Small parties field more candidates in Welsh election
The ‘big four’ political parties may have been dominating coverage of the Welsh election campaign, but minor parties are fielding candidates in more regional lists than ever before.
The Green Party launched their manifesto this morning in a bilingual event in Cardiff. This is the first election at which the Greens have stood in all regions.
Ann Were, spokeswoman for the party, said: “Green issues have never been higher on the political agenda. Every party is putting on green clothes these days. But it remains to be seen how effective this ‘new green’ agenda will be in dealing with the impact of climate change.”
“Experience across the UK shows that it needs a Green presence on our assemblies and councils to ensure that the challenges of climate change are faced up to by the other parties,” she said.
The Welsh Communist Party are also fielding more candidates than ever before, with candidates in each of the five regional lists.
At the launch of their manifesto, the Communists stressed that they were the only party which would prevent the Welsh economy being dominated by big business. They criticised Plaid Cymru for wanting to walk away from the UK’s wealth instead of harnessing it for the poor.
The BNP have also put candidates forward in all of the five regional lists. In the last assembly election in May 2003 the party polled 0.4 per cent in the south east Wales region. Later that year they failed in their bid to have the first Welsh BNP councillor elected.
