Burnham promises ‘real power’ for Welsh communities as Labour seeks revival

Nation.Cymru staff/agencies

Andy Burnham will pledge to give Welsh towns and communities more control over local decisions as Labour seeks to rebuild support after falling to third place in May’s Senedd election.

The Prime Minister will tell Welsh Labour’s conference in Llandudno that devolution should extend beyond the Senedd, with powers passed to regions and communities across Wales. Advance extracts from his speech give no detail on which powers would be transferred or who would exercise them.

“We have to listen. We have to take stock. And we have to commit to doing things differently,” Mr Burnham will say.

“After years of slogans, speeches and big-ticket items on the sides of buses, people have lost faith in those words. And I don’t blame them.

“So, this time, we’ve got to do more than talk about giving people a voice. We’ve got to give them real power over the decisions that shape their lives.”

Mr Burnham will say that establishing a devolved administration in Wales was “never supposed to be the end of the road”.

“Devolution was never just about moving power from Westminster to Cardiff. We were always supposed to keep pushing power down and out until it reached every postcode,” he will say.

He will say the first three decades of devolution gave Wales a stronger national voice and argue that the next three should give every region, town and community a greater say.

Labour went into May’s election in government and finished a distant third behind Plaid Cymru and Reform UK. Plaid took office and Labour’s then First Minister, Baroness Eluned Morgan, lost her Senedd seat. Ken Skates succeeded her as Welsh Labour leader.

Mr Skates is expected to tell the conference that the party needs a fundamental reset. Delegates will hear the findings of an independent review commissioned by Welsh Labour and carried out by Public First. Professor Anand Menon will present the findings.

“The results were catastrophic for the party, that was clear for all to see,” Mr Skates said.

“People felt that we had stopped listening, public services were not improving quickly enough and we had taken their support for granted.

“Our task is to earn trust again. We will listen carefully, develop a clear offer for Wales and demonstrate through our actions that we have learned.”

Disagreements

Plaid Cymru questioned Mr Burnham’s pledge, pointing to disagreements with the UK Government over rail investment, fair funding and further devolution.

A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said: “Labour may have warm words about devolution in Wales, but their actions tell a different story altogether. The Labour UK Government continues to underfund our railways to the tune of billions of pounds, and refuse to make progress on fair funding and devolving the powers that will make a real difference to the lives of people in Wales. It’s no wonder they were wholeheartedly rejected at the ballot box in May.”