So a UK General Election is just around the corner. In what looks like being hugely presidential style, the choice as to who will represent us in the House of Commons is right at the heart of this election. And it’s not just Sunak versus Starmer; who we wish to represent us is a choice in every one of Wales’ 32 new constituencies.

Despite what some sniffily suggest, candidates do matter, and if they don’t they should. More MPs than ever are standing down – 135 odd, including Cardiff West’s Kevin Brennan, Theresa May, Michael Gove, Dominic Raab, Hywel Williams and Ian Blackford – many right at the death. And this means two things: first, the parties have even more power to parachute their favoured sons (it’s mostly sons) into safe seats; second, the use of a vetting-lite procedure for prospective candidates which, in turn, generates risks as to the integrity and quality of potential MPs. A hard-line right winger elected as a Conservative MP has been warmly accepted into Labour, whilst the treatment of veteran MP, Diane Abbott has been shambolic, underpinned by Labour’s fear of a wholly unanticipated election defeat – likened to carrying a Ming vase over a highly polished floor. The party’s desperation to show it has changed means it’s purged its left wing and those accused of improper behaviour under the guise of ‘improving the quality of candidates’.

The problem with that, alongside the imposition of candidates with strong CVs but whose relationships with Swansea West and Cardiff West is similar to Donald Trump’s with the truth conveys an image of a disunited party. It also casts doubts on Starmer’s strategic ability to plan ahead, since to implement ‘the decade of renewal’ it calls for, Labour will need all pews in its broad chapel filled with a diverse congregation. One can’t have ever-centralised power and empowered devolution and local leadership simultaneously.

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It’s stating the bleeding obvious to say that rarely have our politicians inspired so little public trust and loyalty. Sure, they haven’t helped themselves. The group of MPs suspended from the recently dissolved House of Commons reached the grand total of 24, meaning it was a larger group than the Liberal Democrats. Anyway, some would say we get the politicians that we deserve. The election of a new First Minister in Wales – which could have been a celebration of renewal and diversity – yet has become mired in controversy around dodgy donations, deleted messages and a ministerial sacking. Despite its lofty ambitions of being a more open, transparent, and better-behaved democracy, in the Senedd one MS was suspended for the maximum 42-day........

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