Plaid Cymru conference: TV megastars and TV licences

IWJ - and SJP

I'm certain Ieuan Wyn Jones will one day treasure the moment.

Sex in the City megastar Sarah Jessica Parker's interview on BBC Radio 5 live this morning was delayed by an hour so that the programme could hear from the Plaid Cymru leader.

SJP knocked by IWJ.

Who'd have thought she's more box office than he is?

It was off then to a building site - I'm talking IWJ not SJP. We got the message. Plaid must renew, rebuild, take its time to lay firm foundations.

It must not be tempted, despite May's bruising election results, to think pre-fab. Quick solutions won't lead to easy living.

Back in the conference hall, SNP MSP Humza Yousaf was out to encourage Plaid's delegates. Electoral fortunes can be turned around surprisingly quickly, he said. So Plaid must rebuild, yes, but not forget to retain their vision. They must be bold and radical.

So how will Plaid interpret "bold and radical" in future? Delegates had just voted overwhelmingly, virtually unanimously, to support a campaign to withhold the payment of TV licence fees in protest at changes for S4C.

For some, Dafydd Elis-Thomas AM for one, here was a sign of Plaid slipping back in to the role of national campaigning movement, rather than "grown-up constitutional political party".

For others - Leanne Wood among them - this was an opportunity to show that "politics is about much more than institutions and elections. It's about campaigning, rolling up your sleeves and getting the job done".

A constitutional, national political party Plaid might be, but constitutional parties need to "earn the title 'national'" said former president Dafydd Iwan.

Another question discussed today: should Plaid rule out ever including a Tory AM in a cabinet?

They decided ... not to decide. There was some relief on the faces of officials and a press team who'd anticipated there might be a bit of a bun fight over that one. It didn't happen, even behind closed doors.

The most relieved face of all?

The one under the hard hat first thing this morning, the face of Ieuan Wyn Jones.

He walked onto the stage to the strains of The Goo Goo Dolls promising "Better Days". He walked off relishing the thought that how to deliver those better days is no longer his shout.