{"id":18664,"date":"2016-12-09T11:32:02","date_gmt":"2016-12-09T11:32:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jomec.co.uk\/intercardiff\/?p=18664"},"modified":"2016-12-09T11:32:02","modified_gmt":"2016-12-09T11:32:02","slug":"plaids-man-in-cardiff-neil-mcevoys-political-journey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/intercardiff\/politics-social-justice\/plaids-man-in-cardiff-neil-mcevoys-political-journey","title":{"rendered":"Plaid\u2019s Man in Cardiff: Neil McEvoy&#039;s Political Journey"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><iframe class=\"zeen-lazy-load-base zeen-lazy-load\" title=\"Nevil McEvoy Intro\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"about:blank\" data-lazy-src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/w_e-RUZ6KTQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><noscript><iframe title=\"Nevil McEvoy Intro\" width=\"1200\" height=\"675\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/w_e-RUZ6KTQ?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/noscript><br \/>\nA well-known, outspoken figure in South Wales\u2019 local politics for several years and no stranger to controversy, Neil McEvoy shares a rather illustrious position with Plaid Cymru\u2019s leader Leanne Wood, namely being a sitting Plaid AM outside of Plaid\u2019s traditional rural heartlands of North and Mid Wales. Furthermore, McEvoy is also a Cardiff City Councillor, acting as the leader of the Plaid Cymru group.<br \/>\nSouth Wales born and bred, McEvoy first became involved in politics in the 1980s under the Thatcher government, describing the Miner\u2019s Strike as \u201cRadicalizing\u201d. \u201cBeing a 17 year-old growing up in the 80s, it seemed a natural progression to fight against the injustice coming out of Westminster\u201d.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nHis first elected position came in 1999 as a Labour Party Cardiff City Councillor and sat on the council for four years. McEvoy began to become disillusioned with the party in 2001 however, describing the Iraq War as \u201cAlmost the final nail in the coffin\u201d. When it came time for his reselection in 2003, feeling there was a move to drive him and those sympathetic to him out of the party, McEvoy resigned along with 16 other members in November 2003, defecting to Plaid Cymru.<br \/>\n\u201cMany of us who were in Labour had held on to the hope the we could somehow reform the party, make it better, but I think, at that particular time the Labour Party was beyond redemption\u201d.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nMcEvoy now describes Plaid as the only \u201cWelsh Party\u201d, describing the other major parties as \u201cLondon-based\u201d and \u201cEnglish parties claiming to be British\u201d. We went on to describe his politics as \u201clocalist\u201d stating that \u201cglobalization is failing\u201d, pointing to the rise of the far-right in the west and stating a desire for a shift back to \u201clocal communities, local people, catering for local needs\u201d.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nWhen asked about how he balances his roles as an AM and a Councillor, McEvoy described a \u201ccomplete synergy\u201d, stating that his dual role had him more effective at both jobs. In particular, his ability to raise issues in the Senedd has, in his words \u201cenabled me to make progress with a number of issues on the council\u201d. McEvoy went on to state that he has no interest in two salaries, donating his Councillors\u2019 pay to his community.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nOn the topic of the number of controversies he has been involved in during his time as part of Plaid, McEvoy strongly defended himself.<br \/>\nOn the subject of his 2011 controversy over comments about Safer Wales and Welsh Women\u2019s Aid, two domestic abuse charities he accused of supporting women who \u201cbreak court orders\u201d and \u201cdenying good fathers contact\u201d, he stressed that his later apology over the issue was purely for the language he used, not his overall position. \u201cIf you have followed what\u2019s happened, a number of bits of evidence have become available, independent investigations and so on, which were actioned, to essentially support what I was saying\u201d.<br \/>\nHis tone was not entirely combative however. \u201cI\u2019m more experienced person in politics now and I pursue issues but possibly choose my language slightly more carefully than I used to\u201d. He also said he has had a fruitful conversation with one of the charities he criticized, stating that they were now \u201cMore open to having a rational discussion\u201d.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nWhen criticisms made of Mr McEvoy by the presiding officer Elin Jones back in July over his implications in the Senedd that First Minister Carwyn Jones misled the Assembly and was a liar were brought up, McEvoy once again came out strong. \u201cIf you look at the record I never called him a liar. I believe he mislead the Assembly, I never actually used the term liar because we are not allowed to. What we were going through then with the presiding officer was a process of bedding in really and getting used to each other and there is no problem really\u201d.<br \/>\nHe went on to detail two instances where he feels the First Minister did mislead the Assembly, firstly over local development plans and more recently over lobbying. Specifically he cited a change in tack by the First Minister where he originally denied that lobbyists have access to ministers then later stated that they have no \u2018formal access\u2019 to ministers.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nWhen asked a more general question about Plaid Cymru\u2019s chances of breaking into and winning more seats in the traditional Labour heartland of South Wales as he has done, McEvoy\u2019s response was upbeat. \u201cWhat we\u2019ve seen is a historic shift in terms of how people identify themselves politically in South Wales\u201d. \u201cIn my council ward Labour used to get 80% of the vote through the ballot box. Now over the last couple of elections at a council level, we\u2019ve obtained roughly 50%\u201d.<br \/>\nHe proceeded to list numerous social ills in Cardiff including open drug dealing and dangerous drivers, issues he claimed Labour MPs have done nothing to tackle. He also described Welsh Labour as being composed of disconnected elites with Plaid\u2019s more grassroots nature being better suited to dealing with Cardiff\u2019s issues.<br \/>\n&nbsp;<br \/>\nThe interview concluded on question of whether Plaid currently stands to benefit from the windfall of anti-establishment UKIP members leaving the party post-Brexit vote. McEvoy expressed an interest in \u201ceducating UKIP voters\u201d but also \u201cgoing out and educating everybody really and telling people what we (Plaid) are about\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A sit-down with Neil McEvoy AM of Plaid Cymru.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":411,"featured_media":18676,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-18664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics-social-justice"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Plaid\u2019s Man in Cardiff: Neil McEvoy&#039;s Political Journey - 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