BRITAIN’S first single-issue anti-devolution movement has secured its first elected politician.
Wales’ Abolish the Assembly Party last night announced that it had been joined by an independent Brexiteer in the Senedd.
Gareth Bennett, a former newspaper reporter and one-time contender to lead UKIP, has long held devosceptic and anti-immigration views.
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Now he is set to help spearhead a 2021 Welsh general election campaign by his party to get more seats in a parliament they want to close.
Abolish leader Richard Suchorzewski said his party was getting backing from Scotland.
He said: “We have had some interesting nods of approval from Scottish unionists who have had their fill of the Scottish Parliament but find themselves unrepresented with no viable party to support.
“They have been encouraged by us to take a leaf out of our book and take on the nationalists who are driving a wedge in the union that, if continued, will inevitably lead to a forced independence they do not want.”
Mr Bennett, announcing his membership of Abolish, said: “My time as an Assembly Member has confirmed my thoughts that the establishment is an overpriced, unnecessary tier of politicians.
“Over 20 years of devolution has seen our public services fall behind the rest of the UK, and the people of Wales are now worse off than before we had devolution.”
The politician’s old party, UKIP, has had little impact in Scotland but earlier this year announced it would refocus on abolishing Holyrood.
It commissioned a poll suggesting some 16% of Scottish voters agreed with its position. Scots voted for a devolved parliament with tax-varying powers by two-to-one in 1997 - with support for a parliament without such powers as high as three-to-one.
Since then no mainstream, electable party has tried to undo what John Smith, the former Labour leader and architect of devolution, called the ‘settled will’ the Scottish people.
Opposition to devolution in Wales has long been stronger than it is in Scotland. Roger Awan-Scully, professor of politics and international relations at Cardiff University, has been monitoring such sentiments.
He said the current settlement remained popular among those who vote Labour, Plaid Cymru and Liberal Democrat. Indeed, devolution has been strengthened in recent years with more powers to Cardiff, including Scottish-style powers over primary legislation.
But Mr Awan-Scully added: “Conservatives, though, are split. The party has publicly made its peace with devolution. If you look at the most recent poll, the most popular option for conservative supporters is abolition.”
Just over the border in England one staunch Brexiteer - Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury - has called for abolition on the back of differentiated approaches to the Coronavirus.
Mr Awan-Scully reckons there is a constituency for such views. He said: “My own unscientific findings is that this is a position that would have quite a lot of sympathy. There is a strategic dilemma for the Conservatives now, do they try and position themselves in the centre ground or do they look at the other end of the spectrum people who voted for Ukip or Brexit party, both have done well in Wales.”
Talking about the Abolish the Assembly Party, he said: “There was a single issue party at the last election which with no organisation or campaign polled four and a half per cent on the list vote. Basically on their name.”
Mr Suchorzewski, meanwhile, suggested he expected more defections would follow Mr Bennett.
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He added: “The battle facing us is a clear one - Independence v Abolition and remaining part of the Union. Let’s not be fooled, a vote for any party other than Abolish, is a vote for independence. It is essential that we have a referendum so that the people of Wales can control their own destiny with an informed choice.”
An Abolish spokesman contrasted politics in Scotland and Wales - where support for independence has now edged up to around a quarter.
He said: “Unlike in Scotland, Wales has only started to flirt with the idea of independence in any significant numbers.
“Interestingly, emerging from the Covid-18 crisis and the resulting scrutiny of devolution comes the Abolish the Welsh Assembly party, which, like the famous fence paint, purports to do what it says on the tin.”
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