By Mick Antoniw

Andy Burnham’s historic victory is a victory for us all and particularly for Wales. The by-election marked a  political crossroads for UK Labour. Fail, and the next general election was all but lost. For Wales it offers a chance for Welsh Labour to restore, refresh and renew itself. 

The by-election by itself solves nothing but it does offer an historic opportunity for change, for a  common  vision of a Wales and a United Kingdom able work in harmony and sharing common, traditional Labour principles of justice, equality and fairness.

It is an opportunity Andy Burnham has seized, it was a last chance and for Wales maybe the last throw of the dice for democratic socialism as we know it.

The voters of Makerfield saw this and those of us from Wales who travelled up North to canvass for Andy felt it on the doorstep. People instinctively wanted something different from Labour. They had lost confidence and the trust once held that Labour spoke for them. It was exactly the feeling we had on the doorstep in Wales during the Senedd elections. 

So when Tony Blair intervened in the by-election with his statement emphasising a focus on economic and social neoliberalism, Andy was quick to challenge: no return to the past, people want change and we have to have a renewed focus on  the inequality that is do destabilising our society.

I could feel the crisis of conscience on the doorstep. People wanted change, but felt the Labour they had supported all these years had turned against them. Andy Burnham offered them hope and a vision of an alternative. They seized it.

For Wales, this is a make or break moment. It’s a chance to revitalise Welsh Labour not for Labour’s sake, but for the political alternative and progressive values that I believe only we can deliver,  as Wales, part of the UK, but a UK that sees Wales as a nation and an equal part of the UK. 

When Andy talked about Place not Party he resonated with so many in Wales. He has learned through his experience in Manchester the need to decentralise power and to empower nations, regions and local communities . So when he talks about public ownership of public utilities – gas, electricity and water – he is talking about empowering people in the decisions over these vital services that impact on their lives. The same applies to transport, housing  and many other victims of the disastrous Thatcher agenda that handed them over to private corporations, putting profit ahead of public service.

So much of this is vital to Wales, recognising the need to reform funding, not just for Wales but across the regions of England. Local accountability of policing, youth justice, rail, the Crown Estate – all the things that Welsh Labour was calling for that Starmer and the Welsh Office rejected. 

In the Senedd elections we were not seen as standing  up for Wales. UK Labour was not seen as fair to Wales, and we were not seen as the natural opposition to the divisive hate politics of Reform. 

We have a chance to change. We can and will change and Andy, I believe, will be a friend to Wales, to restore confidence and trust. We have to have confidence in Welsh Labour  and our socialist traditions, values and principles, that we can be a genuine Welsh Party , part of the Labour family but always standing up for Wales, sharing much in common across the UK but always putting Wales first. After all, isn’t that what devolution is meant to mean and to achieve? 

A key test for change will be the election of the Welsh representative on the Labour National Executive Committee. I held this position in the past, appointed by then First Minister Mark Drakeford. I intend to stand again to ensure we have a strong and vital Welsh voice supporting radical change at the heart of the UK Labour Party. We mustn’t waste the historic opportunities that Andy’s win presents for the whole of the UK and for Wales . Ymlaen! I’rGad!

Mick Antoniw is a former Labour Member of Senedd for Pontypridd and former Counsel General and Minister for the Constitution. He is a candidate for the Welsh seat on UK Labour’s National Executive Committee. This article was originally published by Nation Cymru.

Image: Mick Antoniw with Andy Burnham, c/o author.