"We are not very good in Wales at being efficient”
Wales watching - The midweek briefing
Reporting by the Newsletter Team
Hi everyone,
The Senedd is back and there is plenty to discuss. We have some highly instructive comments from a Reform MS and Plaid’s pledge to end the longest NHS waiting lists within months. Plus birds, job adverts and Labour’s ongoing post-mortem.
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Senior Reform politician says there shouldn’t be more devolution because “we are not very good in Wales at being efficient”
I was at the Hay Festival at the weekend taking part in a panel looking at Welsh politics. On that panel was Reform’s shadow minister for health, prevention and sport James Evans.
One of the questions asked was whether the Crown Estate should be devolved to Wales. To this Mr Evans said:
“I don’t think it should be devolved for the simple reason being if you devolve it you have to set up an office to run it in Wales. And we are not very good in Wales at being efficient in running things.”
I didn’t know at the time but my live reaction to this was being captured and Claire Gibson kindly sent it to me (I have never had a good poker face):
There are a few points I would make about Mr Evans’ comments:
There are legitimate arguments for not devolving the Crown Estate. I chronicle them in my book. I do on balance believe it would be better for Wales if it was devolved (or at least the money from it was sent directly to Wales) but it is not inherently “anti-Wales” to be hesitant about the devolution of the Crown Estate.
However, the argument that “we are not very good in Wales at being efficient” is one of the most infantile descriptions of a nation I have ever heard, especially coming from a man/party who claimed they wanted to lead that nation. The idea that Wales and the Welsh are uniquely incapable of running something illustrates a level of self-hate and lack of confidence that we need to shed. It’s a narrative that holds us back more than almost anything.
Nothing says “I don’t think we will ever run the Welsh Government” like this statement. If Reform really believed they would one day have the levers of government at their disposal, they wouldn’t be so quick to deny Wales having them.
Plaid’s pledge to end the longest waits
Tuesday was the first day of business as usual for the new-look Senedd. Rhun ap Iorwerth took his first First Minister’s Questions and a number of ministers set out their stalls for the next four years.
Wales’ new health minister Mabon ap Gwynfor outlined Plaid’s priorities for health in the chamber:
A programme of up to ten surgical and diagnostic hubs will be developed over the next four years to increase NHS capacity and cut delays.
Two-year waits are targeted to be eliminated within months, with the overall backlog reduced to pre-pandemic levels before the end of this Senedd term.
Up to 100 new salaried GPs will be recruited and access to out-of-hours primary care expanded to reduce pressure on hospitals.
It is worth focusing on the second one for a moment, because it is a big commitment.
Before the election, we wrote about how a big part of Welsh Labour’s drop-off in popularity was their inability to meet their own targets on the longest waits. They promised this would be done by March 2023, then by March 2024, then by the end of the Senedd term. None of these were met.
Recently the final waiting times figures for the previous Welsh Government were published. As of March 2026, there were 2,589 pathways awaiting treatment for more than two years, almost halving the previous month’s figure (4,517).
Before the election, Welsh Labour had been hammering away at these waits, which had fallen for ten consecutive months. Looking at the figures for the last year or so, the monthly change has ranged from huge drops of several thousand, to increases of a similar amount.
When Reform leader Dan Thomas pressed the First Minister on what exactly his government meant by “within months”, Mr ap Iorwerth did not give a date.
But given the most recent drop of around 2,000, it doesn’t seem unrealistic to think the number could hit zero in the coming months. Plaid clearly see this as achievable and something they could point to as an early win in government.
Bear in mind two-year waits do not exist in England and this is four years after the last Welsh Government first said they would get rid of them.
Story ideas from around Wales
At the newsletter we are super conscious that, because our office is in South East Wales (Newport) and the Senedd is in Cardiff, the gravity of our reporting is often focused on this area. We have long term plans to expand our staffing and offices to cover more of Wales, but in the shorter term we need your help.
Ultimately it is impossible for a small team to have its finger on the pulse across the whole of a nation of over three million people and over 8,000 square miles. We therefore are asking readers to send us suggestions, leads and tips from across Wales (but with a particular focus on areas in the north, middle and west of Cymru).
These can be ideas for features, investigations and news items. We are focused on politics but that includes societal issues and challenges. We also want to cover important positive and uplifting news so feel free to send that along too.
If you have an idea please send it to Ryan@willhayward.co.uk. We treat all correspondence in confidence and always protect our sources. Last time we did a call out like this we had more than 250 messages so it may take time to work through them all.
For Wales, See Scotland?
Reform UK are advertising for some jobs in Wales – but they seem to have made a slight error.
One ad listed as Video Editor - Wales had the description to “lead the production of high-impact video content across Wales”.
As well as editing daily short-form video content for social media, creating ads and working with campaign teams, one of the responsibilities of the job (which doesn’t list a salary) is apparently to:
“Produce fast-turnaround reactive clips responding to Scottish political developments and media moments.”
We’ll take this as a copy and paste job that slipped through the cracks.
Reform are also advertising for a vetting officer based in Westminster, whose job it will be to “carry out background checks, social media audits, and reputational risk assessments on prospective candidates standing for election under the Reform UK banner.”
Given what has emerged about some of Reform’s election candidates, you could look at this either as a case of shutting the barn door after the horse has done a Nazi salute, or a sign that the party is learning lessons from what has happened with the next general election in mind.
Rebuilding Labour
This week the newsletter interviewed interim Welsh Labour leader Ken Skates. We discussed why Labour lost, where we go from here and his views on Keir Starmer.
That interview will be out on Sunday.
Over the last few weeks some key former Welsh Labour figures have been doing the media rounds giving their thoughts...
Welsh Labour’s post mortem continues
Former Welsh Labour cabinet minister Mick Antoniw has written an article about what he believes to be the party’s key failures.
He is very critical of the UK Government, writing that among the contributing factors to Welsh Labour’s demise were:
UK Labour being over-centralised and a UK Labour Government that “does not trust devolved government”.
Lack of progress on devolution, especially on policing, youth justice and the Crown Estate.
The increasing association of UK Labour with ‘Britishness’.
A Welsh Office that “has become the post-devolution equivalent of a colonial office”.
Perhaps one of the most telling quotes is this:
“The growing perception is of Welsh Labour being an appendage to an increasingly unpopular UK Labour Government, no longer standing up for Wales and Labour values but one of subservience and deferential.”
To guarantee themselves a future, Mr Antoniw called for an autonomous Welsh Labour Party, with devolution of the party rule-book and decision-making, reform of the Barnett formula, devolution of the Crown Estate and a move towards a clear Welsh Labour identity. We put this to Ken Skates in our interview.
He isn’t the only key ex-Welsh Labour MS taking aim at Westminster. Weeks after he called on Keir Starmer to set a timetable for leaving Downing Street, Mark Drakeford has been on Radio Wales, where he said:
“For me the thing that made this election so difficult from a Welsh Labour point of view was that we had so little in the first two years of that Labour government at Westminster that allowed us to demonstrate that we are still the party of devolution here in Wales.
“That was our unique selling point.
“Only the Labour party offered strong devolution where people in Wales took charge of their own domestic affairs while still remaining inside the United Kingdom.”
Two Thirds of Reform’s Wales Shadow Cabinet Are Ex-Tories
Research by global climate investigations outlet DeSmog has found that the majority of Reform UK’s shadow cabinet in Wales is made up of former Conservative Party politicians, including its leader, chief whip, and shadow economy minister.
DeSmog’s analysis found that almost two thirds (64.2%) of Reform’s shadow cabinet posts in Wales are held by individuals who have previously served or stood for the Tories. That amounts to nine out of Reform’s 14 shadow cabinet members.
Former Tories have clearly been prioritised for these positions as only 12 of Reform’s 34 Senedd members are former Conservative politicians – amounting to 35% of the party’s representation in the Senedd.
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To find out about the training/talks we deliver email will@willhayward.co.uk.
Rare birds return to Welsh site
In this week’s positive wildlife news, rare birds are returning to an area of land in North Wales after significant restoration efforts.
A project led by RSPB Cymru, National Trust Cymru and Eryri National Park has restored 65 hectares of degraded peatland in Y Migneint in Snowdonia, which has led to Curlew, Golden Plover, Black Grouse and Snipe bird species all being recorded there again.
The soil in peatland holds 25 times more carbon than the soil in rainforests and they are vital breeding grounds for some of our most threatened species, so restoration projects like this are really important for tackling climate change.
UK’s oldest cave art found in Wales
Paint marks discovered on rock in Wales have been found to be the oldest in the UK.
The series of 10 red horizontal stripes on the wall of a side chamber of Bacon Hole cave in the Gower has been thought for years to have occurred naturally, but has now been confirmed by archaeologists to have been painted at least 17,100 years ago, which also makes it the oldest in north-western Europe.
The BBC reports that the meaning of the art isn’t clear but it is thought they could be “tally marks” made to communicate to others they had been at that cave for a number of years.
Two Welsh films getting international attention
Two Wales-made films are set for release in cinemas this month.
Madfabulous, which was filmed in Anglesey, Caernarfon and Pwllheli, is out on June 5 and tells the true story of Henry Paget, 5th marquess of Anglesey.
Effi o Blaenau, a Welsh-language film adaptation of Gary Owen’s Iphigenia in Splott, will be out on June 19.
The films have been recognised at international film festivals.
Fans charity doing some great work abroad
Ahead of Wales’ friendly against Ghana on Tuesday, Gôl Cymru!, the charity founded by Welsh football fans, was out supporting COMPASS-Ghana, which helps children and families facing life-threatening illness and bereavement in rural Ghana.
Gôl Cymru! has donated £1,000 to COMPASS-Ghana for their cause helping children suffering from cancer, congenital illness and HIV-related disease.
Cardiff Uni backs down from controversial library plan
Recently we wrote about plans by Cardiff University to turn the second floor of their Arts and Social Studies Library (ASSL) into teaching rooms.
After thousands of people signed a petition opposing it, Cardiff Uni has now paused the move.
Anita Edson, director of estates and campus facilities, wrote to staff and students to say the university would continue work on reviewing “all possible locations” with the aim of starting work next summer.
“We feel it is the right decision to pause at this point and provide opportunities for our community to better understand and shape the project and consult on the details – including the location and its impact. In relation to the ASSL, key books and collections would not be disposed of as part of our plans.”
That’s all for today. We will be back with you this weekend with some fascinating data on the election and our sit down with Welsh Labour interim leader Ken Skates.
Diolch
Will and the newsletter team.
James Evans MS was also suggesting that we should reduce the number of Health Boards in Wales, and I am glad that you had the opportunity to point out that the largest one, in North Wales, has been in special measures for an extended period of time. The worry that I have about focusing so much on one single measure - waiting lists - that the Health Boards will have to immediately throw everything at those, to the potential detriment of excellent holistic care, research and development, wider efficiencies, early intervention, population health, etc etc etc, which would make a much more transformative and sustainable impact on waiting lists in the longer term.
> Bear in mind two-year waits do not exist in England
Is that true, or has NHS England just managed to sweep them away? Those on the waiting list for English gender clinics would beg to differ; at the current rate, some will be waiting upwards of 20 years.
https://transclinicindex.org.uk/clinics/