TV debate will put leaders in spotlight

ADAM Price’s call for a TV debate involving the leaders of Wales’ major parties reminds us that conventional politics has to a large extent been on hold during the pandemic.

Things are very different to how they were a year ago, when the House of Commons was deadlocked over Brexit.

If it was thought that the result of the general election held last December would herald a new era of decisive government, the arrival of Covid19 ensured a different outcome.

Instead we have gone through a period of intense trauma caused by excess deaths and restrictions on our freedoms that are unprecedented in recent times.

For many, the normal hurly-burly of politics has on one level seemed irrelevant to the challenges we have faced, and continue to face.

However, as Mr Price points out, it is also the case that decisions taken by Welsh Government ministers have had a considerable impact on people’s lives – and that they have been taken with such visibility that there was little scope to ignore them.

From the lockdown measures announced on health grounds to the decisions relating to school examinations, steps taken by the Welsh ministers in charge of our devolved administration have never had such a direct effect before.

It will be interesting to see how this will play into next year’s Senedd election campaign.

With the arguable exception of the first devolved election in 1999, the outcome of electoral contests in Wales have largely been determined by the state of politics at Westminster.

This has not been to the advantage of parties in Wales, leading as it has to a certain paucity of ambition.

Labour has remained the dominant party in each successive National Assembly election – but will that continue into the first election for a body now known as the Welsh Parliament?

Mr Price hopes that the additional understanding about what a Welsh Government can achieve will translate into greater support for his party.

On the other hand, Mark Drakeford will be portrayed by Welsh Labour as a dependable and reassuring leader who can guarantee stability and continuity.

The Welsh Conservatives, for their part, will argue that Wales needs to ditch the progressive left and embrace a more buccaneering approach in tandem with post-Brexit England. All of these visions await the electorate next spring.

We suspect that some politicians will be more eager than others to start the debate, but sooner or later it will top the agenda.