Who-he Lewis and the other two
Last week a colleague took to the streets with three photographs - one each of the three likely Labour leadership contenders. He drew a blank. No-one recognised them, no-one, that is, until he came across a civil servant on a lunch break. Even they could only name two of the three. I hope for their sake it was the two Ministers.
I'm not sure he would have had much more luck if he'd taken to the streets of London with photographs of Alan Johnson, Andy Burnham and the Milibands but Rhodri Morgan? Yes, ok. Point made.
So to those of you who drop into the blog every now and then and who think Jones, Hart and Lewis sounds vaguely like a firm of lawyers - the kind who specialise in conveyancing and rarely get thrust into the limelight - then here's my Good Morning Wales guide to the three.
The order, by the way, is alphabetical because otherwise, I might get a firm of lawyers who specialise in areas other than conveyancing after me.
Edwina Hart
If you had to guess which instrument Edwina Hart used to play in the National Youth Orchestra of Wales I bet you'd take a punt on the first violin. A bit piercing and shrill to some ears, to others a clear sound cutting through the guff around it. Well you'd be wrong. This former first violinist moved on to the viola - bang, slap in the middle of the orchestra. Pretty apt. Mrs Hart's involvement in the union movement has put her bang, slap in the middle of the Labour movement which is precisely why her fans think she could take the top job. Problems? Certainly.
Her critis say she digs in her heels - and such heels - even when she's wrong. The Health Minister will need and will get votes from fellow Assembly members but her fan base in Westminster? It's rather lacking shall we say. She rarely bothers to pay us a visit, say MPs. Not a team player. Slaps us down as meddlers. She's certainly never curried favour in Westminster and it's hard to see how she can now rely on many MPs' votes. Notoriously camera shy - ah yes, slaps us journalists down as meddlers too - Edwina Hart is an effective communicator ... but only when she wants to be.
She'll stand on her considerable heels, only if she thinks she's going to win.
Carwyn Jones
Carwyn Jones - think all the 'Bs'. The member for Bridgend was a practising barrister and a man who, depending on which side of the fence you are, is either a bit bland and rather blase about being the bookies' long-time favourite to take over from Rhodri Morgan, or the one candidate who has an all-important 'b' - broad appeal.
As Minister for Agriculture he hit the headlines and gained respect over his sure handling of the Foot and Mouth outbreak. His most recent job - Counsel General and Leader of the House - have seen him blend - ah, that 'b' again - rather more into the background. He tends, whisper some of his colleagues, to be lazy. Could he not, they ask, have made more of an impact? Others might suggest his portfolio and role as legal adviser to the government, rather than policy man, have made it difficult to stand out.
He's the only candidate who's a fluent Welsh speaker - enough in itself to persuade some Labour party members he's a closet nationalist who's too at home in coalition with Plaid. Rubbish, says the man himself who points to another couple of uncomfortable 'bs' for Labour - ballot boxes and bloody noses. It's time, he says, for Labour to be honest. Yes, it must appeal to its core vote but to win again, it must reach out and touch new supporters - and that's where he hopes broad appeal will come in rather handy.
Huw Lewis
Huw Lewis? Right, join in. In, out, in, out ... in, out and now is the member for Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney about to shake things all about?
He resigned as party whip following Alun Michael's resignation; resigned again as a deputy minister over the disposal of carcasses is his patch during the foot and mouth crisis. Proof he's a man of principle, say his fans. Proof he's a man with a short fuse, say his critics. He wa sacked as a deputy minister when Plaid struck their deal with Labour - a partnership he vehemently opposed. He now knows that opposition will stand him in good stead with some parts of the party come the leadership election.
No cabinet platform then for 'who-he Lewis' as he's been dubbed but as a back bencher he can and does speak his mind. He dismissed suggestions that some in the party had cost Labour votes in Welsh speaking Wales because of their attitude to the language as "self-evident nonsense". He's slammed the Labour-led government's failure to do more to tackle child poverty. But anti the language? He's learning Welsh. Anti coalition? He says he'd abide by the deal his party has struck.
It's old news that Huw Lewis divides opinion. The question is whether the man in the neat suit, white shirt and dark red tie can now make that work for him.
I'm Betsan Powys, BBC Wales' political editor. I'll be blogging the inside track on 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~12~RS~)
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Now this is in no way a dig at Betsan cos she's just reporting it the way it is but....
For goodness sake! If ever proof were needed that the welsh language plays far too big a part in welsh politics then look no further than here. All I've found out here is who is anti-welsh, who can speak it and who's learning.
Is the plan of those in the bay to just make us so bored and disenchanted with their never ending bickering over an antique language that we'll just end up becoming disinterested and they can then get on with their secretive business without any of us prying.
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Huw Lewis, "He says he'd abide by the deal his party has struck."
But does he have to do anything more than has been done already, I don't think so, all he has to say, write, sing, is "the cupboard is bare".
And Plaid, well, it can whistle in the wind.
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Only 'pop in' here once or twice a week nowadays. Sadly, every time I do, I find more and more mind-numbing, non-news about the forthcoming 'leadership' contest.
Gawd it's boring!
Do the powers that be realize that the Welsh public have little or no interest in who is 'first minister'. The assembly just doesn't cut it with the ordinary Welsh folk. It seems only the media and the army of political hangers-on are keen to repeatedly chatter (and Gawd, have we had some chattering) on about the three second-raters who are standing for this really quite pointless office.
CARDIFFIAN, I agree wholeheartedly with your opinion of the never-ending forcing of the Welsh language on the majority of us non-Welsh speakers.
I am now certain that the promotion of the little-used and virtually useless Welsh language is, and always has been, the prime reason for the WAG's existence.It is clear now that Plaid Cymru are desperate to get as many Welsh speakers (even at 3 years old apparently)as possible, becausethey fervently believe that every Welsh speaker becomes a life-long Plaid supporter. Yes, Public money is being used in order to produce assembly-line Plaidos.
Money is cut from all the vital services, but more and more is to be spent on pushing this dying language.
Never mind....The people of Wales will only take so much! Just as has happened in the past, the language fanatics will go too far and will be pushed back into obscurity....and the sooner the better.
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Cardiffian2008 - Maybe you have a point. All this debate about the various process issues in Europe blinds us to the real problem of a democratic deficit, and while the people keep chattering the politicians keep us in the dark of their ulterior motives..
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http://www.paulflynnmp.co.uk/senydd.htm
About time, English speaking Wales have woken up, the driving force for the compulsion of all things Welsh, including the enforcement of Rhodri's language, is WELSH Labour!! Yes, those proper Welsh, Welsh speaking Rhodri types, who shamelessly courted the vote of the English speaking working classes!!! If you vote for....It's hard to say Labour, in Newport you vote for this vainglorious anti-Brit, the Druid, Paul Flynn!!
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Re 5
There can be no doubt any longer, Jack is indeed a stuck, and rather tedious record.
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This comment was removed because the moderators found it broke the House Rules.
I visited a number of blogs this morning and on each one Fi Dafydd has
been provocative and insulting throughout his small and puerile contributions. Where are the moderators?
Having spent most of my life in the construction industry I find the art
of descriptive writing beyond me but I can and do recognise where and
when these attributes can and do influence. The use of the positive and
negative context certainly can be used to sway an argument.
For instance 'broad appeal' may suggest 'popular' yet in which circles
does that apply in the Labour heartlands(and they're still there) or the bubble in the bay to the 15% welsh speaking minority or the english speaking majority? On the other hand 'old news' could suggest old fashioned and past it? Petty it might be but very pertinent.
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Re 1
Can you explain what you mean by 'antique language'? - it's a nonsensical term. English is rather an old language as well, or didn't you know.
"Is the plan of those in the bay to just make us so bored and disenchanted with their never ending bickering over an antique language..."
But you see, they aren't 'bickering' about the language in the National Assembly; they, like the vast majority of the Welsh nation, are getting on with the job - despite the ridiculous stalling tactics of Westminster - of helping the language, and wishing to see it survive and thrive.
Some of us, of course, would like to see them give more support.
The bickering belongs to a small number of dinosaurs who contribute to this blog, simply because they have an absurd obsession with the language ...for whatever reason.
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"But you see, they aren't 'bickering' about the language in the National Assembly"
I am fairly certain that the majority of people in Wales will view the endless and petty arguments over the translation of assembly minutes last month as 'bickering'. What is for darn sure is that they will not view the whole sorry affair as 'just getting on with the job' as you put it.... particulary if that job is improving the lives of Welsh people like it's supposed to be!
p.s.
antique = nice to have but not essential. Usually just for show and doesnt actually do anything... but always darned expensive!
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Firstly I'm not surprised that nobody recognised the three candidates, they are not the highest profile members of a cabinet where (thankfully) policy is afforded more attention than personalities. I think overall this is a good sign as characteristics such as an appealing (or otherwise) smile and an ability to talk without notes have deflected attention away from more important issues in other governments, such as in London, Paris and Rome. Everyone knows Berlusconi but would you want him running your country? I certainly wouldn't. Let's hear what the candidates have to say and then judge them.
Secondly the Welsh language always sparks lively debate on this blog, though I do think that both sides take the argument too far. On the one hand, I don't think the Assembly has an agenda to force the language upon people who do not wish to use it. I think I'm right in saying that in the draft budget, Heritage (the portfolio under which the language falls) was the only department to receive less money for 2010-2011 than the previous year. This does not strike me as a government obsessed with the Welsh language.
To those in favour of the Welsh language, I support the idea of offering parents the choice of giving their child a Welsh-medium education. I am a Welsh speaker and I enjoy speaking the language but I wouldn't want to live in a country which prioritises Welsh over English. I certainly wouldn't want businesses to be obliged to offer a bilingual service, everyone knows this would damage the economy as businesses would flee. Offer choice but no obligation, this to me seems the most reasonable approach.
Contributions which insist that the Assembly does nothing but discuss the language are misguided, obviously more work goes on than that. If you picked up a prescription recently you will know this. Whether these are the correct policies is of course up for debate, but let's at least have that debate instead of posting messages on both sides which go too far.
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9.In Collins 'antique' is translated as old fashioned and that in the context that it is used is appropriate.Don't kid yourself or us that there is no 'bickering' about the language in the Assembly there is open
warfare what you should have said was there was no 'bickering' amongst
'Plaid' in the Assembly.Plaid has always used the language as a tool and
it serves their purpose to slag off Westminster because they have no influence there but will the ALCO be accepted by those slagged off welsh MP's at Parliament. That is the question dear FiFi?
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Re 10
So a definition that doesn't apply to the Welsh language in any way, then. I'm glad we're agreed on something.
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message 11....
Now there is a message from someone who states he/she speaks the language.
What sort of a person is it that actually reiterates what I, and others, have been saying for many months? Who of course, despite being a language fluent, is without doubt 'anti Welsh and a Cymraeg language hater'.
Simply must be, because what has been said is completely in line with what we real 'Anti Welsh and Cymraeg language haters' have been saying all along.
Sorry to inform you 'richtea-oclock', but you are now a paid up member of our 'anti Wales' club.
To keep to the original point however, it must be a matter of some concern that no one knew who the people were, based on photographs, but I would also say, from my personal political experience in the matter, that few even know anyone involved in the Cardiff Bay menage, apart that is from the First Minister, and maybe one or two with a slightly higher public profile than most.
Some names stand out, but what they represent is not, again, well known, unless one is really concerned enough to take on board what emanates from the Bay via the TV. I reckon few really are concerned enough.
Many I speak to say, all they see is a talking shop, which is a unnecessary addition to the governing of this region.
They often accept 'Wales' as a 'national concept' when talking Rugby, but beyond that see our status as part of the UK, or Britain, and whatever they hear from Cardiff is a perpetual seeking of extended powers, with the language being used as an ever increasing part of what is being sought.
That again, many tell me, is irrelevant to what they want and need.
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