Adam Price had joined the Labour Party, not Plaid Cymru

[Merseymike]

Just listened to a phone in on 5 Live

He's seriously good, and wondered whether had he joined Labour, would he be a challenger for their leadership?

[The Bishop]

I agree he comes across well, but it also has to be pointed out Plaid aren't doing massively better under his leadership than they were with "failure" Leanne Wood.

[jamie]

Nov 27, 2019 12:00:02 GMT The Bishop said:

I agree he comes across well, but it also has to be pointed Plaid aren't doing massively better under his leadership than they were with "failure" Leanne Wood.

Wood got a lot of hate but the party basically stagnated under her watch. Tbf, Plaid has been stagnating for years under all leaders despite initial optimism of a massive breakthrough every time. Perhaps most people just don’t want what they’re offering? 

[msc]

Nov 27, 2019 12:00:02 GMT The Bishop said:

I agree he comes across well, but it also has to be pointed Plaid aren't doing massively better under his leadership than they were with "failure" Leanne Wood.

One of the quirks of FPTP is that "failure" Leanne Wood managed to gain a seat in the last election, whilst "impressive" Adam Price may well end up losing two.

[Merseymike]

Nov 27, 2019 12:09:52 GMT jamie said:

Nov 27, 2019 12:00:02 GMT The Bishop said:

I agree he comes across well, but it also has to be pointed Plaid aren't doing massively better under his leadership than they were with "failure" Leanne Wood.

Wood got a lot of hate but the party basically stagnated under her watch. Tbf, Plaid has been stagnating for years under all leaders despite initial optimism of a massive breakthrough every time. Perhaps most people just don’t want what they’re offering? 

I think its very difficult for them to escape the image of cultural nationalism and their strong base in the rural North. They have never managed to break out of either on a long term basis, though there has been the odd victory in Rhondda, Llanelli etc. Whereas the SNP managed to do that.

Thinking of the question, though - where would he stand in the Labour firmament?

[curiousliberal]

I do not rate Price, actually. He presumably had a say in the party adopting #revoke. This is actually a credible stance for a nationalist party in a previously Remain-voting area like Scotland or NI, but Wales voted narrowly for Leave, so it still winds up being internally divisive.

[jamie]

Nov 27, 2019 15:59:25 GMT curiousliberal said:

I do not rate Price, actually. He presumably had a say in the party adopting #revoke. This is actually a credible stance for a nationalist party in a previously Remain-voting area like Scotland or NI, but Wales voted narrowly for Leave, so it still winds up being internally divisive.

Its always seemed odd to me that Plaid claim that Brexit puts Welsh independence on the table, despite the fact that Wales voted leave. 

[curiousliberal]

Nov 27, 2019 17:22:10 GMT jamie said:

Nov 27, 2019 15:59:25 GMT curiousliberal said:

I do not rate Price, actually. He presumably had a say in the party adopting #revoke. This is actually a credible stance for a nationalist party in a previously Remain-voting area like Scotland or NI, but Wales voted narrowly for Leave, so it still winds up being internally divisive.

Its always seemed odd to me that Plaid claim that Brexit puts Welsh independence on the table, despite the fact that Wales voted leave. 

It does get a boost (from a very low base) if Brexit goes badly enough, but that's more to do with nationalism being fickle than differentials between Welsh support for EU membership and rUK support.

[neilm]

Price was the person who picked my name and got me a Daily Politics mug.

I'd emailed in a question (along with my Guess The Year answer) about the Welsh economy, which I expected to be answered by blaming Westminster or whatever, which he answered articulately and with reasonable detail given the time constraint. I saw him speak at an event in London a fortnight later where he came across as competent and energetic.

[johng]

He's obviously a very intelligent man and an eloquent speaker.

That doesn't mean he'd be a good leader though.
Plaid have done particularly well under his watch. They have the same number of seats and actually went backwards in many of the South Wales Valleys target seats. Ynys Mon was also very poor. If they'd received the same number of votes as in the 2016 Assembly election, they would have won the seat.
@jaimie has a good point above though.

[cibwr]

I am not sure what Plaid could have done better, they work with several disadvantages, the press in Wales is very Londoncentric. Many homes get UK tv, and although he did well in the debates they tend to be watched by the committed rather than those that want to make up their minds. In an election as polorised as this one was, where the country is evenly divided between brexit and remain (and the evidence is that there is now as small remain majority in Wales) then Plaid would get squeezed. I suspect the Senedd election will be very different.

back on topic - If Adam had joined Labour not Plaid, I suspect he would be leader of the Labour group in the Assembly......

[clyde1998]

The real test of Adam Price's leadership will come at the next Assembly election. That's where Plaid have the biggest potential to make progress and have the ability to make the biggest difference to Welsh politics. There are a number of constituency seats where Plaid were within touching distance of taking at the last election, however there was a sizeable UKIP factor in 2016 that probably won't be replicated by the Brexit Party - assuming the 'future relationship' negotiations are completed by the time of the election.

I do think it was a strategic mistake for Plaid to stand down for Lib Dem candidates, and vice-versa, in the general election. Plaid's vote share was very narrowly down across the 36 seats they contested, despite not having to compete against the Lib Dems in a number of seats. The pact assumes that Lib Dem, Plaid Cymru and Green voters would vote for one another if their preferred party wasn't contesting the seat, which isn't the case; a decent number of potential Lib Dem voters may have voted Conservative for reasons of preferred government (over Labour) while Plaid voters are more likely to break towards Labour. Also, it may have reduced the chance of Plaid being able to differentiate themselves from others.

In terms of where he'd be if he was in Labour, I think he'd be one of the high profile members of Welsh Labour - whether as an MP or as a cabinet member in the Welsh Government.