Brown: Decisiveness is all-important. I think

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Gordon Brown's been spending the afternoon in south-east London discussing the economic situation. The credit crunch and rising food and utility bills were creating “genuine and understandable anxieties”, he admitted. But what's this?

“So it’s more important than ever that the direction of the Government is clear and decisive,” he added.

Oh dear. The commentariat are going to have some fun with that one tomorrow.

The Challenger

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Powys pig farmer Nick Griffin should watch out: there's a man gunning for him and his leadership of the British National Party. That man is Colin Auty, a member of Kirkless Council, and he thinks the time is ripe for a new man to take helm of the party. And he has a stirring message to take to the party's members: "I don’t think I’ve a chance of winning."

Niggling question

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Interesting message delivered by Torfaen Labour AM Lynne Neagle to party members in Monmouthshire, especially in light of Peter Hain's comments on the party's poor electoral performance in Wales on May 1 ("To say it's all London's fault as I've heard some say is simply not credible"). The fact is that nobody has publicly - except for self-flagellating Welsh Labour politicians - put the blame on the party at a Welsh level. Plenty of attacks on the party at a Britian-level, much talk of local issues on the doorstep that cost votes, but little if anything said about the operation at Transport House. What does that say about Wales' nascent democracy?

"The very idea that none of what happened in the local elections in Wales has ended up at the door of the Assembly is monumentally worrying - it must make us question just what kind of an impact the institution has made on the Welsh psyche?," says Ms Neagle.

Fair point. Ask yourself this: were Labour in Scotland to suffer the same heavy defeats in local elections, where would the bulk of the opprobrium be directed at? Gordon Brown? Or Wendy Alexander? And has Wales created the world's first national legislature that doesn't even annoy people with its decisions enough to affect their voting choice?

Crewe's Missiles

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So how will former Labour AM for Preseli Pembrokeshire Tamsin Dunwoody fare in next week's Crewe and Nantwich by-election as she tries to win the seat held for so long by her formidable mother? Well, on a completely unscientific basis, here's my survey: driving through the constituency yesterday here's the number of placards in people's gardens I saw. Lib Dem Elizabeth Shenton (one), Tamsin Dunwoody ("One of us") (Two), Conservative candidate and heir to a cobbling empire Edward Timpson (Lots and lots and lots).

Still, Labour might actually make some headway with their attempts to portray Timpson, a lawyer who lives 15 miles away in leafy Tarporley, as a toff. Driving towards the town's station along Gresty Road, I was stuck behind a humungous 4x4, which was turning right onto an estate but had paused to let out (and wave at) a gleaming blue soft-top sports car. What was going on? Then it hit me: this was the property the Tories had rented out for the duration of the campaign. The vehicles looked more than a little incongruous alongside the street's terraced houses, built on the grounds of the town's former cattle market; maybe Labour aren't being too foolish playing up the class card after all.

Suspended

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The website of Jon Owen Jones, former Labour MP for Cardiff Central, is still suspended due to the General Election. He's probably safe to take it down now, don't you think?

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?