Following the announcement of the election results on Friday,
ruling IPG Godfathers were handing out neatly printed cards to
newly-elected, non-party members inviting them to attend the group's
inaugural meeting tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon..
Cllr David Wildman - one of the IPG's four card-carrying Tories,
and your representative on the Hywel Dda Health Board - appeared
to be in charge of this recruitment drive, so, in an effort to
satisfy my curiosity about what goes on at these IPG meetings,
I asked him if I could have an invite.
He told me that I could only have one if I intended to sign up.
But, as I pointed out, it is unreasonable to ask someone to make
that commitment without them hearing what the "party"
leadership had to say about its future plans.
After all, they surely can't expect me to buy a Pembrokeshire
Independent Group in a poke.
Another who was not issued with an invitation was my daughter,
who won the seat in Lamphey as an independent.
She was concerned that her exclusion was a case of visiting the
sins of the father (and the mother) on the children, with the
added implication that she wasn't capable of making up her own
mind on these issues.
However, I reminded her that, in her election address, she had
stated that she would be truly independent of all parties and
groups, though, I might add, that such declarations of true independence
have never been a barrier to IPG membership in the past (Party
Animals).
In an attempt to console her for this snub, I did suggest that
the IPG was actually paying her a compliment by acknowledging
that she was not the sort of person who tells the electorate one
thing and then does another.
However, hope springs eternal and, from what I am hearing on the
grapevine, there are a few among the newly-elected non-party members
who can be similarly trusted to keep their word.
And don't be surprised if some existing IPG stalwarts, who have
become disillusioned by the antics of the non-political political
party, also join the unaligned.
Add to them the pragmatists who will have been shocked by witnessing
the political demise of IPG loyalists like Anne Hughes, John George,
Jim Codd, Maureen Molyneux and Clive Collins, all of whom were
soundly beaten by official party or staunchly independent candidates,
and it is not difficult to contemplate a future where the IPG's
iron grip on power is broken.
There has been an encouraging trend in this direction from two
dictionary independents in 2004, to four in 2008, and the possibility
of up to ten in 2012.
Progress is slow, but these sort of regimes don't loosen their
grip on power without a fight.
After all, 21 years elapsed between the Prague Spring in 1968
and the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
By the way, I notice that Huw "Macadam" George's video
"Black Magic" has been removed from You Tube
"by the user" (The love
that . . .).
Great pity - I was thinking about nominating it for the Turner
Prize.
However, all is not lost because I believe a reader has downloaded
a copy and I hope to have it back up soon.
Editors Note. Tarmacadam was first used by the Scotsman John Loudon
McAdam in around 1820, so there is plenty of time for his admirers
to organise bicentenary celebrations of the event.
By the way, I searched the English - Welsh dictionary for tarmac
and was disappointed to find the word is the same in both languages.