New blow for Welsh Labour as Health Secretary Jeremy Miles decides to stand down
Martin Shipton
Welsh Labour has suffered another blow with the news that Health Secretary Jeremy Miles has decided to stand down from the Senedd at next May’s election.
The announcement from the Neath MS came out of the blue and follows the release of a hugely disappointing opinion poll that puts the party on just 14% support in Wales, a long way behind both Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, who are vying for the top slot.
Early last year Mr Miles was narrowly defeated by Vaughan Gething in a party contest to see who would succeed Mark Drakeford as Welsh Labour leader and First Minister.
Donation
Four months later Mr Gething was forced to resign over his decision to accept a £200,000 donation to his leadership campaign from businessman David Neal, who had received two suspended jail sentences for dumping toxic sludge in the precious wetlands landscape of the Gwent Levels.
Supporters of Mr Gething objected to the idea of Mr Miles taking over, and Eluned Morgan was installed in the posts as a unifying candidate.
Mr Miles, who was first elected in 2016, wrote to the First Minister to explain his decision.
In the letter to Baroness Morgan, Mr Miles he explained that “on reflection” he had decided it was time to find a new challenge and so would not run as a candidate next May.
He said: “Upon reflection this summer, I decided that the end of this Senedd term is the time for me to seek a new and different challenge, one which allows me perhaps to strike a better balance between work and those in my life who I love.”
Trust
He thanked Ms Morgan for the “trust she had shown” in appointing him as Health Secretary, adding: “The health and social care workforce are a daily inspiration to me. I will continue to devote every day I have left in the role to building on the progress we are already seeing in reducing waiting times and improving health and care services – the priorities you have set out.
“I joined the Cabinet the year after I was first given the immense honour of being elected to the Senedd to represent the communities of Neath constituency, almost a decade ago.
“It has been a privilege, and I have worked with many wonderful people, to whom I am endlessly thankful. As you will know, being in frontline politics is all-consuming and takes precedence over so much else in life. The pressure is real and sustained over a long period.”
Mr Miles was appointed as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care in September 2024 but previously had responsibility for the Economy, Energy and Welsh Language brief. He also previously served as Education Minister, Constitutional Affairs Minister and Counsel General.
Prior to being elected to the Senedd, he sought selection to be Labour’s Westminster candidate for Aberavon, but was defeated by one vote by Stephen Kinnock, who went on to be elected as the seat’s MP.
‘Real blow’
A Welsh Labour insider said: “This is a real blow at the end of a difficult few weeks for Welsh Labour. Jeremy Miles is a huge loss to a Senedd Labour group that is already losing considerable experience. He is an articulate Welsh speaker who most members still saw as a future leader.
“Jeremy’s narrow loss to Vaughan Gething, who willfully damaged our party in his pursuit of victory, remains an open sore.
“We need to go into the election with a team that is ready to govern and lead Welsh Labour into the future. That has just become a lot harder with the loss of Jeremy Miles.”
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Soft nationalist Miles finally gets pushed aside for good by ‘Welsh Labour’s’ more aggressive Britnat wing.
I make this the 14th sitting labour Senedd member to announce they’ll be standing down next year. Labour are clearly throwing in the towel in Wales.
I don’t think so. But as a party, they are too out of touch to understand that the current direction of travel will result in political oblivion for the foreseeable. Maybe Miles is just one of the few to see the writing on the wall.
The Labour Party in Wales helped with writing it themselves and now they’re riding off into the sunset.
Another one bites the dust!
Mae’n biti bod un o’r ychydig Lafurwyr sydd heb dderbyn y gwŷs Starmeraidd, ac wedi gwneud ei orau dros Gymru wrs cyrraedd y Senedd, bellach am adael. Bydd bwlch ae ei ôl
Whilst he was defeated by one vote by Stephen Kinnock who went on to be the Labour candidate for his constituency, that was a stitch-up against the local constituency Labour Party. Kinnock was parachuted in from Bayswater, his dads house, told the assembled Labour donkeys that his kids were going to attend a local comprehensive school but that turned out to be the private Atlantic College (where Eluned went to) and on his finances make a declaration to the Danish tax authorities that his earnings there was offshore in Switzerland. Jeremy Miles, you were stitched up. Then, when elected to… Read more »
Labour are highly skilled at getting rid of the cream of their own crop.
Miles can see that Labour’s goose is cooked and is unwilling or unable to put together a coherent plan to fight back. No doubt a well paid number in the public, private or third sector beckons.
What if anything has Smiles achieved in a decade…?
Not surprised. The Labour Party in Wales seems to resemble something of a sinking ship.