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The tap end of the bath

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Piece for LabourList The compelling TV series, Succession, is meant to be a satire. But its biting observations of how power and money are wielded are bang-on-the-nose. In a wide-ranging interview with the New Statesman last week its star, Brian Cox, mused on the injustices in the way the UK works.  “Wales gets the tap end of the bath every time”, the actor sagely observed. It’s not the first time a colourful metaphor has been used to describe Welsh vulnerability in the power-stakes. Neil Kinnock in the constitutional debates of the 1970s liked to talk about ‘sore thumb devolution’. He opposed an Assembly for Wales because he worried the extra support we needed would make us stick out like a sore-thumb, and risk an ‘English backlash’.  He didn’t think Welsh interests were best served by separating them from those of other parts of the UK. It is a view that continues to resonate at the ‘Welsh table’ in the Members' tearoom in the House of Commons. The current Welsh Secretary,...
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Red Welsh Way

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Speech delivered by Eluned Morgan, Leader of Welsh Labour, on 6th May 2025 at the Norweigan Church in Cardiff Bay Bore Da. Friends, colleagues - this time next year, Wales will choose not just a new government, but a new future.  When I stepped up to lead Wales last August - the nation that shaped me, raised me and rooted my values - I did so with my eyes wide open and a strong sense of duty to my country.  I knew the scale of the task. I knew the weight of responsibility. And I knew that change was not only coming, it was needed for our Government our politics our people.  A new voting system. A new era. Welsh Labour -A government that's already delivered for 26 years. But I also realised that the risks of a divided anti- Conservative left vote and the rise of the right wing Reform party put the whole shape of the future of Wales at stake.   “Time for change” isn’t just a slogan - it’s a demand. And at the next Senedd elections Labour will answer th...
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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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Bonus episode - Yes, Minister

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The transcript of Episode 8 of 'Y Pumed Llawr - The Fifth Floor Civil servants can’t answer back. They can’t respond to criticism. So it’s not fair to criticse them. But once a year, the top civil servant in Wales, does get the microphone. The Senedd’s Public Accounts and Public Administration Committee holds an annual public hearing with the Welsh Government’s Permanent Secretary so that they can be scruitised on the annual accounts. And as we discussed in the second episode the accountability of the civil service in Wales is a fuzzy concept.  The Permanent Secretary is both the CEO of the Welsh Government and the principal policy adviser to the First Minister. As part of the UK senior Civil Service Sir Andrew Goodall is answerable to the Head of the UK Civil Service, the Cabinet Secretary, for “the leadership of the departments”. But is answerable to the First Minister for the delivery of the Welsh Government’s priorities. And in his role as the Principal Accounting Officer the P...
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