First Minister warns of chaos if Labour loses Senedd election
First Minister Eluned Morgan has warned that Wales would “fall into chaos” if Plaid Cymru or Reform UK were to win next May’s Senedd election.
Speaking at Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, Baroness Morgan compared Reform UK’s rise in Wales to the brief surge of UKIP in 2016, when the party elected seven members but later descended into “infighting, broken promises and internal chaos”.
“We’ve seen this play before,” she said. “Right now they’re attacking our support for Ukrainian refugees. This lot are not putting Wales first. They’re putting Putin first.”
‘Fantasy politics’
She went on to accuse both Reform and Plaid of peddling “fantasy politics”.
“Reform blames foreigners, Plaid blame Westminster – different poison, same bottle,” she told delegates. “Mark my words, Wales will fall into chaos if either Plaid or Reform wins in May. What we need is experience and stability in an age of instability, and that’s what Welsh Labour can offer.”
Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens also warned that Reform leader Nigel Farage is a “serious threat” to Wales.
“Reform UK don’t care about Wales. They haven’t got any Welsh policies. They haven’t got a Welsh leader. They can’t even spell Caerphilly right,” she said, insisting only “two Labour governments working together” could keep Farage out of Wales.
‘Failure’
Plaid Cymru hit back, accusing Labour of negativity and failure ahead of Jo Steven’s speech on Sunday.
A party spokesperson said: “It’s rather telling that Jo Stevens has opted to use her conference platform to talk Wales down at a time where more and more Labour voters are coming over to Plaid Cymru with our positive vision. After 26 years of failing to ensure national renewal, Labour really isn’t as good as it gets.”
Earlier this month a new Barn Cymru/YouGov poll showed Labour trailing badly, with Plaid Cymru on 30% and Reform close behind on 29%, with Labour languishing on 14%. Seat projections suggest Labour could fall to just 11 Senedd members, with Plaid and Reform neck and neck for the largest group.
Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth has said the election would be a clear choice between “a divisive Reform party that don’t care about Wales” and “a pro-Wales Plaid Cymru government that will deliver real change”.
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Q. Where was Jo when Wales needed their share of the HS2 funding?
Q. Why didn’t Jo vote YES to devolve the Crown Estate to Wales?
Q. Why didn’t Jo do more to keep Port Talbot steel works open?
She needs to go.
They are scraping the barrell a bit here !
I agree the gruesome twosome are unionist to their core, Labour’s time is up. Vote Plaid
I echo your sentiments. If anyone listened to Welsh Secretary Jo Steven today when interviewed by BBC Wales at the Labour party conference, would see the arrogance of the woman on show. She had the nerve to attack Plaid Cymru when they have fought tireless for Wales, both in Cardiff and Westminster.
Agree totally. Her performance was awful.
Plaid I can live with. Reform will gut wales and ruin for at least a generation even if you get power back inside one term. It’s that simple.
Labour have lost it here and starmer is no help.
And now we see labour and plaid start hammer and tongs at each other with reform egging them on. Grow up Labour and Plaid, work together. If you have no chance in an area, pull out and campaign for the other.
Not forgetting how russia now seems to have its claws into reform.
It looks like you haven’t realised that First Past the Post has been replaced by Proportional Representation.
Or are you predicting that Labour won’t win any of the six seats in constituencies and want Plaid to give them a helping hand..
It has slipped my mind.
Which means they need to get better at comms for the people in a antion with very poor turnouts.
I have always said this, I like Eluned, Mark and co and think Wales will be in much better hands if they joined Plaid.
Yes ,but it needs to be a partnership of equals.
Drakeford and thirteen others are leaving so that will never happen
Plaid can be bigger partner then.
Leaving for where?????
Standing down. Retirement beckons, and I can see why.
Or are they planning something else?
The game is up Luned, Labour have had years to show that they can put Wales before the UK party and they have failed each and every time apart from the one time when Mark showed some backbone during covid. Nice try but your scare tactics don’t work any more.
I’m afraid Eluned Morgan is guilty here of in conference pseudo bravery (cowardice) with these comments. Either way, she cannot win. If Deform UK come in here, yes, with all the chaos that will follow, it will be because her party did nothing to stop it while she is under instruction to let it happen so that her bosses can point to the chaos for the greater Westmonster good. If, however, WE the people, not her and her Starmer subservients, vote to head off the evil with no help from her, SHE will have to contemplate supporting the successful installation… Read more »
Just more Labour desperation. Does Eluned Morgan seriously think that people in Wales are feeling happy with the “wonderful way” that Labour is governing our country from the Senedd and Westminster? It’s getting a bit embarrassing watching Labour ministers’ rather desperate pronouncements these days.
In her conference speech Eluned Morgan referred Plaid and Reform as being ‘different poison, same bottle’. The bare faced cheek, who the hell does she think she is? She is leader of the poorest country in Western Europe. Labour in Wales have no shame.
I hate everything about Reform and could never vote for them, but Labour in Wales have to go! Enough is enough, their sycophantic, cap doffing to Westminster has left Wales fall further and further behind the rest of the UK. Voting Plaid is by far the best option. Cymru Rydd
The Senedd still is very young and has needs more time to develop. Port Talbot – yes labour could be doing more; but a lot of the issues are legacy from previous generations. My dad managed Color Steels in Crosskeys – they bought coils of steel, sold in smaller quantities. Venture capitalists managed – 67% minimum profit margin was maintained and registered in Canada to avoid all taxes. The UK still is full of similar logistics / distribution organisations making super-normal profits. Wales issue are compounded by few growth industries; Western England has defence roles, Scotland has boat building /… Read more »
So Eluned Morgan has now resorted to using scare tactics. This is a sign Welsh Labour are panicking.
‘First Minister Eluned Morgan has warned that Wales would “fall into chaos” if Plaid Cymru or Reform UK were to win next May’s Senedd election.’ I don’t think that this actually works. When Mark Drakeford was FM I thought – much to my surprise since I had absolutely no positive expectations of him when he first took up the role – that the ‘ship of state’ in Wales floated pretty well with him at the helm. But since he stood down, we’ve suffered, first, the dubious probity of Gething and then the wavering and uncertain vacillations of Eluned. That’s been… Read more »
Do Plaid want to withdraw from the European Convention on Human Rights? Do they want to scrap Indefinite Leave to Remain which could potentially mean millions being deported despite living here for decades? Do they accept bribes from the Kremlin in order to spew Russian propaganda? NO!! Putting Plaid Cymru into the same category as Reform UK, downplays have extreme Reform really are.
Just call an election already. This is embarrassing.
Doom and gloom does not win over voters and Labour with Kier Starmer at the head doesn’t know what the hell its doing.
Condescending buwch