| 2026 Election Gradually Coming Into Focus |
A Political Diary |
| Interesting Things In Third Quarter of 2025 , Political Life of Wales , October 3, 2025 |
3rd August: Radio Cymru Wales Sunday Supplement discusses the new electoral system. Betsian Powys, Cemlyn Davies. Elliw Gwawr.“Voters will not be able to vote for a particular candidate.” “Around 12%. If a party fails to reach they are unlikely to get a seat in that super-constituency.” “Constituencies lumped together in an ad hoc fashion...Aberdaron to Wrexham.” “How are members supposed to represent these constituencies? I don't think anyone knows.” “There isn't that link with the local constituency member.” “It's a system that is completely different and it is going to give a Senedd that is very different. 12% is one-eighth of the vote. If you are a small party you are going to be very, very nervous. Favours the larger parties, squeeze out the small.” “Why haven't the Labour candidates been selected? There's real frustration. We haven't a clue. One prospective candidate has said it's down to pure incompetence. There's frustration growing. And anger. One has told me the party is sleeping.” “There isn't any unity...They've simply run out of ideas. They've got to that point they don't know how to fight. And don't have that fight left in them.” “She {First Minister] needs a positive story to tell. At the moment that story isn't there.” “People are fed up. That's the narrative. People are fed up with this government.” * * * * 14th August: Welsh Government announcement: “Pob lwc to everyone in Wales getting their results today! And a massive diolch to all the amazing teachers, staff and parents for your incredible support. Share this with someone who has worked super hard this year.” * * * * 7th September: David Taylor. “The greatest danger clearly comes from Reform. Their momentum across the UK is compounded in Wales by a leadership in denial. Too many at the top of Welsh Labour remain reluctant to recognise this threat, still talking about a “progressive majority” in Wales. This represents the fundamental misreading that has landed the party in this mess. “For too long, Welsh Labour has assumed Welsh exceptionalism: that voters in Wales think differently from those in England, that they are somehow more progressive, more enlightened. The Brexit vote nine years ago should have dispelled this notion. Welsh voters felt the same sense of being left behind by a political class that seemed increasingly distant from their lives and concerns. “...The “Red Welsh Way” rhetoric is glib and lacks substance, seeking to occupy anti-Westminster space already claimed more credibly by Plaid and Reform.” https://nation.cymru/opinion/welsh-labours-last-stand/ * * * * 14th September: “Sunday Supplement” Owain Williams “this is three minutes to midnight. There may be time to turn it around. How do you turn it around? I've never met a voter who said “I've read there's £84 million or this number or this number, so I'm impressed. These numbers don't impress people. “We would have to do something that makes people sit and take notice and changes perceptions of what Welsh Labour is about. Incremental changes, blaming your predecessors, saying there's not enough money will not cut it. "Focus on wealth creation. Sound more modern on public services. If we don't so these things we won't do very well and frankly we won't have deserved to.” * * * * 14th September: “Politics Today” Eluned Morgan “Today we're announcing £4.4m into...” “In Wales the red Welsh way is a way where we hold on to the kind of values which have always set us apart...We are closer to our communities...Make sure we are aligned with what people want us to do.” “What we won't do is to constantly try and pin the blame on someone else. You will never get that with Plaid Cymru. Plaid Cymru will not take responsibility. It will always be London's fault. That is not where we're at. “ * * * * 24th September: Rhun ap Iorwerth on Newsnight. The Institute for Fiscal Studies contradicts a financial assertion he has made. Response “I don't believe that.” Interviewer: “This is the Institute for Fiscal Studies.” * * * * Leslie Griffiths: “The civil service is a world that I knew nothing about.” https://amanwy.blogspot.com/2025/05/dysfunction.html * * * * 25th September Ben Wildsmith "The Greens Must Stand Down” “Mr Hughes should not be standing in this election. Anthony Slaughter’s Welsh Green Party should recognise the electoral realities on the ground and stand aside to prevent an outcome which could have catastrophic consequences for decades to come.” https://nation.cymru/opinion/the-greens-must-stand-down/ * * * * 3rd October: Andrew Davies. “We have what I call a client state where there’s too much secrecy. "There’s not enough openness and transparency. So many organisations and individuals in Wales depend on funding and patronage from the Welsh Government, and I think civil society needs to be stronger and more independent, and I think there needs to be more transparency and accountability.” https://nation.cymru/news/jury-still-out-on-whether-devolution-has-proved-itself-says-ex-welsh-government-minister/ * * * * 5th October: Ben Wildsmith. “Instead of quaking before the bond markets, the government should have won genuine popular support that caused creditors to retreat in the knowledge that it would be in power for many years to come.” https://nation.cymru/opinion/time-to-change-tracks/ |
Reviewed by: Adam Somerset |
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