Kim Thomas did not look so angry and miserable, it would be tempting to say that ignorance is bliss.
Pontaman
Meanwhile, over in Pontaman, Cneifiwr understands that Colin Evans (Lab) is probably feeling pretty miserable after being bitten on the nose by a fox that he thought he had shot dead but which still had a lot of life left in it.
Cadno, the Herald's star columnist, will be delighted.
Members of the public should approach the councillor with care. Frothing at the mouth may just be a sign that he is contemplating his comrades in Llanelli Labour or the likely outcome of the council elections, but you never know. Best call a vet..
Abergwili - Fruit and Nut Balls
Veteran Independent leader, Pam Palmer, is hanging up her broomstick at last and handing the reins to Lisa Fearn. Lisa is a familiar figure to S4C's daytime viewer with her appearances in the cookery slot on Prynhawn Da where she magics up delights ranging from potted panna cotta (but probably not LibDem falafal filled pitta pockets) to fruit and nut energy balls.
Think of her as Carmarthenshire's answer to Nigella.
Here's a recipe for stew.
She also runs a cookery and gardening school from her home a couple of miles outside Carmarthen and is married to Jonathan Fearn, Head of Property for Carmarthenshire County Council.
If elected, being a councillor married to a senior councillor officer would have its challenges, and conflict of interest would prevent her from taking part in many council decisions.
There is of course absolutely no truth in the old Carmarthenshire saying that the Independents are Mark James's political wing, but if you want an effective councillor in Abergwili who is not torn by the demands of running a business, trips to the TV studio and a slightly limiting relationship with a senior council officer, vote for Dorian Williams, former head of Ysgol Bro Myrddin.
Or face detention.
Llansteffan
And so we wave a fond farewell to veteran Independent Elmer Fudd, or Daff Davies as he was sometimes known.
 |
| Daff being prodded by the chief executive |
Daff Davies beat off very stiff competition to become the current holder of Worst Council Chairman Ever. Worse even than Ivor Jackson (Ind., Llandovery), and that took some doing.
Elmer briefly rose to fame for championing the Dylan Thomas Memorial Wind Turbine on the farm of some friends overlooking the boozy poet's famous writing shed. The planning decision was eventually overturned, with council tax payers picking up another hefty bill.
In 2012 Daff squeaked in just 5 votes ahead of his Plaid opponent, Carys Jones. It was rumoured locally that Daff ensured victory by bussing his Polish farm workers to the polling station.
Hoping to fill Daff's oversized clown shoes for the Independents is Roger van Praet, a keen trainspotter who works in insurance. Simmer down at the back!
With a very good chance of taking the ward for Plaid is Carys Jones who is standing again.
Carys is from a local farming family who works part time for UCW Trinity Saint David's and has extensive experience in public finance and supporting community projects.
thus Article Election Tour 2017: Stew, a shouty interview and a fox
that is all articles Election Tour 2017: Stew, a shouty interview and a fox This time, hopefully can provide benefits to all of you. Okay, see you in another article posting.
You now read the article Election Tour 2017: Stew, a shouty interview and a fox with the link address https://forhealthforaction.blogspot.com/2017/03/election-tour-2017-stew-shouty.html
0 Response to "Election Tour 2017: Stew, a shouty interview and a fox"
Post a Comment