Auf Wiedersehen German

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Think the Democratic nomination race has been lengthy? Well, it's got nothing on the length of the fuse that Welsh Liberal Democrat leader Mike German has lit this morning - and this battle is unlikely to have a Jeremiah Wright to liven things up.

October 12 is the day that Mr German will be prised away from his plush Cardiff Bay leader's office, having announced that he will stand down following the party's autumn conference in Clydach. Selflessly, he agreed to stay on in his role after being requested to allow the party to complete a review of the constitution.

“I have received a request from party officers that I should allow the party to complete the President’s review of the constitution – including the rules for electing the leaders of the party – before I resign as leader.
“I have taken soundings within the party and the Assembly group, and feel this is a sensible way forward.
“I said earlier in the year that I would stand down when it was sensible and practical to do so, and having received this request from the party’s senior officers, I have decided that I will resign following the debate on the constitution at our Autumn Conference.”

In his letter to Mr German requesting he stayed on, John Last, chair of the party's NEC, fretted "I think the Party would attract unnecessary criticism both internally and externally if you resigned before the Party has resolved this constitutional matter", in a somewhat endearing overstatement of the interest of those outside the party in the internal constitutional make-up of the Welsh Liberal Democrats.

Still, back to that leadership contest. The trigger will be officially fired on October 12 - and "a contested election is unlikely to be shorter than seven weeks" - but expect interested parties to start manoeuvring into position now. Early favourite here is a Jenny Randerson (Cardiff Central) v Kirsty Williams (Brecon and Radnorshire) battle with Randerson emerging victorious. But hacks note Eleanor Burnham (North Wales), the woman with a rainbow coalition in her hair, made a rare foray into the press room at the Senedd yesterday to say hello. The betting starts now...

Overstatement of the Week

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I didn't catch who said it - if anybody knows please pop it in the comments - but hats off to the overexcited expert on Good Morning Wales this morning who described the discussions over Foundation Phase funding as "Jane Hutt's 10p tax rate". Quite.

Nul points

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If you think Gordon Brown had a bad night of it, pity poor Graham Jones, an independent standing in the Johnstown ward of Wrexham Council. He forgot to vote for himself.

And I'll tell you for why

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On his trip to Barry last Friday, David Cameron was forced to confess he'd never seen Gavin & Stacey. "I've never seen it, but I've heard it's very good," he said.

Which is fair enough: he's a politician, not a TV reviewer. But what could be more embarassing than learning the catchphrases and returning a week later and showing them off? The Conservatives winning the Vale of Glamorgan was "pretty tidy" he claimed, albeit in a clipped Old Etonian tone. And taking tea with Welsh Conservative leader Nick Bourne, Vale of Glamorgan parliamentary candidate Alun Cairns and council group leader Gordon Kemp outside the town's Fountain Tea Room, Mr Cameron asked “What’s occurring?” after being told by the waitress that the show had been filmed there. No word of a lie.

Onlookers noted how Mr Cairns was determined not to leave the side of Mr Cameron throughout his 15-minute visit (on to Nuneaton, taken from Labour, and Bury, from no overall control, next). Good job the dimunitive Mr Cairns can slip between the legs of the media scrum.

Oh, yes...the results. Plenty of analysis of those in tomorrow's Western Mail - and there's still 10 to come. Can Plaid save some face in Caerphilly? Surely Rhondda Cynon Taff won't see the same shock results as elsewhere? And can the Lib Dems (or 'Liberal Democrat Focus Team', as they seem to have billed themselves on the voting slips) continue their good run of form in Wrexham?

The real face

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Hat-tip to Searchlight Cymru for this story. If you've received a copy of the BNP's election literature in Wales - there's a copy lying on my desk - you'll see a picture of what they bill as "the REAL face of the BNP". It's "a family organisation that wants to put British people first" and is illustrated with a picture of a smiling family-of-five. Just your average, run-of-the-mill family voting BNP.

Er...except it's the family of BNP campaigner Nick Cass. Rather than being the "REAL face of the BNP" in Wales, he'll be standing as a candidate for Kirklees Council, West Yorkshire.

This, of course, was the same election leaflet that claimed four-year-olds in Welsh schools were being "taught homosexuality", soldiers in hospitals were being ordered to remove their uniforms so as not to offend Muslims, and asylum seekers were being given cheques to buy cars.

Quote of the week

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“Once again we see that David Cameron and Gordon Brown are travelling in the same direction - dragged, as ever, on a pre-election day trip to Wales.
“It only serves to remind the people of Wales why they need a full law-making parliament, and to be governed by a party which ignores them except at election time.”

Llanelli's Plaid Cymru AM Helen Mary Jones casts her eye over the political big beasts' trip to Wales today, and unexpectedly suggests Wales should be governed by a party which ignores it.

"When I said 'yes' he started to cry"

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Proposing marriage to somebody is an incredibly personal, private and special moment. If you want to witness quite how personal, private and special that moment can be, fortunately Montgomeryshire MP Lembit Öpik and his Cheeky Girl girlfriend Gabriela Irimia invited the photographers from Hello! magazine to document theirs - and you can run the whole gamut of emotions by purchasing tomorrow's edition.

If you can't wait that long there's a taster along with a photograph taken at Rome's Trevi Fountain, where Lembit popped the question, in Rome here. Isn't it just beautiful?