Jon Bright (London, OK): It's always dangerous to comment on a politics you're not directly involved in. But the goings on in the Welsh Assembly, blogged so effectively by John Osmond below, have presented a situation of interest to anyone thinking about proportional representation for England, or throughout the UK.
The roughly PR system used in Wales, the mechanics of which I won't go into here, has resulted yet again in giving no single party a clear majority but four parties a significant voice (both Plaid and the Conservatives owe more than half their seats to the form of PR used in Wales). This has meant Labour as the largest party having to form a coalition. But some extraordinary mismanagement from Labour leader Rhodri Morgan led at one point to the prospect of the formation of a "Rainbow Coalition" (of Plaid, the Lib-Dems and the Tories), which would have given Plaid's leader Ieuan Wyn Jones the title of First Minister and put Labour into opposition in Wales for the first time.
It didn't happen, and that's when the fallout begun, because it seems a lot of people wanted it. Glyn Davies points the finger at Jones: he "just wasn't big enough when it mattered". Others, particularly Jones himself, place the blame with the Lib-Dems, whose initial vote for opposition gave doubts that they would stick it out in the coalition, though of course Peter Black the Lib-Dem AM and blogger was quick to bite back. (he was not the only one, alas redoubtable Blamerbell, unfortunately, shut up shop just before the historic moment).
However, some, like the Plaid MP Adam Price, see Jones' decision as principled. Once Gordon Brown (for it seems it was he) had forced Morgan to give Plaid what they wanted, Jones opted for a stable coalition and a deal for Wales that his party could support. From over here, I'm with Price. A "Rainbow Coalition", which would have handed power to three parties with very fundamental disagreements and would have kept a party with 43.3% of the seats out of power, seems like an exploitation of a quirk of the PR system. Labour uniting with Plaid Cymru is the two parties with the biggest mandates joining forces. As I say above, I'm not from Wales - but can someone who is explain why Lab-Plaid isn't the most democratic solution?
