Only by being radical can we restore trust, argues, Dylan Lewis-Rowlands.

With the election of Eluned Morgan as the new leader of Welsh Labour, and presumptively the new First Minister of Wales, we can hopefully turn the page on a bleak chapter of Welsh Labour history. But going forward, we require more than a return to “politics as usual’; we require both a commitment to enact the manifesto of 2021, and new, radical policies in response to the challenges of today and tomorrow.

We should first acknowledge the step forward taken by the election of Eluned Morgan as the first female leader of any national part of the Labour Party, and as the first female First Minister of Wales in government. But identity politics will only get you so far, especially in a world where Reform achieved second place in many Labour heartlands. The challenges to Wales, the Welsh economy and the Welsh people are as dire as ever.

First is restoring some trust in the hearts of Welsh voters. We are on a precipice we have possibly not seen before in Wales. To restore trust, we need to recommit to the policies promised in 2021, and to ensure we are better than we have been before. Policies such as the National Care Service seem to have been pushed to the wayside since Truss wrecked the economy, but it is investment, not neo-liberal austerity, which will drive the growth we require in Wales, investment which must be fought for from the new Labour Government in Westminster.

But we also require new, bold action. One such policy that we should be pushing relentlessly for is the Devolution of the Crown Estates to Wales. Reform of the Crown Estates has already been promised by Starmer, but this reform does not go far enough. Wales both demands and requires control over its resources, not only to ensure the profits generated are re-invested in Wales, but also to ensure that we can pursue the political direction demanded by the Welsh voters when it comes to their coastlines and estuaries.

The threat of Reform must not be underestimated. Beyond their billionaire backers and populist narrative is a dangerous project to reshape politics in their image: populist, anti-progressive, British nationalist, and fundamentally neo-conservative. Our narrative must be radical if we are to counter this project. Centrist platitudes will only mean our defeat, as history shows.

We require a new form of politics to counter that of Farage: co-operative, collaborative, and collectivist: a politics which reinforces the solidarity and trade unionism that is the heart of the Labour party; politics which embraces the radical traditions of Welsh Labour; from Robert Owen, to Keir Hardie, to Aneurin Bevan, to Elystan Morgan, to Mark Drakeford. Time and time again it has been proven in Wales that only from the left can we win.

No longer will Welsh Labour be able to point the finger at the Tories in Westminster to excuse failings or suppress progress. We must find our voice again, re-establish the Clear Red Water, and become the radical reformers of Welsh politics and society. We must double down on our initiative to guarantee a million Welsh speakers by 2050, on our initiative to transform Wales into a nation of sanctuary and to further that to a nation of peace and solidarity, on our initiative to make Wales an anti-racist nation and on our initiative to make Wales a LGBTQ-friendly nation – in short, on our initiatives to guarantee a safe, healthy, and happy life for anyone who lives in Wales. Only through delivering can we now regain the trust of voters, and continue to ensure that it is the politics of solidarity, hope, and progress that takes the lead here in Wales.

Eluned Morgan has a big task ahead of her, and we wish her all the best in achieving it. 

Dylan Lewis-Rowlands is Co-Vice Chair of Welsh Labour Grassroots.

Image: Eluned Morgan AM. Source: Eluned Morgan AM. Author: National Assembly for Wales from Wales, licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.