First Minister urges UK Government to respect devolution during call with Jo Stevens

Mark Mansfield

Wales’ new First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth has urged the UK Government to respect devolution during his first official call with Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens.

The conversation follows Plaid Cymru’s historic Senedd election victory earlier this month, which saw Labour lose power in Cardiff Bay for the first time since devolution began in 1999.

According to a Welsh Government readout of the call, Mr ap Iorwerth told the minister he wanted a “constructive relationship” with the UK Government but stressed the need to ensure that “devolution is respected”.

The First Minister also reiterated a request previously made to Prime Minister Keir Starmer that Welsh Government Cabinet ministers should engage directly with UK Government counterparts, while acknowledging an ongoing coordinating role for the Wales Office.

Ms Stevens congratulated Plaid Cymru’s leader on his election victory and said she looked forward to working with him.

The two governments discussed a range of shared priorities including the cost of living crisis, steelmaking in Port Talbot, defence, infrastructure, energy and cross-border cooperation.

The Welsh Secretary later issued her own statement emphasising the importance of collaboration between Cardiff Bay and Westminster on economic growth, public services and clean energy infrastructure.

Earlier this year former Welsh Labour minister Lee Waters described Stevens as “probably the most anti-devolution Labour Welsh Secretary we’ve had since George Thomas”.

Speaking on the Senedd Sources podcast in January, the Llanelli MS accused Stevens of representing a strand of Labour unionism which did not truly believe in devolution.

“There has been mounting anger within the ruling Labour Senedd group over the Labour UK government’s perceived hostility towards devolution,” he said.

That frustration was reflected after 11 Labour Senedd backbenchers wrote to Starmer accusing his government of a “constitutional outrage” for bypassing the Welsh Government by funding town centre improvement schemes directly from Whitehall.

UK Internal Market Act

The row centred on the use of powers contained within Boris Johnson’s controversial UK Internal Market Act, legislation previously challenged by the Welsh Government in court.

Mr Ap Iorwerth had already raised broader constitutional questions during a separate call with Starmer last week, where he pressed for further powers over rail infrastructure, funding, borrowing and other devolved responsibilities.

Plaid Cymru won 43 seats in the expanded 96-member Senedd at the recent election, ending Labour’s 27-year dominance of Welsh politics.