Eluned Morgan urges Starmer to ‘change course’ as she loses her Senedd seat
Eleanor Storey, David Lynch and George Thompson, Press Association
Baroness Eluned Morgan, the First Minister of Wales, has warned that Sir Keir Starmer’s Government needs to “change course” after she resigned as leader of Welsh Labour on failing to be re-elected to the Senedd.
The parting broadside at Sir Keir’s Government came amid a disastrous set of election results for Labour across Wales and in councils in England, though Lady Morgan insisted she took responsibility for the party’s Senedd results.
Lady Morgan losing her seat marks the first time a sitting Welsh leader has lost an election in the Welsh Parliament, and is one of many results across Britain that will add to growing pressure on the Government in Westminster.
Labour has led Wales since the Senedd was first established as the National Assembly for Wales in 1999, and has been the largest party in the country for more than a century.
The Prime Minister paid tribute to Lady Morgan as a “formidable First Minister and tireless champion for Wales”.
In a speech announcing her resignation as Welsh Labour leader at an election count in West Wales, Lady Morgan said: “It is clear that results across the whole of the United Kingdom have demonstrated deep frustration with the Labour Party.
“We need to go back to being the party of the working-class. We need the Labour Government nationally to change course. We need the wealth of this nation to be more equally distributed away from the South East.
“But I was always clear that this election was about Wales, and Keir Starmer was not on the ballot. I am taking responsibility, and I am resigning.”
She also insisted she was proud to have been Wales’ first woman first minister, and warned there were “no simple answers, and the budgets are limited”, in what appeared to be a criticism of her political rivals’ platforms for Welsh Government.
Lady Morgan added: “We all understand the anger, but Wales is stronger when we stand together. We need to heed the anger, not feed the anger.”
The Prime Minister is understood to have spoken to Lady Morgan on Friday afternoon.
Formidable
In a tribute to the outgoing First Minister, Sir Keir said: “Eluned Morgan has been a formidable First Minister and tireless champion for Wales.
“She broke barriers and has never stopped fighting for families in the communities she loves.
“Together, we have worked to lift children out of poverty, cut hospital waiting lists, and create thousands of new jobs.”
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Ye, Keir phoned Eluned today after her loss, which everyone including her expected, so that was pre-arranged anyway.
He won’t listen to what she said after and won’t ever contact her again in any capacity, that’s just who he is, and needs to go for the sake of the labour party.
Only problem at the moment, is who else to choose as a leader of the party?
Handy Andy
He is anything but handy. Burnham has polarized the economy. Manchester Airport Group (MAG) is part-owned by Labour Controlled councils and also own East Midlands (Freeport, so cost advantage over Cardiff Airport for cargo / I believe Scottish Govts Prestwick Airport has a cost advantage) and is registered overseas; so who knows what they are doing. MAG only gives funding for academic research to local University’s and the pension fund only invests in Manchester – so deliberately leaving Blackpools economy to collapse / vote Reform. Manchester’s growth potential is limited by a poor connecting train service, so cannot take advantage… Read more »
My point was that NEC blocked him from even contending the leadership of the party?
That was reversed a few days ago
This is not just my opinion >
“Around 50 Labour MPs signed a letter objecting to the decision ….to warn the decision is a “real gift” to Reform UK”
Prestwick is in Scotland, Cardiff is in Wales, and Blackpool is in Lancashire. None of which are in his temit
The NEC blocked him from standing 🙁
The only things in his way is that a sitting mayor may be barred from standing for parliament, and that looking at Labour’s standing in the polls, that there are no safe seats. But this all the Labour Party, Starmer and his mob’s fault because the writing has been on the wall for months.
Eluned Morgan did say the ‘red Welsh way’ at some point, evoking memories of Rhodri Morgans’ ‘clear red water’ suggesting that things may be looking up but she has waited until she lost her seat to say ‘change course’, something she should have said well over six months before this election. Had she done so, instead of staying quiet, Labour would still have lost but i believe she would still be in there.
That was a cheap gimmick. Voters in Wales are no longer taken in by the illusion that “Welsh” and UK Labour are two separate entities. Morgan’s words were almost half a lifetime ago. Politics and the world has moved on and so, thankfully, have Welsh voters. Starmer won’t even listen to his cabinet ministers or the Unions who bankrolled his appointment, he’s certainly not going to listen to Eluned Morgan.
Agreed. Along with others, i have said many times that there is no such thing as ‘Welsh’ Conservatives (party) and Reform UK ‘Wales’ is equally meaningless. I no longer want to hear ‘Welsh’ Labour nor ‘Welsh’ Lib Dem (singular) especially when, in the case of the latter, an angry face is presented when the issue of our nations’ self determination is raised. From now on, they must all be called (insert party name) ‘in Wales’ because they are all about as Welsh as Lee Anderson and i chose that name because he says he’s English first and British second so… Read more »
The only “red Welsh way “Eluned Morgan achieved was being flushed with embarrassment at her abject failure.
Yes.
That was very useful when Corbyn was leader. I remember all the posters here had Welsh in large letters and Labour in small letters. It was a very useful ploy since the Welsh Labour MPs did quite well compared with those in England. Perhaps they knew Corbyn was poison.
Sorry, Eluned but Keir Starmer never listened to you as First Minister, and he’s not going to listen to you now.
Ah but Baroness Ely could now have a nice chat with Rayner over a mojito or two in the Strangers Bar.
She committed the cardinal sin of talking down to voters. For that she was doomed to pay the ultimate price.