Eluned Morgan ‘broke Senedd rules by not mentioning union donation’

Martin Shipton

Members of the Senedd’s Standards Committee are understood to have found that First Minister Eluned Morgan was in breach of the Senedd’s code of conduct by failing to declare that she had received funding from a trade union.

It is believed that a member of the Conservative Party made a “tit for tat” complaint after former Tory Senedd group leader Andrew RT Davies was reprimanded for talking about farming issues without mentioning that he is a farmer.

Nation.Cymru has seen a “findings of fact” report written by the Senedd’s Standards Commissioner Douglas Bain, which states: “The Record of Proceedings for September 17 2024 is an accurate record of what the Member [Baroness Morgan] said during proceedings on Statement by the First Minister: Government priorities and Statement by the First Minister: Tata Steel;

“The Member did not declare any interest before taking part in those proceedings;

“In the course of those proceedings the Member said “I want to pay tribute to the trade unions as well, who have fought and fought and fought for the jobs in relation to steel in Wales. It is very difficult for them, I’m sure, to accept this, but they have been working incredibly hard to get the best deal possible.

“I know that Community union and GMB are currently balloting their members on the details of the memorandum of understanding, and I know that the ballots closed yesterday, on September 16. So, we’ll see what that’s got to say. And I know that Unite the Union are not balloting their members on the MOU.”

Unite

Mr Bain’s report continues: “On that date Unite the Union had approximately 1052 members at the Tata Steelworks at Port Talbot;

“On that date the Member was a member of Unite the Union; and

“On that date the Register of Member’s Interests showed that the Member had, on an unspecified date, received ‘Support to finance postage and printing of internal selection leaflet – £3,500 sponsorship from Unite the Union.”

A Welsh Conservative source told us: “What’s sauce for the goose has to be sauce for the gander.

“A number of complaints were made about Andrew RT Davies because he hadn’t mentioned every time he was speaking that he was a farmer. This got quite ridiculous – he’s never hidden that he’s a farmer, and everyone knows that’s the case.

“Yet Eluned Morgan and other Ministers are constantly praising trade unions in contributions they make to the Senedd – without mentioning the fact that they’ve had donations from the unions themselves.

“Exactly the same principle applies to Labour Members in relation to union contributions as applies to Andrew over the fact that he is a farmer.”

No penalty

It is understood that the findings of fact produced by Mr Bain have been accepted by the Standards Committee, but that no penalty will be imposed on the First Minister.

Earlier this year Mr Davies was warned he will be punished if he breaks the Senedd’s rules again.

The South Wales Central MS was specifically told off for failing to declare an interest as a farmer while asking questions about inheritance tax for farms.

The Senedd’s Standards Committee decided not to take action against Mr Davies, but said it had dealt with a “number of complaints” about Davies since the 2021 Senedd election. It confirmed that he had breached the code of conduct for members on four occasions.

Mr Davies said being a farmer “is not something I’ve ever hidden” and he did not think he needed to declare an interest.

A committee report said most complaints about Davies had been “relatively minor”, but added: “Repeated breaches, even of a minor nature, are a cause of concern for this committee and suggest a disregard for the decisions it makes.

“Should the committee find the member to have breached the code of conduct in future, the total number of breaches made by the member will be taken into consideration, which is likely to result in the recommendation of a sanction that reflects the totality of the breaches.”

Family farming business

The most recent incident happened in November 2024, while Mr Davies was still leader of the Conservative group.

He is a partner in a family farming business in the Vale of Glamorgan, but did not say so before asking about the agricultural inheritance tax rise in the UK Government’s Budget.

Mr Davies told Mr Bain: “It is no secret that I am a farmer” and said he had spoken publicly about the impact of the tax changes, including on his farm.

But Mr Bain wrote: “This was not an instance of an oversight by the member. He considered whether he was required to declare an interest and decided that he did not.

“I find it most surprising that an experienced member could have made that decision.”

The standards committee said failing to follow the rules was serious, but it was satisfied by Mr Davies’ explanation that it “was as a result of misinterpretation rather than seeking to purposefully conceal an interest”.

The committee’s report reminded MSs that the Senedd’s in-house standing orders require them to announce any relevant interests before speaking and that they “should not assume that people outside of the Senedd are aware of their interests”.