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Huw Lewis - fighting the Lib Dems too

To mark the event, Huw has today issued a press release which, like Carwyn’s weekend announcement, needs to be read a couple of times to make sense.

Three things in particular catch the eye. The first is the description of Huw as “the leadership contender closest to favourite Carwyn Jones in polls amongst Labour voters.” His team were evidently very pleased indeed with this post on the Hearth…

Secondly, he becomes the first candidate to attack the Liberal Democrats during this campaign, warning that they need to be challenged as strongly as the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru by Labour members. The Liberal Democrats are of course in power in Swansea, where this message will be delivered and where it will go down particularly well. He says: “From seven pound swims, to school reorganisation failures and social services chaos – councils run by the Liberal Democrats have been a disaster for key services in Swansea, Cardiff, Newport and Wrexham. The pavement politics they rely on to whip up local support has never translated into anything more than defensive and shoddily run local authorities.

“It is easy to joke about the Lib Dems, the dodgy graphs on their newsletters and the socks and sandals brigade – but their record in delivering key services, social services in Swansea for example, is far from a laughing matter. The only way to beat the Liberal Democrats is to do back to them, what they do to us, but much better. For every leaflet they put out, we need to knock on dozens of doors. In a recent council by-election in Merthyr, we won back a seat from the Lib Dems with the biggest swing back to Labour since the local elections anywhere in the country. That was done through simple hard graft and direct contact with voters. That is how you re-connect. That is how you win.”

The third aspect of the press release which caught my eye – and it’s the bit that is sure to exercise the minds of the other two camps as once more Monday sets the campaigning tone for the week – Huw Lewis has called for “for all campaigns to keep their cool and not allow battle fatigue to develop into petty squabbles.”

He places this comment in the context of a weekend away day in Llandrindod Wells for Labour AMs and MPs, and comments: “I was pleased to be amongst Labour colleagues in Llandrindod Wells this weekend, there was a very positive atmosphere and I think the leadership campaign has helped re-energise colleagues for the fight ahead. However, I am aware that this is a long campaign and as we move into the closing weeks there is a very natural risk of battle fatigue extending into petty squabbles. It is important to keep calm and carry on with the debate about policies and ideas that Welsh Labour needs right now.”

He also uses this hook as an opportunity to remind voters that neither of the other two candidates have signed the clean campaign pledge he circulated at the start of the campaign.

But what on earth has prompted him to make this an issue now? Is this a case of smoke and mirrors, or is there something he has detected in terms of the tone of the campaign? Is this tilting at windmills or another coded statement?

One thing we do agree with Huw on, though, is that this is a very long campaign indeed. But by the end of this week it will be three quarters over. One or two bloggers will at least be pleased.