Mike German has not ruled out an assembly coalition with Plaid Cymru

The Liberal Democrats are currently in a coalition with Labour but when asked by BBC Wales about a possible partnership with Plaid Cymru, his answer was clear.

He said "Yes" when asked whether he would do a deal with Labour or Plaid Cymru.

A deal with Plaid still seems like a remote possibilty - a continuation of the current Labour-Lib Dem partnership is a far more likely outcome of the 1 May poll.

Options

Indeed, in his conference speech on Saturday, Mr German ridiculed Plaid Cymru leader Ieuan Wyn Jones, although he did not attack Plaid policy.

It's a good time to be a Welsh Liberal Democrat - in fact I can't remember a better time Mike German

Mr Jones himself pointedly declined to attack the Lib Dem half of the coalition in Cardiff Bay in his conference speech last week.

Both leaders clearly want to keep their options open.

The main thrust of Mr German's speech was to boast of his party's success at getting its policies implemented, repeating the refrain - irritating to Labour ears - that the Lib Dem's made the difference on financial support for students, increasing the numbers of doctors and nurses and free school milk.

He said: "It's a good time to be a Welsh Liberal Democrat. In fact I can't remember a better time.

"We are centrestage in Welsh politics, everyone's talking about us."

Voting

He pledged to cut class sizes further to 25, to extend free personal care for the elderly with assets of less than �60,000, not �12,000 as at present and to extend access to leisure facilites for the under 16s.

Significantly, he made no reference to proportional representation - or fair voting as the Lib Dems call it - for council elections, a sensitive subject.

On Friday, Liberal Democrat local government spokesman, Peter Black, threatened not to support a new coalition with Labour unless there was a commitment to PR.

But labour remains wedded to the current first-past-the-post system which delivers it massive majorities in many Welsh councils.

Iraq

Mr German preferred to steer clear of the subject altogether.

He recognised that events in Iraq are overshadowing domestic politics but stood by the party's anti-war stance in this week's House of Commons debate.

He said: "We won't stop asking questions about the war."

The Liberal Democrat, he insisted, are closest to the feelings of the public about to the war.