smile and be happy ...Plaid are winning.

Most people regard the political year as running from September to the end of July. So its a good time to take stock and see how the respective parties are performing in Wales. Since the general election there have been no published opinion polls in Wales so what objective measures do we have to show how each of the parties are doing?

The only measure are the local authority by-elections that take place throughout the year. They are a fair measure of party support even allowing for the high presence of independent candidates and the lack of regular three or four party contests.

The random nature of these polls is such that they are worth looking at.
Here is how the votes stack up for each of the parties in the 12 contests at County Council level since September 2005 where at least one of the four main parties stood.

Plaid 3296
Labour 2269
Con 3070
Lib 1473.

Five of the contests were in areas of traditional Tory strength which explains in part their high vote. Local government by-elections are an area in which the Lib dems traditionally excel so they may have some cause for concern. For Plaid the figures are very good indeed and reflect the progress we have made since the general election.