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Dyw pethau ddim yn edrych yn dda iawn i Alun Cairns wrth iddo ymladd i gadw ei le fel ymgeisydd seneddol y Torïaid ym Mro Morgannwg. Petai’n ymgeisydd yn Llundain, yn hytrach nag mewn ardal ddiarffordd fel y Fro mae’n siŵr y buasai wedi gorfod rhoi’r gorau iddi’n barod. Byddwn hefyd yn fodlon dadlau y byddai’r chwip Torïaidd wedi’i dynnu oddi arno yn y Cynulliad Cenedlaethol hefyd. Y rheswm dros ddweud hynny yw’r ffordd y mae’r blaid Geidwadol wedi mynd i’r afael ag achos James McGrath, yr ymgynghorydd arbennig i Boris Johnson, maer Llundain. Dyma sut mae’r newyddiadurwr Marc Wadsworth yn adrodd yr hanes yn y Guardian ar-lein. When I put to McGrath that an influential black columnist for the Voice newspaper suggested that...

Fe wnaeth Blog Aber Dar dynnu sylw at fy nisgrifiad o weithred David Davis fel “gwastraff arian” yn ei sylw ar fy nghofnod “Beth mae David Davis yn ei wneud”, ac fe holodd gwestiwn digon teg “Ai wyt ti’n gwneud yr un peth pan fod Cymdeithas yr Iaith (neu unrhyw grŵp arall mi wyt ti’n cefnogi) yn cynnal Protest yn Aberystwyth neu lle bynnag?” Rhaid imi ddweud na fuaswn i am atal neb rhag protestio a hynny mewn unrhyw ddull di-drais sydd ar gael iddynt wneud hynny. Ond dwi’n methu gweld llawer iawn o debygrwydd rhwng protest gan fudiad fel Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg ag un gan lefarydd yr wrthblaid ar faterion cartref. Yn bennaf am fod y gwleidydd wedi dewis y ffordd wleidyddol o weithredu yn hytrach na ffordd protest – mae ef wedi ymrwymo ei hun i yn llwyr...

Mae’n rhaid ei bod hi’n dymor ar gyfer ymddiswyddiadau gwleidyddol, o leiaf yn Aberystwyth a Haltemprice a Howden. Efallai taw fasiwn yw hyn, ond mae’n rhyfedd sut mae ymddiswyddo yn medru digwydd am bob math o wahanol resymau. Dwi’n ofni nad ydw i’n gweld llawer o bwynt i’r hyn mae David Davies yn ei wneud. Ar y wyneb mae’n ymddangos yn benderfyniad egwyddorol gan ddyn o argyhoeddiad. Ond beth fydd e’n llwyddo i’w wneud yn y diwedd? Ffotgraff gan Steve Spunter. Rhennir o dan drwydded Creative Commons. Mae David Davies yn mynd i ail-ennill y sedd, ac mae e’n mynd i ail-ennill yn hawdd – yn arbennig gan fod y Lib Demiaid wedi penderfynu’n barod i beidio â rhoi ymgeisydd yn ei erbyn. Does dim llawer o stori yn hynny mewn...

Dyna ni felly, etholiad arall drosodd, dyma grynhoi rhai o'r prif argraffiadau. GwyneddPlaid Cymru yn colli Gwynedd gyda unigolion blaenllaw fel Dafydd Iwan a Richard Parry Huws yn colli eu seddau oedd newyddion yr etholiad i mi. Er mod i'n credu fod Plaid Cymru yn haeddu ysgytwad dydw i ddim yn hollol gyfforddus gyda buddugoliaeth Llais Gwyendd oherwydd nad ydw i'n credu mewn single issue politics. Er enghriafft pwy yw arweinydd grwp Llais Gwynedd ar y cyngor nawr? Pwy fydd a'r mandad i arwain y trafodaethau am glymbleidio? Ydy Llais Gwynedd eu hunain yn gwybod yr ateb i hyn heb son am ni'r etholwyr yma yng Ngwynedd - y cwestiwn tymor hir fydd yn hofran uwch ben Gwynedd fydd hyn - a aeth y brotest rhy bell?Newyddion arwyddocaol arall yng Ngwynedd oedd bod Plaid Cymru wedi ennill tir mewn...

Roeddw ni'n darllen ar wefan y BBC fod David Cameron peth cyntaf bore ma wedi teithio draw i Fro Morganwg i ddathlu buddugoliaeth y Ceidwadwyr wrth iddynt ennill y cyngor oddi ar Lafur. Dyma ddywedodd e:"...the Tories are now right back in contention in the country."Wps... beth yn union wyt ti'n feddwl wrth country David, Cymru neu'r UK?! Ydy hyn yn dangos fod y Ceidwadwyr fel uned gyfan dal heb addasu i ddatganoli? Dwi'n meddwl ei fod...

Find out what David Cameron thinks about devolution.See the Tories squirm on coalition talk.Heck! Tune in just to get another glimpse of the effervescent Glyn Davies.Yes, it's the story of the simmering debates the Tories kept miles from the conference floor on the weekend.And you can see it on 18 Doughty Street (if they can read the video format).Cheryl Gillan will be on to respond.9pm (I think)....

Matt Withers suggests that politicians should stay away from the joke books and that young Tory councillors should stay away from the painkillers (Peter Black has commented on the latter story here). Blamerbell reports on Saturday's conference speeches and the Party's new light bulb obsession. He also states that for all the happy faces in Cardiff a number of vital issues were ignored. Glyn Davies AM details some of the Tories' after-dinner jokes (the second one re-enforces Matt Withers' point above) and says that Cameron was on fine form. Chanticleer welcomes Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan's contribution to the look-alike gallery. Emma Greenow (Conservative candidate for Bridgend) was delighted by the 'positive spirit' of the conference and takes the award for the most...

Having spent the daylight hours at the Tories' big day out, I can confirm that the biggest talking point is still the free light bulbs.William Hague delivered a good speech. But it was about Mirek Topolanek so nobody cared.Francis Maude revealed the Tories' latest Gordon Brown metaphor: 'the big clunking spider at the centre of the Labour web'. (I wonder how many overpaid speech writers it took to come up with that?)And Shadow Welsh Secretary Cheryl Gillan took a swipe at Rhodri Morgan, the 'Worzel Gummidge of Welsh politics. She also came up with a new nickname for Peter Hain - 'Mr three jobs, one ballroom and an aga Hain'. Can't see that one sticking.Tomorrow: Cameron. After a wet opening day - I arrived damper than a Brynle Williams armpit - let's hope he brings the sunshine with...

The gloves are off, because as all good politicians know you can't sling mud if you're hands are tied up.So much for parties putting forward a positive future vision for Wales at this election. Labour spent their conference slagging off the Tories and inadvertently drawing attention to David Cameron's current popularity. Plaid kicked out at Labour, and the Tories, in turn, volleyed a few missiles back towards Rhodri Morgan.Nobody really bothered to attack the Lib Dems, so Peter Black stepped up to attack Plaid for attacking Labour.Meanwhile, the Lib Dems claim they are whiter than white (or goldener than gold), but Alun Cairns reminds us that they fought the 2003 campaign on a misfiring 'Kick the Tories out' platform.Soon, the twisting of facts and figures will go into overdrive, leaving...

The Tory leader is apparently away from home this...

First, a Freedom of Information request was made, asking for a breakdown of the travel expenses claimed by individual MPs for the past year. I presume the complainant wants to know if politicians are as environmentally friendly as they say they are. I wonder how many times David Cameron or Tony Blair took a bus last year?Anyway, the House of Commons withheld the information, claiming it was exempt under section 40(2) of the act.The commissioner wasn't convinced, and found that disclosing the information wouldn't contravene the Data Protection Act. Therefore, the Commissioner concluded that "the House has breached section 1(1) of the Act in that it incorrectly withheld the requested information". The outcome? The House of Commons had a further 30 days to come up with the information....

The Welsh Conservative party is trying desperately to have Peter Davies removed from their list of approved candidates for the May 2007 Assembly elections.Why?Because he wants it abolished.There was a time, of course, when every Tory candidate stood on an anti-Assembly platform. One of the reasons the Tories weren't so successful in 1999 was that they were trying to get elected to an institution for which they had no appetite. As recent as the 2005 general election their policy was to offer Welsh people the chance to scrap it.But when David Cameron took control the Tories didn't just go green, they went red too. The new Tories embrace devolution. They even claim to be the party of the Welsh language.So it wouldn't look good to field a candidate who fundamentally opposes devolution, even...

This blog is fast turning into a sort of 'Tory watch'. It's certainly not intended to be, it's just that the Tories keep coming up with great stories.The latest is that they've sacked (or 'resigned') the man in charge of making them more colourful and representative.This from the Times:The deputy chairman of the Conservative Party responsible for recruiting more ethnic minority MPs has resigned as the party was rocked by the second race row in as many days.Bernard Jenkin quit his position in a wide-ranging Conservative reshuffle as a leading ethnic minority candidate denounced his own party, claiming that Mr Jenkin had told him that he would not be selected for a seat because he was not white. This comes as no surprise to anyone who has met any grass-root Tories. They are miles away from...

This blog is fast turning into a sort of 'Tory watch'. It's certainly not intended to be, it's just that the Tories keep coming up with great stories.The latest is that they've sacked (or 'resigned') the man in charge of making them more colourful and representative.This from the Times:The deputy chairman of the Conservative Party responsible for recruiting more ethnic minority MPs has resigned as the party was rocked by the second race row in as many days.Bernard Jenkin quit his position in a wide-ranging Conservative reshuffle as a leading ethnic minority candidate denounced his own party, claiming that Mr Jenkin had told him that he would not be selected for a seat because he was not white. This comes as no surprise to anyone who has met any grass-root Tories. They are miles away from...

The Welsh Conservative party is trying desperately to have Peter Davies removed from their list of approved candidates for the May 2007 Assembly elections.Why?Because he wants it abolished.There was a time, of course, when every Tory candidate stood on an anti-Assembly platform. One of the reasons the Tories weren't so successful in 1999 was that they were trying to get elected to an institution for which they had no appetite. As recent as the 2005 general election their policy was to offer Welsh people the chance to scrap it.But when David Cameron took control the Tories didn't just go green, they went red too. The new Tories embrace devolution. They even claim to be the party of the Welsh language.So it wouldn't look good to field a candidate who fundamentally opposes devolution, even...

Another interesting tidbit from David Cameron's visit to Cardiff yesterday:Top-up fees are certainly there to stay in England, he said. But the Welsh Conservatives can do whatever they like.The Tories had always opposed university fees. In fact, the only mention of top-up fess on their website seems to be in the 2005 general election manifesto, in which they promised to scrap them.As Shadow Education Secretary, Cameron led the charge against fees in parliament. But he's now done a complete u-turn and is even not ruling out lifting the £3,000 cap when it comes up for review in 2009/10.Cameron said the Tories can act as they wish in the Welsh Assembly, as long as it's "within a conservative framework".Quite how a Conservative framework can simultanesouly be for and against top-up fees in...

David Cameron's in Cardiff today talking tough love on anti-social behaviour.Over 7,000 ASBOs have been issued since their introduction, and 40% of these have been breached.Cameron's solution is to be tougher on those who cross the line. He wants more young people imprisoned for breaching ASBOs - somewhat controversial given that most of the individual offences in ASBOs wouldn't normally result in a custodial sentence.So it's tough love for the delinquents and tough luck for the prison service who'll have to house them.***Speaking at a press call today, Cameron couldn't remember the name of Plaid's leader in the commons.Elfyn Llwyd should probably stop missing key votes sponsored by his party if he wants to make more of an impression on the big political hitters.Cameron was under the...

2056 - What future for Maggie's children?That's what the policy exchange asked in their new study about the eighties generation.The conclusion? We're a bit 'unlucky'.Impossible house prices, student debt, increases in the retirement age...and to cap it off 'the erosion of family ties increases [our] risk of isolation as [we] grow older'.Great, I'll look forward to that.For me, the most exciting thing about mother Maggie is that she was part of the team that invented whippy ice cream in her days as a food scientist. The Tory authors of this report have certainly taken the soft approach as Maggie emerges blameless. That's a bit like a coroner overlooking the cause of death.Good news, though. If David Cameron gets elected he'll implement an 'incentive-based planning system' to sort it all...

Dyna’r fath o newydd sy’n codi fy nghalon i. O’r diwedd bydd yn rhaid i blant Cymru fodloni ar geisio bod yn brif weinidogion eu gwlad eu hunain o hyn allan. Dyw’r peth ddim yn ddeddf eto, ond mae’n ymddangos fod y Torïaid yn dod yn agos at greu rheol debyg. Iddyn nhw mae’n ffordd o gosbi’r Alban a Chymru am beidio â phleidleiso iddyn nhw mewn digon o niferoedd. Yn y Western mail heddiw (sori, unwaith eto!) mae ‘na erthygl gan rywun o’r enw Luke Lado ar David Lloyd George. Does dim byd yn newydd yn yr erthygl ond mae Lado ei hun yn swnio fel real ‘Tory boy’. Dyma’r disgrifiad ohono: Luke Lado is a second year Philosophy, Politics and Economics undergraduate at St Anne’s College, Oxford University. His study...

Roedd ‘na erthygl ddiddorol iawn yn y rhifyn diweddaraf o’r New statesman gan y golygydd gwleidyddol Martin Bright o dan y pennawd ‘Ministers no speaky nothing’. Roedd yn dadlau taw’r rheswm fod y llywodraeth Lafur Newydd yn edrych tuag at y Taleithiau Unedig am ddulliau newydd o ddelio gyda throseddau yw am nad yw’r rhan fwyaf o weinidogion y llywodraeth yn siarad dim ond Saesneg. In a speech in Bristol designed to launch a national debate on crime (yes, another one), the Prime Minister will say he is planning to extend “community courts” being trialled in Liverpool and Salford, which are designed to give local people a greater say in justice: yet another idea imported from the US. In America there are nearly 700 prisoners for every...