Tears on a laughing emoji are turquoise

Ben Wildsmith

Nigel Farage! Dan Thomas! Richard Tice! Welsh Dave! Vladimir Putin! Enoch Powell! Oswald Mosley! Frederick Nietzsche! Ayn Rand! The metaphysical concept of “otherness”! Mr. Rod Stewart! It’s true, said Fred! Gerwyn Prize! Marinated eggs in Gerwyn Price’s chip shop! Bonnie Blue! Jac o’ the North! Your boys took quite a beating!

The tears on a laughing emoji are turquoise, you’ll notice. Tasty!

Like many of the 71% who did not vote for Reform UK, my overriding emotion on Friday was relief.

Relief that Wales is not being used as a loss-making promotional government for Nigel Farage’s ambitions at Westminster; relief that the Reform Party does not have the status of the most important party to fuel a narrative of grievance; relief that my neighbors did not fall for this odious and divisive political project.

We were told a story about this election. The first part was true: Wales got a mouthful of Labour. Because this aspect of the prophecy was settled well before the vote, we did not experience its fulfillment as a shock.

The destruction of the corpse of the Welsh Labor Party has overshadowed its actual demise in Welsh conversation, although in England, where few people were paying attention, it was bigger news this week. We set the price months ago.

The second part of the story was that “The Valleys” would definitely turn to the Reformers in a backlash against everything Labor stood for. This hypothesis was based on the Anglocentric notion that all post-industrial communities behave in the same way.

Despite the reluctance of South Walians to accept Boris Johnson’s foray into the ‘Red Wall’ in 2019, the orthodoxy was that this time, under unpopular Labor governments, we would align with the Midlands and the North East of England.

It’s always a mistake for politicians to tell other people’s stories, and it’s a mistake that is made about former coal mining communities with depressing regularity.

The Labor Party’s assumption that we had nowhere to turn ended up being mirrored by the Reform Party in this election.

Both had the temerity to assume that economic deprivation produces voters who can be motivated en masse to play a role in someone else’s dream. The two learned differently.

Responsibility

Plaid’s success in the Central and Eastern Valleys, however, carries a heavy and urgent responsibility. While the political expression of these communities cannot be reduced to numb quietude on the part of Labor, nor a howl of senseless despair on the part of Reform, the problems here are urgent and structural.

Scores of votes have been cast for Plaid in the skeptical hope that these will be rewarded with substantial action to reverse forty years of economic and social decline.

Plaid’s narrow margins of victory in these constituencies reflect the trial nature of their mandate.

No one is dancing with flags in the street this weekend near my house. Show us the money, or at least a plan we can believe in.

More broadly, Labour’s future looks precarious. While Plaid needs to recognize that many of its votes were cast primarily to reject Labor, Ken Skates’ decimated group in the Senedd needs to feel the importance of this in their bones.

Labor has been humiliated across Wales and, if it is to survive, the party must demonstrate humility in its attitude towards the new government. They are not kingmakers, nor do they have the moral authority to operate the balance of power. 11.1% of the votes allow them to provide constructive criticism and not to obstruct.

For Labor to begin to restore its reputation in the shadow of the disastrous Starmer government and in the wake of Vaughan Gething’s insult to Wales, it needs to be useful.

New era

This could be the dawn of a new era for Cymru. The simple fact that a ruling party is beholden only to us is a giant step forward in political trust and accountability.

That Welsh problems are best solved by the Welsh people is a credo that should underpin our democracy, regardless of which party is in power.

Voters have rejected a generously funded outside bid to involve us in a UK-wide change in political culture.

It is Plaid’s honor to have the chance to prove our viability as a distinct nation. They will only do this by listening to our stories, not by telling us theirs.

Llongyfarchiadau, now go ahead and do it.