The enormous challenges facing newly-elected Mark Drakeford
Mark Drakeford has taken over the leadership of Welsh Labour, but most political eyes are on Brexit. Within Welsh Labour, in his own Assembly group, with the wider people and in dealing with Westminster, there will be huge challenges in front of him. Three of our senior political writers look at the enormous tasks that face him Winning over a sceptical Welsh public – social affairs correspondent Ruth Mosalski
“THAT’S what Labour needs, another old grey leader, a huge opportunity missed.”
“Male, grey and stale.”
“An insomniac’s dream.” These were just three of the hundreds of comments made on our live stream of the Welsh Labour leadership result on Thursday afternoon.
I personally was asked: “Why couldn’t it just be someone a bit... different?”, “Where’s his personality?” and a sarcastic “Oh, Mr Charisma won”.
“Predictable and a missed opportunity,” said one Twitter follower.
Within Welsh Labour, Mark Drakeford was seen as the safe pair of hands for the party and the nation.
During the exceptionally long campaign, that was a viewpoint reflected by council leaders, businesspeople, voters.
But the difficult truth for him is that he vast bulk of people in Wales have simply never heard of him.
And introducing himself to a nation isn’t going to be easy for someone who comes across as not being the most comfortable in the limelight.
Before this campaign, the Cardiff West AM wasn’t someone I knew well, but over the last few months I’ve spent a good few hours with him.
He is exceptionally clever, he can talk about taxes, laws and Brexit in incredible, cripplingly technical detail. Detail that loses most of us.
What he doesn’t do is translate that into language that the rest of us can understand.
It doesn’t make the average person on the street think “Oh, so that’s what Brexit will mean for me”.
But, if you get the chance to talk to him, he’s friendly, nice and even selfdeprecating.
When he talks about his route into politics, you’re in no doubt he has done it for the right reasons. He got involved because of his passion about inequality seeing families living in poverty in Ely.
Whatever your view on politicians, there’s something to be said about spending your working life trying to help others.
Much was made of what he said to me in one interview that he had no “burning desire” to be First Minister.
At the time, I took it in the way (I think) he meant it and that is he isn’t a career politician. He hasn’t spent the last three decades meticulously planning his route to the top.
And it certainly doesn’t mean that he doesn’t have a lot of ideas for what he wants to do with the top job.
But having a lot of ideas doesn’t necessarily mean that the public will love you.
Welsh Labour could have given Wales the first black leader of a UK nation, it could have given us our first female First Minister.
But the party didn’t. It has given us a proud socialist. It has given us a politician who makes many in the party feel good about the principles and ideals that they hold.
But that throws up a huge image problem.
The appointment of a grey-haired, middle-aged man to the top job risks entrenching the idea that Welsh politics is not relevant to modern life in Wales.
And the challenge of countering that is now down to Mark Drakeford.
Getting noticed at Westminster – political editor David Williamson
ONE of the biggest dangers for Mark Drakeford in his dealings with the UK Government is that he will be ignored.
Theresa May is in a battle for survival as she leads a minority Government that is dependent on the DUP for support. The future of her career, the Brexit settlement she has negotiated, and the administration she leads all hinge on her ability to command a majority in the House of Commons.
The PM will be absolutely focused on parliamentary arithmetic in the days ahead, and Mr Drakeford has a daunting task ahead if he hopes to influence decision-making in Downing Street.
If Welsh Labour’s 28 MPs were allies of English Labour MPs but not part of one single group, and if they ultimately looked to Mr Drakeford and not Mr Corbyn for leadership, then he might enjoy real negotiating leverage with the Prime Minister.
But as things stand he will have to work hard to ensure that (a) Welsh Labour’s concerns are a priority for Mr Corbyn’s top team and (b) he has a direct line into No 10.
Thankfully for Mr Drakeford, his status as an early supporter of Mr Corbyn should help him with the first challenge, and on the second he has built up good relations with Mrs May’s de facto deputy, David Lidington, during long months of Brexit talks on the Joint Ministerial Committee.
This process led to the Welsh Government granting consent to the EU Withdrawal Bill. The approach of Mr
The Cardiff West AM is seen as a pragmatic left-winger, someone it is possible to do business with DAVID WILLIAMSON
Drakeford and his team differed from the SNP representatives who continue to condemn the legislation as a power grab.
The Cardiff West AM is seen as a pragmatic left-winger, someone it is possible to do business with. He needs to make the most of this goodwill, while also ensuring he is impossible to ignore.
Post-Brexit, the UK will become a mini version of the EU, with common rules needed to ensure that different regulations in Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland do not impede trade between the nations or give businesses unfair advantages over their near-neighbours.
Mr Drakeford will need to ensure that the eventual system of decisionmaking and dispute resolution is fair to Wales.
A further priority will be fighting to make sure the UK Government’s replacement for EU regional aid, the proposed Shared Prosperity Fund, does not lead to less cash coming into this nation.
A major challenge will be guaranteeing a voice for Wales when major trade deals are negotiated with the EU and a host of countries.
The Welsh Government will argue it is responsible for areas such as agriculture and fisheries, so it is inappropriate for ministers whose portfolios cover only England to sign the UK up to international treaties which could have significant consequences when it comes to fishing rights, animal health and genetically-modified crops.
The Welsh Government can bang the table but, once again, the top priority for Mrs May or her successor will be getting legislation through the UK Parliament, which means Mr Drakeford will have limited influence unless he can get the Labour leadership to prioritise Welsh demands.
Similarly, the UK Government is unlikely to initiate a further major transfer of powers to the Assembly – such as the devolution of Air Passenger Duty or criminal justice, for example – unless it comes under political pressure within Parliament to do so.
Mr Drakeford not only has to think about how to influence the Conservative UK Government – he has to plan how to respond to Tory fire.
David Cameron repeatedly pointed to challenges in the health service in Wales as a warning of what England could expect if Labour’s Ed Miliband became Prime Minister.
Mr Drakeford is identified as a Corbynista and Conservatives will seek to portray Wales as a one-party state with failing public services.
If local government and NHS reform in Wales triggers industrial action, if education standards stagnate or slide, and if Mr Drakeford uses new powers to increase income tax, Tory spinners will say this is what a Corbyn-led England would experience.
Mr Drakeford won popularity in Welsh Labour during his years as an aide working behind the scenes for Rhodri Morgan.
Now he is on the frontline and about to come under hostile fire, with Wales’ future position in the UK at stake. At age 64, he faces the challenge of his political lifetime.
Asserting himself over Welsh Labour – chief reporter Martin Shipton
ALL political leaders face challenges, and when Mark Drakeford is elected First Minister on Wednesday he knows that he will be expected to stamp his authority on a government that has been drifting for more than a year since the death of Carl Sargeant.
One of the reasons he gained so much support in the Labour group was because many AMs saw him as having the gravitas and the experience to move things on from that tragedy in a way that Carwyn Jones could not.
Mr Drakeford is also seen as a calming influence at a time of Brexit uncertainty – something that was more important in the Assembly group and the party than showing unequivocal backing for a People’s Vote, as done by the two defeated candidates.
The breadth of his support could in itself be seen as a challenge. While he scored with the party electorate for being the only contender to have voted for Jeremy Corbyn – even when it was unfashionable for elected politicians to do so – he now has to deal with supporters from the right of the party as well as the left who would like some kind of ministerial appointment.
Someone who knows the incoming First Minister well says he’s not the kind of politician who buys support with the promise of preferment.
With only one Cabinet member thought to be an obvious candidate for the chop – Local Government Secretary Alun Davies, whose aim to drive forward council mergers came to nothing – there are unlikely to be slots for all those who backed the presumed winner in the belief that their careers would advance as a result of his victory.
Whether those who miss out swallow their pride and hold out hopes for a future reshuffle, or become backbench malcontents, is difficult to predict.
There are tangible policy challenges too. In west Wales, for example, Labour Party members have taken part in protests against renewed threats to downgrade or even close hospitals.
Such emotive issues go to the heart of the ambiguous nature of accountability within NHS Wales.
While it’s the responsibility of the Welsh Government to draw up overarching strategies relating to how the NHS should be run, it’s the duty of local health boards to make specific plans about service delivery.
This gives local politicians a degree of wriggle room when NHS officials propose changes that are unpopular with patients.
They can claim they are against the changes even though NHS officials say they are implementing their version of an overarching strategy laid down by the governing party to which the local politicians belong. At least that’s the theory.
In reality, of course, such sophistry won’t convince the public. If there are moves to downgrade or even shut down a hospital in west Wales, Mark Drakeford and Labour will get flak.
At a time when he is hoping to build support for Labour in advance of the 2021 National Assembly election, it’s likely that any such controversial plans will be kicked into the long grass, as they were a decade ago.
Coping with Brexit and austerity are the other two major challenges he faces.
In truth, he has next to no influence over the first and very little over the second.
That’s why throughout the leadership campaign he was constantly harping on the need for a Labour government at Westminster.
His left-wing supporters will be looking to him to deliver on his pledge to extend the anti-poverty measures he has been responsible for since the time when he was Rhodri Morgan’s senior adviser.
Equally, he will be expected to introduce legislation to guarantee fair wages and working conditions for employees of companies that have contracts with the Welsh Government or receive financial assistance from it. There is no reason to assume he won’t be able to keep these promises.