And the award for the most inane reason goes to ....

The only nomination in the “best I could come up with” category is Mohammed “Oscar” Ashgar for his explanation as to why he has defected to the Conservative from Plaid Cymru. The South Wales East AM told a press conference, presided over by a very smirky Nick Bourne, that he felt "out of tune" with Plaid policies, and in particular its desire for an independent Wales.

"My politics are very much in line with wanting a stronger Wales within a successful United Kingdom," he said, adding "I am also attracted by the caring Conservatism and policies for change put forward by David Cameron and the Conservative Party at Westminster."

When questioned why he had left it so long to actually decide that he was opposed to independence when it was clearly a long-standing nationalist policy in one form or another, he claimed that he was like "a little parrot in a jungle" and that his squawks were unlikely to influence Plaid's stance either now or in the future. The same appears to be true of other parties that Oscar has joined in the past, according to Betsan Powys.

Ashgar is a former Plaid regional co-ordinator and a member of the party's National Executive Committee. He stood as a Plaid Cymru candidate in the 2005 general election.