Interview: Will Hayward discusses his new book ‘Who Cares About Wales?’

Amelia Jones  

Investigative journalist and columnist Will Hayward released his book Who Cares About Wales?: Why The Welsh Need To Get Angry on March 13, continuing his deep dive into the issues facing Wales today.

Over the past decade he has become known for his detailed reporting on Welsh politics, public services and government funding. His work often focuses on explaining the systems and decisions that shape everyday life in Wales.

Hayward has built a reputation as one of Wales’ most insightful commentators on politics and public affairs. His writing has featured in publications including The Guardian.

In 2024 he left his role at WalesOnline to focus on independent journalism, launching The Will Hayward Newsletter, a Substack publication dedicated to Welsh politics and public life. The newsletter has quickly built a large readership and now forms the centre of his work as a freelance journalist.

With Who Cares About Wales?, he brings that same focus into a wider discussion about the country’s political landscape and the challenges Wales faces today.

In this interview with Nation.Cymru, Hayward reflects on the ideas behind the book and the issues he believes Wales needs to confront.

Your book is subtitled Why the Welsh Need to Get Angry. Were you trying to make readers angry, inspired, or both?

“I think I was hoping the anger would inspire them to action. Me and the publisher actually had quite a chat about whether we want people to be angry, because it’s a time in the world when everyone’s getting angry about everything. Is that helpful? We came to the conclusion that there’s different kinds of anger.

“There’s anger that comes from frustration and a feeling of impotence and inability to impact the world around you. That’s really disempowering, and it’s horrible. Then there’s the anger which comes from a sense of injustice that can inspire you to make change. If you don’t get angry, stuff tends not to change for the better.

“The idea was to equip people with knowledge that would make them angry, because I think if you look at the reality for Wales, people really should be angry.

“But a lot of time, people in Wales aren’t really aware what’s been done to them. I cover Wales, and I’ve covered it for years, and I learned loads doing this. So this book is meant to equip people to be angry for the right reasons.”

The book covers a wide range of topics from finance and health to education and culture. How did you decide what to focus on? 

“You know what? The hardest thing wasn’t deciding what topics to cover. It was deciding what not to cover. I’d love to have done more on justice in Wales. I’d like to have done more specifically on violence against women. I’d like to have done more on children in care.

“Ultimately, the book was originally supposed to be 60,000 words, and it came out at 95,000. Decisions had to be made about what to include and what not to, and some of the stuff I didn’t include because I felt that they weren’t just Wales-specific problems.”

Was there a reason you didn’t include Transport for Wales?

“I would have loved to have done a section on it. I mean, I’ve sat on Transport for Wales trains all my life… I could have written three times as much.

“My focus was mainly political, in terms of political decision making. There are issues you can clearly point to in Transport for Wales, but I think it’s more the system in which transport in Wales is developed. You could run a good organisation well, but it’s going to be really poorly funded based on our need, because the system we have to operate in doesn’t properly fund us.”

You mention the Barnett Formula quite frequently. Can you explain why that’s such an important issue for Wales?

“The only thing worse than the Barnett formula is not having the Barnett formula, because if Wales was in a position where it was just competing for pots of money alongside regions of England, we’d be in real trouble. The issue for how Wales is funded isn’t so much about the things that are Barnettised, it’s the things that aren’t.

“I think what I concluded in the research was if Wales was a human being who was poorly, the current system stops us from dying, but it doesn’t make us better. So it keeps us alive, but it doesn’t give us any of the real tools to really stop being sick.

“I think that was the problem with the Barnett formula. So there’s reasons to be annoyed, but you need to be annoyed about the right thing.”

You describe culture as one of devolution’s disappointments. What do you think the Welsh Government could do differently to support the arts?

“Value it. At the moment, they see it as something they have to spend money on, rather than this incredible tool. Arts funding pays for itself in loads of other ways. It has incredible health benefits, it has incredible educational benefits, and it also has huge economic benefits.

“Wales will never compete with England by just trying to be a smaller version of England. The arts and culture are one of the ways where you can massively distinguish yourself as a smaller nation, alongside a much larger, more powerful nation. But what it needs is strategy, and sustained and reliable funding.

“Wales is nowhere near the European average. It’s not even close to the UK average.

“…Whoever forms the next Welsh government, needs to recognise the inherent value of the arts and culture in Wales, and the fact that it’s a way for a country the size of Wales to compete, instead of being an annoying thing that they have to tack on the end of their budgets.”

Do you think people in Wales care enough about politics? How do you think public engagement could be improved?

“I think people in Wales really care about Wales. The problem is how that caring manifests itself.

“Wales’ voices are always distracted or quiet. So our MPs, there’s not many of them, and quite often doing their jobs in England. One of our MPs is the Minister of Care in the English NHS, the Secretary of State for Wales is the voice of the UK Cabinet in Wales, not the voice of Wales to the UK Cabinet. Our Senate members, the Welsh Government, tailors its criticism of the UK Government based on which party is there.

“Rather than knowing what Wales needs and demanding it, it pulls its punches. So ultimately, if we want it to get better, the only people who are truly going to advocate for Wales is the people of Wales. And luckily, that’s all we need.

“But it only will work if we are vocal, and we, for God’s sake, vote. We [need to] engage in this country that we profess to love.”

With the Senedd election coming up, what do you want the key message that people take away from the book going into the election to be?

“Vote however you want, but make sure you vote from the point of view of facts. The book doesn’t tell you what to think. It doesn’t tell you what opinion to hold. It equips you to form your own opinion.

“Two different people could read the book and I think come to very different conclusions about what’s the best direction forward, but at least we’re discussing from the point of view of facts, not from social media outrage.”

You can purchase his book here.