COLUMN: Priorities for the new First Minister

It’s been a pretty dramatic summer in politics with a General Election and a change of Welsh First Minister, and in his first column since both events, Montgomeryshire Senedd Member Russell George shares his thoughts.

“Much political change has happened in July. We have a UK Labour Government, a new MP locally, and we have a new First Minister following the resignation of Vaughan Gething.

Following Vaughan’s resignation as First Minister of Wales, I think he made the correct decision as he had lost the confidence of the Senedd, and many in his own party within the Senedd, including the Ministers that resigned from his Government.

From the start, the donations he received from someone convicted of environmental crimes has plagued him. There were also wider issues within the Labour Government and group which has continued to cause friction.

For me, Vaughan was not someone who seemed willing to listen to others’ views or was someone willing to work across party. Some would have seen my exchange with him recently as I raised questions with him about Welshpool’s Air Ambulance base. There was not the slight bit of willingness from him to consider alternative proposals.

We now have a new First Minister in Eluned Morgan. Eluned was elected in a vote of Senedd members. She will need to focus on getting NHS waiting times down, which are currently the longest in the UK, but having been the cabinet secretary who has presided over the NHS, I worry about this priority. The new First Minister will need to also improve education standards, improve the economy and take-home pay in Wales. Trust also needs to be re-built with farmers and rural communities.

But above all, my hopes for the new First Minister are that she will have a different attitude and a different approach to past Welsh Governments and First Ministers. We need an end to the ‘Do as I say’ and, ‘I know best’ attitude.  Our new First Minister needs to listen to the views of people from across Wales and understand the different needs of rural and mid Wales.

Now to turn to the other big event in July. We have a new UK Labour Government. I have written to Steve Witherden MP on his win for the new constituency of Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, to offer my congratulations.

I pay tribute to Craig Williams, who worked so hard for Montgomeryshire. He had such energy and focus on doing the best for our area. Politics can be brutal, but I also want to pay tribute to Craig’s office team based in Welshpool and London. I know how hard they have worked.

The UK election result was a success for the Labour Party. The Conservative Party took a beating from the electorate. The party nationally needs time to reflect, and as Welsh Conservatives we will want to feed our views into how the party rebuilds nationally.

I continue my work locally in serving the people of Montgomeryshire in the Senedd and hope to soon meet with Steve Witherden as I seek to work with him.

If you believe I can help in any way, please email me at russell.george@senedd.wales or call my office at 01686 610887.