Wales’ first minister has made it clear she won’t be relying on the Prime Minister’s popularity as the country heads towards crucial elections in May.
Eluned Morgan repeatedly sidestepped questions about whether Sir Keir Starmer was doing a good job during a Radio 4 Today programme interview on Wednesday morning, instead insisting the Senedd election wasn’t about Westminster politics.
When pressed on whether she thought Sir Keir is a good prime minister, the Welsh Labour leader said:
“What I’m saying to the people of Wales is that he’s not on the ballot paper. That is not what people will be voting for in May.”
She continued:
“This is not an opportunity for a free hit against the UK government. This is not a time for protest votes. The things that matter here is who is going to deliver those services that people rely on in Wales.”
Morgan warned voters they’d face “a choice between the chaos Reform will offer, [or] the pipe dreams that Plaid will offer, which will be a road to independence.”
The comments come just a week after Morgan said Sir Keir was only welcome to campaign with her in Wales if he brought “goodies” – meaning announcements of new projects.
During the same interview, Morgan also appeared to downplay her own recent call for policing powers to be devolved to Wales – a request firmly rejected by Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood on Monday, just days after Morgan made the demand in a London speech.
When challenged about Westminster’s lack of interest in devolving policing, Morgan pivoted to “bread and butter issues”, saying: “I think what people in Wales are concerned with are the bread and butter issues in their daily lives.”
She insisted Wales had been “consistent” in requesting policing powers under both Labour and Conservative UK governments, but emphasised that voters in May would be “interested in looking to the future, that next chapter where we will be growing the economy of Wales.”
In a separate BBC Wales interview on Tuesday, Morgan repeatedly dodged questions about whether Mahmood’s response was “a kick in the teeth” or whether she could persuade Westminster colleagues to change their minds.
The political manoeuvring has drawn fire from opposition parties. Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Darren Millar accused Morgan of “setting up the scaffolding for an independent Wales” and trying to “out nationalist the nationalists.”
Plaid Cymru branded Morgan “powerless”, whilst a Reform UK Wales spokesperson said:
“Labour and Plaid want to spend the whole election talking about the constitution. This is the kind of trivial distraction that has led to soaring NHS waiting lists and plummeting educational outcomes here in Wales.”
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