Eluned Morgan (Image: PA Images / Alamy)
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Wales’ First Minister Eluned Morgan has made a direct appeal for voters to stick with Labour ahead of the Senedd election, even as multiple opinion polls place her party in third behind both Plaid Cymru and Reform UK.
Polling pressure
Three recent surveys have put Labour behind its rivals, a stark position for a party that has led the Welsh Government since 1999. Speaking to BBC Wales, Morgan acknowledged the challenge but framed the fight as one about experience over uncertainty.
“Incumbency is difficult and the longer you’re in the more difficult it gets. That’s a natural situation,” she said.
She argued that amid worldwide turbulence, continuity was what Wales needed most.
“I think it’s really important to recognise that actually people are under pressure at the moment and what we need is stability,” she told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast on Wednesday.
“We have massive instability and now is not the time for change.”
Council tax and credibility
Morgan was challenged on why Labour was pledging to reform council tax after the election rather than having acted while already in power – a question that goes to the heart of the party’s credibility pitch after nearly three decades in government.
NHS waiting lists
On health, Morgan warned that a change of administration could stall progress on reducing waiting times, suggesting rival parties lacked the knowledge to deliver.
“When you get new parties who don’t know the system, don’t know how to do it, there will be a halt to progress and I fear that’s what’s likely to happen if you get new governments,” she said.
She pointed to what she called “significant progress” on waiting lists, though conceded it was unclear whether she would hit her own targets – with official figures due on Thursday. The Welsh Government had committed to cutting waiting lists by 200,000, ending waits of two years or more, and ensuring no patient waited longer than eight weeks for a diagnostic test.
According to BBC Wales, the number of people awaiting treatment saw a record fall in January, but waits exceeding target times for both diagnostics and therapies had actually risen.
Recruitment freeze row
Morgan also defended a freeze on NHS recruitment that has drawn heavy criticism and left some newly qualified staff considering jobs abroad. She attributed the freeze to better staff retention across the health service rather than any cutback.
“We have increased the numbers very significantly in the NHS. We had very high levels of agency workers in the NHS,” she said.
“The fact is those have come tumbling down. We have much better retention rates, and that is the reason why we’re in this situation.
“It’s because, ironically, things have become better and clearly there is knock-on effect.
“I do understand why people in those situations be very frustrated. I’m very confident that when you’ve got 112,000 people working in the NHS, there is always staff turnover and there will be opportunities for these people in future.”
Opposition response
Plaid Cymru hit back sharply at Morgan’s case for continuity. A spokesperson said the comments reeked of “desperation,” adding: “The audacity of Labour who think they have some divine right to continue governing in Wales because that’s always been the case.”
A Welsh Conservative spokesperson said: “After 27 years of Labour, propped up by Plaid Cymru, Wales has a failing NHS, falling educational standards and the lowest pay packets in Great Britain, Wales simply cannot afford more of the same.”
