Welsh labour

Tuesday

James Heale

Can Starmer reinvigorate Welsh Labour?

12 min listen

Keir Starmer has been meeting the new First Minister Eluned Morgan as part of a two day trip to Wales. While the trip included a visit to a wind farm, Starmer quickly faced questions about the fate of steel workers in Port Talbot. What does this challenge tell us about Starmer’s Industrial Strategy and his relationship with the devolved nations? Could Welsh Labour soon face the same anti-incumbency threat that the Conservatives and the SNP faced?  James Heale is joined by Tom Baldwin, Starmer’s biographer, and Ruth Mosalski, political editor at WalesOnline. Produced by Patrick Gibbons.

Wednesday

Henry Hill

Beware Welsh Labour’s Trojan dragon

After polls that suggested a radical shake-up at Cardiff Bay, in the end it turned out to be a strong result for the status quo in Wales. The Labour First Minister Mark Drakeford enjoyed a vaccine bounce — thanks to procurement decisions in Whitehall — and can now govern on his own should he wish to. But the fact that Labour won’t need a formal arrangement with Plaid Cymru to govern (as it did between 2007 and 2011) should not blind people to the fact that the Welsh leader already leads an increasingly nationalist party. Welsh Labour actually ran pro-independence candidates in these elections Drakeford himself has said that the