A fresh voice for Llanelli

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We need to re-set the debate on farming

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Speech in the Senedd on 16th July 2025 Let me start with the obvious: Farming is hard. I am proud to come from a family of farmers, and I understand the vital role that farmers play. We need them, and we value them as key workers. Not only do they feed us, but they are an important part of our cultural mosaic, and at their best are stewards of our environment. I think it's important to re-state this because the debate around farming is in a bad place. It has become dragged into the culture wars. And those divisions are heightened through our political debate. I’ve heard my colleagues make the point that farming contributes less than 1 per cent to the GDP of the country. But that’s a bit like saying a washer contributes less than 1 per cent to the functioning of a tap. It may be true, but it misses the point. On the other hand, it feels like the main farming unions are fixated on a grievance narrative - and the opposition parties in this Senedd compete with each other to amplify it...
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How to be Popular? A wicked Welsh issue indeed

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How do you respond to populism? How can a Government of the left combine an ongoing sense of insurgency with the reality of making the compromises necessary with being in power? Wales offers something of a case-study in these universal dilemmas. The Labour Party has been the dominant party for 102 years, and for the last 26 years has been the main party of Government in our devolved parliament. Next year there will be elections under a newer more proportional system and for the first time Welsh Labour’s position as the largest party is being seriously questioned, and polls sugges t that we are within the margin of error of coming third.  The Reform Party has the wind in their sails. It seems to matter not a jot that they don’t have a policy platform, an organisational network, or any local leadership.  And this is not a uniquely Welsh phenomenon. As the FT set out in a series of end-of-year charts the trend across the developed world in 2024 was for incumbent governments to be...
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How is Wales run?

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  When I was asked to set a reading list for students studying for a Masters Degree in Welsh Politics at Cardiff University it became obvious that very little has been written about how decisions get made and how the institutions of government work. Six months after handing in my Ministerial pass for WG HQ in Cathays Park and the Fifth Floor of Ty Hywel in Cardiff Bay I sat down with a dozen people I'd worked with in Welsh Government, but who were now longer bound by the codes of secrecy, and had long-form conversations to try and explore some of the inner workings to provide some material for students to understand. The full set of transcripts of these 'Cathays Conversations' have been published by Cardiff University.  With the help of an iPhone and a simple audio editing software package I set about turning this raw material into a radio documentary series which thanks to the wonders of podcasting I would easily share with students and those with a general interest in how...
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