Scotland seems to be monopolising all the Election Talk....what is happening in Greenbacks "green and pleasant land" ?
Are the Tories hanging on, are Plaid on the march or will the "Labour Fiefdom" survive in Cymru unlike it's Scottish counterpart
Plaid aren't on the same roll the SNP is. But then Plaid weren't involved in a "to-the-wire" independence referendum last year. The SNP were the only party advocating the yes vote, so a lot of that 49% are sticking with them. Pundits predict results between Plaid keeping its three seats, and gaining a further three (out of 40 in Wales).
UKIP have historically been a non-entity in Wales as far as electoral results go, with polling results always significantly lower than those of England. However, in last year's European elections, they got their first elected representative in Wales, and came second in several regions. They probably won't make top billing in this year's first-past-the-post system (I'd guess N.E. Wales would be their best chance of doing so), but they'll be likely to get some regional seats in the proportional representation system used in the Assembly elections next year.
Labour's influence in many areas of Wales had been on the wane over recent decades, but they'll still expect to hold a majority of the seats in Wales. They actually expect to gain two seats in Cardiff: the marginal Cardiff North from the Tories, and Cardiff Central from the Lib Dems (student-heavy area).
The Liberals have been on the back foot in Wales since the Assembly elections in 2011, when they were down to one constituency seat. Without any PR-based regional seats in this system, they will be hoping to keep hold of any of their three Westminster seats. Cardiff Central is unlikely given the loss of student support, so it's a case of fending off the Tories in Brecon or Plaid in Ceredigion. Ceredigion is their stronger seat.
Outside of industrial heartlands, the Conservative Party has support in rural areas of Wales. Historic support can be seen in the constituencies along the southern and north-eastern coast. (And Anglesey too: Anglesey has been the most volatile seat in Wales over the past century.) In a UK-wide election, the coverage from London has often helped the Tories (and Labour) over smaller parties, as compared to local and Assembly elections. Will the fact that so many more parties had time at the podiums change this? Perhaps to some extent, but not entirely. My money is on the Tories to have the second greatest number of seats within Wales, perhaps as many as a quarter of them.
The Green Party of England and Wales has had little recent influence over this side of the border. Much of this is due to Plaid Cymru's historic stance on environmental issues (although there's been some awkward silences over whether the party still opposes the use of nuclear power when a new plant at Wylfa will be such an influence on Anglesey's economy). I can't forsee the Greens affecting any results here in Wales this time round.
In summary: While much of England is waking up to multi-party politics, Wales (and others) have been there for a long time. This round of elections is mainly characterised by UKIP's increased influence on results, giving five major parties in play. Many seats will still have a very safe majority: Labour aren't going to lose an entire 30% majority in the Cynon Valley, and Elfyn Llwyd can be confident of being returned as MP for Dwyfor Meirionydd yet again.
But in the marginal seats, it could really be up in the air. As an example: Labour currently hold Anglesey, but Plaid and the Tories would each hope to capture it. And while UKIP won't win here, is their growing support coming at the expense of the Tories, or from elsewhere? And will the remaining Liberal voters hold their ground, or look elsewhere this time? Only time will tell...