‘Minister ferried across the capital by chauffeur’
ALABOUR Welsh Government minister was ferried back and forth on the short trip between his Cardiff home and the National Assembly for Wales repeatedly by a chauffeur.
Driver logs released under a Freedom of Information Act request show Rhondda AM Leighton Andrews being chauffeured regularly from his home in Llandaff to Cardiff Bay – a journey of four miles.
There are also trips recorded between his Llandaff home and the Welsh Government building in Cathays Park, and to the BBC studios in Llandaff itself. There are no records of his being driven by chauffeur back to the property he owns in the Rhondda.
Plaid Cymru councillor Emyr Webster said: “We’ve seen recent examples of Labour ministers being taken round the corner in their chauffeur-driven cars. Here we have another example of an out-of-touch Labour minister making full use of the perks of the job. Mr Andrews has to be driven back and forth between the Assembly and his family home in Llandaff, even though it is just a short journey from one part of the capital to another.
“It seems the minister is only too happy to be ferried back and fore, regardless of the cost to the taxpayer. People might also want him to clarify where he actually lives, given there is no record of his being driven by chauffeur to or from his constituency in the Rhondda. Will he say where he really lives?”
Mr Webster added: “We have seen plenty of remote behaviour from the Labour government in Wales; perhaps that complacency goes with the territory after 17 years in power. If they left the chauffeur-driven cars parked in the garage for the short journeys, they may become a bit more in touch with the people of Wales.”
A Labour source responded: “This is pathetic stuff from Leanne Wood’s team in the Rhondda. They know they are losing so they have started on personal attacks.
“Leighton drives himself around the Rhondda and from the Rhondda to Cardiff and back in his nine-yearold Saab. He drives himself to the Assembly every day he is there, except when on ministerial business, when he will use a ministerial car or train where appropriate.
“It’s not surprising his Plaid opponent wouldn’t put her own name to this press release, given that Leanne Wood’s publicly declared expenses were £6,433 higher than Leighton’s last year.
“She has spent very little time campaigning in the Rhondda during the election and has clearly given up any hope of winning. Conversely, Leighton has worked tirelessly for the Rhondda during his time as the local AM and has a record of delivery, helping to save Remploy jobs in the Rhondda, creating the Jobs Growth Wales scheme, which found Rhondda youngsters jobs with local firms, and protecting Rhondda students from the £9,000 tuition fees which Plaid would now force them to pay.
“Leanne Wood’s team shouldn’t be throwing stones when her chosen successor, Carmarthen East and Dinefwr candidate Adam Price, declares on social media that he is based in London.”
Mr Price, who represented Carmarthen East and Dinefwr in Westminster from 2001 until 2010, maintains he now lives in the constituency where he is standing. He was previously working in London.