By stewartb

The British Labour Party is under pressure in Wales with the Senedd elections upcoming in 2026. It seems that having British Labour Party colleagues in government in Westminster is being seen as an electoral handicap. The party leaders in Wales – unlike those of the British Labour Party in Scotland – are now seeking to differentiate themselves from LINO (the Labour In Name Only party) that dominates Westminster with its MPs from England and Scotland.

A BBC Wales analysis offers an insight into how Labour’s First Minister Eluned Morgan intends to promote voting for Labour in 2026. It also provides an insight into how this dysfunctional Union operates under Labour.

First some background: the BBC News website (May 6) had this headline: ‘Wales’ Labour first minister says she will ‘call out’ Starmer’. We learn the Ms Morgan ‘called for UK ministers to halt part of its plans to cut disability benefits, rethink cuts to the winter fuel allowance, and demanded Wales benefit more from wind power via the Crown Estate.

But, according to the BBC: ‘Sir Keir Starmer said there would not be a rethink on winter fuel cuts, but that the government needed to “explain the decisions we’ve taken”.

The BBC also notes: ‘Meanwhile a poll published on Tuesday suggested that support for Labour among voters had fallen to a historic low. It comes after the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, introduced changes to personal independence payments (PIP) and cuts to health-related universal credit during the Spring Statement.’ (my emphasis)

And the BBC shares more from the Welsh FM: “Where we disagree, we will say it, where we see unfairness, we will stand up for it.” She insisted that what she was describing was not a “split” but was instead “grown up modern government” and patriotic.’

(So it seems we have a British Labour Party FM as a Welsh patriot expressing discontent with the actions of her own party’s PM in all powerful Westminster, himself a self-proclaimed English patriot.)

I found this quote from Ms Morgan particularly interesting : “We saw them take our coal, we saw them take our water. We will not let them take our wind, not this time, not on my watch”

Who are the ‘them’ of which she speaks? Successive UK governments aka governments of England? After all, in this UK what England wants England usually can get given Westminster’s electoral arithmetic. The FM’s description of Wales in Union is hardly a ringing endorsement of a ‘better together’ Union.

The BBC reports the results of an opinion poll regarding voting intentions at the 2026 Senedd elections: ‘Meanwhile, Labour has slumped to a historic low in a new YouGov opinion poll which suggests the party is supported by just 18% of the Welsh public. ITV Wales/Cardiff University’s Barn Cymru Senedd election poll puts Plaid Cymru in the lead on 30%, Reform on 25%, and the Tories on 13%. The Liberal Democrats polled at 7%, and the Greens at 5%.’

The article ends with an ‘analysis’ by BBC Wales’ political editor: ‘The argument goes that as a Labour first minister she is the only one who can be in the room with Keir Starmer – a first minister from another party would be shouting from the outside. It comes with risk. If she shouts louder and still does not get what she wants, then how will that go down with voters?’

So ‘the only one who can be in the room’ with the UK’s PM – and not having to ‘shout from the outside’ – is a FM from the PM’s own party! Really? Is that what a British Labour Party political leader will pitch to voters? (Pity the voters of NI: condemned to shouting from the outside as LINO doesn’t even stand candidates there!)

So much for Labour-promoted ‘federalism’ for the UK! And what happened to Labour’s other big idea to strengthen the Union, the Council of the Nations and Regions – anything changed since it met in Edinburgh in October 2024?

Source https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cy9v7gn9729o