The initial media reaction to the recruitment of WRU chief
Roger Lewis to chair the Yes for Wales campaign is that it is either a clever PR stroke or a tacit admission that it needs someone [technically] outside the Cardiff Bay bubble to promote the message how more powers for the National Assembly is a good thing. In truth, it is probably both.
Lewis, who is an accomplished strategist in his own right, emerged a few years back as the reasonable face of rugby after going head to head with the
feudal regional cabal over who controls the game in Wales. He is an effective communicator and brings a wicked set of credentials with him. Whether he can sit alongside others in the campaign as comfortably as he did in the Millennium stadium committtee box remains to be seen.
Size and control of the campaign budget is seen as his first key test and those nameless organising committee sources quoted in the Western Mail who state that the former ITV Wales boss is “not the universal choice” will be doubtlessly waiting for him to drop the ball. In this respect, Lewis has probably already concluded there is not a great deal of difference between rugby and politics after all.
1 Comments:
well speaking as a yes campaigner i have to say i think roger lewis is a good appointment as chairperson of the Yes campaign!
I think roger spoke for many in wales when in summing up the debacle of the BBC's coverage of the wales new zealand game he went on record to state it was an example of how it can sometimes seem as if Wales is being ignored and marginalised by london...whether its by the BBC itself or perhaps more importantly even the british govt at westminster!
Clearly in view of recent decisions the british govt has taken with regards to wales - st athans, the severn barage, rail electrification - there is a lot of substance to what roger has said.
Perhaps this is one of the principle reasons why 3 separate polls in the last month have shown a substantial lead for more powers for the welsh assembly among welsh voters.
Leigh Richards
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