The Ken Skates Interview
We sat down with the man trying to rebuild Welsh Labour
Ken Skates has, by any measure, got a really tough job. He is having to bring together a Welsh Labour group in the Senedd who are both divided and diminished.
They have gone from 30 MSs in 2021 to just nine now. In some ways it is actually harder to manage a group of nine than a group of 30. A single Labour MS now represents more than 10% of their group. Three MSs feeling rebellious now constitute a third of their members.
Mr Skates is not the permanent leader yet. However he has made it clear he wants the job and it’s evident he commands the support of the UK Labour Government.
In a wide-ranging interview we discussed what went wrong, how Labour plans to rebuild, whether he supports Rhun ap Iorwerth in his demands for concessions from Keir Starmer and who he thinks should be the next Prime Minister…
As usual I will provide the question, answer and some analysis.
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