Welsh minister defends ministerial car use despite public transport pledge
Emily Price
A Welsh Government minister says he’s still committed to his pledge to only use sustainable travel to carry out his Senedd duties after Nation Cymru quizzed him on journeys he had taken using a ministerial car.
In a victory speech he gave after winning one of the Senedd’s six Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf seats in May, Dafydd Trystan Davies vowed to make “every journey” in his role as a Member of the Senedd by bike, train, bus or on foot.
The avid cyclist and guide runner also promised that if he could not travel sustainably, he would publicly document “every single” journey he made by car.
The pledge came after Trystan Davies was appointed the cabinet minister for government effectiveness and the constitution by Plaid Cymru First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth.
Since then, Trystan Davies says the only journey he had made by car as a Member of the Senedd was to join St Edeyrn’s litter pickers.
The Plaid MS said he had used a car because there were “no other realistic public transport options”.
He documented his use of a car on this journey on his Facebook page in line with the promise he had made in the spring.
However, Nation.Cymru found that the Welsh Government’s ministerial car logs from June to September show that Trystan Davies has travelled by car on several other occasions.
On June 23, he travelled from the Senedd in Cardiff Bay to Bristol Airport. The next day, he travelled back from the airport to his home in Cardiff.
On June 25 he did a return journey by ministerial car from his home to Lampeter.
In July he shared a car with Deputy First Minister Sioned Williams on a trip from Cathays to Neath Abbey.
He used the ministerial car again the same day to travel from the abbey to Neath train station.
On August 5, Trystan Davies travelled by ministerial car from his home in Cardiff to Aberteifi. Later that day he travelled by car again from Aberteifi to Llanboidy.
The following day, he used a ministerial car to make the return journey home.
Later in August, the minister used a car to travel from his home in Cardiff to Treorchy. Later that day he travelled by ministerial car from Treorchy to the Senedd in Cardiff Bay.
On September 2, the Welsh minister travelled by car from Cathays to Neath and made the return journey by car later the same day.
On September 27, Trystan Davies travelled from Bristol Airport to his home.
Nation.Cymru contacted the Plaid Cymru MS highlighting that there was suitable public transport options for some of the journeys he had taken, particularly his trip from the city to Bristol Airport.
Trystan Davies said he had pledged to travel by bike, train, bus or on foot in his duties as Member for Caerdydd Ffynnon Taf, arguing that he hadn’t made the pledge as a government minister.
He said: “Since the election, the only journey I’ve made by car as a constituency Member was to join St Edeyrn’s litter pickers – where there were no realistic public transport options. I shared this on my Facebook page.
“While I wasn’t a government minister when I made the pledge, I remain personally committed to the same principles as a member of the government, though travelling across Wales and beyond may mean a different balance.”
On his car journeys to Bristol Airport, Trystan Davies said the trips had taken place late at night when there were no public transport options.
He said: “My aim, as I said when I made the pledge, is to travel sustainably as far as possible and to document the challenges when that isn’t possible.”
When Trystan Davies first vowed to ditch his car to raise awareness of climate change in May, the minister said his pledge received a “huge response” – ranging from support and criticism to comments he described as “simply abusive”.
Former Plaid MS and Propel leader Neil McEvoy argued that Trystan Davies led a “privileged” lifestyle and did not face the “pressures many ordinary working families deal with every single day”.
Trystan Davies said he hoped his experience of avoiding car travel in his densely populated north Cardiff constituency would help strengthen his case for improving the capital’s sustainable transport network.
However, the Welsh academic acknowledged it would be “impossible” for some MSs representing rural parts of Wales to follow his lead.
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He should never have said it, no matter how much he meant it. He’s a Minister, it was never going to be practical. But it’s hardly worthy of an article. Saying that, there will probably be a reform debate on it when they run out of culture war material.