“A fo Ben bid bont”: New Directions for Plaid Cymru? The Ceredigion Result in the UK General Election of 201

Abstract

The narrow win after two recounts of Plaid Cymru’s Ben Lake in the Ceredigion constituency at the June 8th General Election could be seen as heralding a new dawn in the fortunes of the Party of Wales. Ceredigion itself stood out in the UK as the most pro-EU region in the country in a poll taken before the EU referendum, a trait that was borne out by the county’s 54.63% vote for Remain. This is therefore a part of the world that is something of a paradox: this extremely rural constituency – some of the least densely-populated parts of the UK are to be found within its boundaries – melds together a variety of co-existing communities: old and new, tourist-orientated coast and agricultural hinterland, low-wage labourers and high-earning university staff. It is home to some of the strongest Welsh-speaking areas in Wales whilst witnessing an exodus of its young people and in-migration from beyond its borders. The present paper will seek to examine what the Ceredigion result may indicate by focusing on the question of the youth vote and the possible spearheading of a change in Plaid tactics regarding the question of independence for Wales, a position that has rarely found any support among core Plaid voters in rural Welsh-speaking Wales. We will also seek to zoom in on the ‘Arfor’ plan, a Plaid-backed vision of new regional governance for the West of Wales, in which language planning and economic development go hand in hand. Could this new polity stave off the worst effects of Brexit in Ceredigion and enable the county to put an end to “this steady, silent haemorrhage” that “saps the life of nearly every town and village the length and breadth of the county”, as reflected in the words of Ben Lake’s maiden speech in Westminster?