Just get on with it

So the new leader of the Conservatives in Wales believes that because the Labour party is about to change their leader, they should immediately thereafter move for a Welsh general election. This bit of grandstanding for the Tory rally in Birmingham neglects the fact that more than a simple majority is required in order to dissolve the Senedd. Besides, with such a precarious balance in Cardiff Bay, Carwyn Jones' successor has to convince more than just his Labour colleagues that he should be First Minister. Mr Davies should be directing his efforts there if he is not happy with Labour's choice.

If Paul Davies follows his own logic, all the Conservative FPTP AMs should have resigned and caused by-elections because his party has elected a new leader. Why do these people not get it through their heads that we have representative democracy, not a presidential system? It is especially true of Scotland and Wales where proportionality means that the Assembly more genuinely represents the people year on year than Westminster does.

I am afraid that my own party has not been above such posturing in the past. There was a call for a general election when Gordon Brown replaced Tony Blair as Labour leader and therefore prime minister, even though it was clear that New Labour policy was not about to change. The only time when a new general election could justifiably be demanded is when the mass of MPs openly reverse their views on a substantial plank of their original manifesto or a referendum appears to show that the electorate has reversed its own ideas. There was such an occasion in June 2016 - and we did not have a general election then.

The normal voter, as opposed to the political activist, chooses his or her representative to serve for a full term and then expects them to just get on with it. The normal voter should be respected.