New book reveals inside story of the Labour – Plaid Cymru Co-operation Agreement

Martin Shipton

The inside story of Plaid Cymru’s three-year Co-operation Agreement with Welsh Labour has been revealed in a new book published to coincide with the party’s annual conference.

The Politics of Co-Opposition, written by John Osmond who was then Plaid leader Adam Price’s special adviser during secret negotiations with Welsh Labour, is a revealing account of how the two parties co-operated on wide-ranging mutually-agreed policies while maintaining their positions as government and opposition – hence the term co-opposition.

Historic

Speaking about his new book, the veteran journalist and former director of the Institute of Welsh Affairs said: “The political deal struck by Plaid and Labour was truly historic. It wasn’t a formal coalition or a traditional ‘confidence and supply’ arrangement.

“It was inspired by non-coalition precedents in Sweden, New Zealand and Malaysia and is known by political scientists as ‘contract parliamentarianism’. This was the first time this mechanism has been used anywhere in the British Isles and it was a memorable experience to be at the epicentre when Welsh political history was being made.”

The agreement came about after Brexit and Covid changed the political dynamic dramatically.

At the time of his election as party leader in 2018, Price had believed Plaid could form a minority government after the Senedd election in 2021. But the wrangling over the terms of Brexit pushed the Conservative Party to the right in a way that made it inconceivable for Plaid to do any kind of deal with its MSs.

Equally Mark Drakeford, who had at first seemed an uncharismatic leader when he succeeded Carwyn Jones, increased his popularity during the Covid period, when for many he came across as a reassuring, grandfatherly figure in contrast to the egocentric buffoonery of Boris Johnson.

Far from finding itself in a position to form a government, Plaid had a poor election result in 2021, coming third behind Labour and the Conservatives. In normal circumstances, that would have seen Plaid forced to resign itself to five years in opposition, with at best only a marginal influence over Welsh Government policy. The co-operation agreement, however, resulted in Plaid being able to deliver on some of its core manifesto commitments – a significant achievement for a third-placed party.

Carmarthenshire

In addition to revealing how the agreement was negotiated, and how the personal relationship between Adam Price and Welsh Labour’s First Minister Mark Drakeford – both sons of Carmarthenshire’s radical political culture – was key to its success, the book also includes Osmond’s candid week-by-week diary of Price’s first 100 days as Plaid leader.

The diary entries describe the internal political tensions between the new leader and his predecessor Leanne Wood, and the manoeuvrings of their respective supporters. It provides an intriguing account of the start of the behind-the-scenes plotting that plagued Plaid Cymru until the election of Rhun ap Iorwerth as Plaid’s new leader in 2023.

The Politics of Co-Opposition outlines how the Plaid-Labour agreement resulted in significant measures being introduced, such as free school meals for all primary school pupils; free childcare to all two-year-olds; action on the second homes crisis in rural Wales; and reform of the Senedd, including a 60% increase in Senedd Members from 60 to 96, and a fully proportional electoral system from 2026.

Implosion

Brought to a premature end in May 2024 by Plaid Cymru as the result of the controversial internal election of Vaughan Gething as Labour leader which resulted in the implosion of his short-lived government, Osmond completes the book with a final chapter which ponders the Welsh experience of contract parliamentarism and the potential for a similar arrangement after the 2026 Senedd election.

The Politics of Co-Opposition has received praise from Gerald Holtham, Professor of Regional Economy at Cardiff Metropolitan University, who, in his preface, states: “After future Senedd elections, when parties search for mechanisms to achieve a working majority, politicians in Cardiff Bay will be able to refer to this book to see what can be learnt from Wales’ first experience of contract parliamentarianism. In the meantime, for those wishing to know the inside story of an historic period in Welsh politics, this is a timely and thought-provoking book.”

Former Labour Cabinet Minister Leighton Andrews, now Professor of Practice in Public Service Leadership and Innovation at Cardiff University, notes in his Foreword: “Original…fair-minded…the book will have interest to politics scholars, as well as students of Welsh history …This is part of the story of the making of Wales since 1999. It is a story we are still writing and still making.”

David Williams, the former political editor of BBC Wales, described the book as [“a] fascinating glimpse of the psychology deployed to achieve what was an historic agreement in which Plaid Cymru was prepared to lose an electoral battle in order to win the war of ideas.”

 The Politics of Co-Opposition by John Osmond is published by Welsh Academic Press at £19.99.