What a mess. In a vote in the Senedd (Welsh Assembly) for First Minister this week, the Welsh Tories and UKIP pulled a nice wee stunt when they decided to vote for Leanne Woods of Plaid for First Minister.
With the sole Lib Dem AM siding with Labour’s Carwyn Jones that left everything tied at 29 votes apiece. Therefore, no Welsh FM. Since then Labour has been trying to put it about that Plaid had agreed with UKIP and or the Tories beforehand.
That seems highly unlikely. More likely Plaid’s posturing as leader of an alternative government is being lampooned by the two smaller ‘opposition’ parties along with a reminder to Labour that the FM’s office is not theirs as of right.
The main takeaway: don’t posture with power. Standing for office without the political ‘money’ to win can be playing with fire.
The upshot is that the National Assembly for Wales now has 28 days from the election to choose a First Minister, or face a second election. Someone is going to have to back down. And the sooner, probably, the better.
Mick is founding editor of Slugger. He has written papers on the impacts of the Internet on politics and the wider media and is a regular guest and speaking events across Ireland, the UK and Europe. Twitter: @MickFealty