Wales has not seen the last of Labour as an electoral force, Welsh leader says

Nation.Cymru Staff and David Lynch, Press Association Political Correspondent

Labour in Wales is not a spent electoral force after its historic defeat in the Senedd earlier this year, the party’s Welsh leader has said.

Ken Skates, who picked up the baton as Welsh Labour leader in May after the party lost power in the country for the first time in 27 years, also signalled he planned to row in behind Andy Burnham’s vision for spreading power outside of Westminster.

Welsh Labour had advocated in its Senedd election manifesto for devolving power over justice and the Crown Estate to Cardiff Bay.

While Mr Skates said he was still open to these aims, he suggested he wanted to see the Welsh Government spread its existing powers to regions across Wales, in an echo of the Prime Minister’s sentiments about pushing power away from central Government.

Speaking to the Press Association ahead of Labour’s annual conference in Liverpool, Mr Skates was resolute that his party could return to power in Wales in future, even after having been reduced to nine seats in the Senedd.

The Welsh Labour leader said he was “absolutely certain that we haven’t” seen the last of his party as an electoral force.

He added: “Building a party of the future that is forward-looking, ambitious, exciting, and puts the power that needs to go to people right at the centre of everything we do, it’s not going to be a sprint.

“This is a marathon. I’m a runner myself like Andy Burnham is, and I’m determined to make sure that we recover in time for the next election, and that we are in decent health next May for the local elections.”

Devolution

Since coming to power, the Prime Minister has made devolution of power away from Westminster a core part of his governing agenda.

In England, that has meant giving a share of taxes and handing new powers to regional mayors, but how this might apply in Wales and Scotland – which have longstanding devolved governments – has been less clear.

Both Labour in Cardiff Bay and the now-governing Plaid Cymru have called for policing powers and the profits of the Crown Estate – the monarch’s holdings in Wales – to be devolved.

Plaid is likely to push for these powers when Mr Burnham holds a summit with the first ministers of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland in October.

But Mr Skates, who recently met the Prime Minister in London, said he now saw Mr Burnham’s agenda of spreading power as a means to provide a point of difference with Plaid Cymru’s calls for new powers being granted to the Welsh Government.

He told PA: “I think it provides us with an incredible opportunity to build a new party that is forward-looking, that is exciting, that is confident, that is clearly the party of devolution, whereas Plaid are the party of independence and central control from Cardiff Bay.”

Discussion

Devolution of policing is still an aim of Welsh Labour’s Senedd group, Mr Skates signalled, and is being discussed with the party’s MPs in Westminster, who have expressed opposition to it.

He said: “We’re discussing it very much with the Parliamentary Labour Party and with ministers at Westminster. The key thing now is that we have people at both ends of the M4 who are focused relentlessly on the outcomes of devolving powers and responsibilities, not just on devolution for devolution’s sake.

“So we’re very much focused on identifying how and where powers should be devolved to get the best possible outcomes.”

Skates’ comments come as recent polling suggests Labour continues to face significant electoral challenges in Wales, despite signs of a recovery in its Westminster support.

A recent YouGov MRP model, the first since Andy Burnham became Prime Minister, gave Labour a central estimate of just two of Wales’ 32 Westminster seats, compared with the 27 it won at the 2024 general election.

It found that Plaid Cymru led in 15 constituencies and Reform UK in 14, with the Conservatives expected to take a single seat, although many of the projected contests were extremely close.

Separate Barn Cymru/YouGov polling put Labour on 18% for Westminster, up from 8% in May, but its recovery was less pronounced in Senedd voting intention, where it stood at 13%.

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