Why the Welsh Tories are just a bit of a joke and is there any real difference between Jeremy Miles and Vaughan Gething?
The leadership race is gathering pace but do either men actually offer real change?
Greetings!
I am writing most of this on January 24 just before going away for three weeks. As such I will be spending the intervening time between me writing it and you opening it praying that this all stays relevant.
Given today I will be talking about the Labour leadership race and how the Welsh Tories have been talking absolute dross on how they would fix the Welsh NHS, I am feeling fairly confident. I can’t see either Vaughan Gething or Jeremy Miles dropping out of the Labour leadership race or the Andrew-RT-Davies-led Welsh Tories putting forward a credible plan on health, so I reckon I am safe.
Before I jump into it, I need to set one thing straight. In last week’s newsletter I referred to Vaughan Gething being spotted eating chips with his family on a park bench during the first Covid lockdown and, slightly flippantly, said that it was when we were only allowed out for 15 minutes at a time. I’ve been asked to point out that there was never a 15-minute exercise rule. The rule some thought Mr Gething had broken was the Welsh Government’s rule that “going for a walk and then having a picnic or spending a prolonged period on a park bench, for example, is not considered to be exercise and is not intended to be a reasonable excuse”. I’m sure we’ll find out more on his views on when sitting down to eat chips on a park bench is or isn’t a picnic at the inquiry.
And, without further ado, here we go!
Just what is the difference between Miles and Gething?
We can all agree that Wales is facing a huge range of challenges. We can all agree that we can’t keep doing what we are doing. Whoever takes over as Welsh Labour leader is going to likely soon be faced with a Labour government in London that has no plans to give them more money so they are going to need some bold creative ideas not to mention energy to meet these challenges.
And what we have are two men who have been at the heart of Welsh Government decision making for over half a decade. I personally feel that beyond their personalities, which are quite different, there isn’t really much between the pair of them. They’ve both now published manifestos, which you can see a comparison of here. And I also emailed both candidates’ campaign teams to ask them one simple question:
What is the biggest difference between yourself and your rival in the leadership race?
Both replied so let’s break them down one at a time.
A Jeremy Miles campaign spokesperson said:
“Jeremy is the candidate Plaid and the Tories fear the most. They don’t want him to win.
“He’s on the centre-left of the party, and is completely committed to further devolution of powers to Wales and within Wales.
"The people who work closest with both candidates, think Jeremy will make the best leader. That’s why the majority of the Senedd group and Labour council leaders and deputy leaders support him.
“With his 20 years' experience working internationally in law and commercial posts, he brings senior-level business experience from outside politics. He represents a seat in south west Wales, so is the only candidate with a perspective outside Cardiff. He relates to and can speak up for communities across the whole of Wales.
“He’s got a strong reputation for being inclusive, thoughtful and interested in ideas. The support he’s receiving from across a wide range of sectors in and outside of Welsh Labour shows he’s the candidate for Wales’ future.”
Right, first off, do Plaid and the Tories “fear him the most”? The answer to this is probably yes. I have spoken to people within both parties and this seems to be the consensus. From Plaid’s perspective, him being a Welsh speaker is not ideal. It was harder to paint Drakeford as a unionist stooge as he delivered his speeches in Cymraeg.
Plus the fact that he is perceived as, well, boring, means he is likely to leave few lines for attack from opposition parties.
The “is completely committed to further devolution of powers to Wales and within Wales” is an interesting thing to draw attention to. Are they suggesting that Vaughan is more devo-sceptic? The “within Wales” part of that may be to try and win support for councils who would like a bit more power. It may come back to bite them if they do win because UK Labour are not really fussed on giving Wales much more in the way of powers.
In my view “The people who work closest with both candidates think Jeremy will make the best leader” is basically saying that they think he is simply a more likeable bloke than Vaughan Gething. It is noticeable that most people who have worked with Vaughan before haven’t backed him.
Vaughan Gething was quoted directly for his statement saying:
“This campaign isn’t about criticising each other; I can only speak for myself and why I’m running to be the next leader of Welsh Labour. I believe I have the experience, values and vision to bring people together and build a better future for Wales. As Health Minister during the pandemic, I was tested in the most difficult circumstances. While the Tories partied in Downing Street, Mark and I worked around the clock to help keep Wales safe. This is a high stakes moment for Wales with a difficult economy and a must-win General Election expected any day. That experience leaves me well-prepared to help us meet these challenges head on.
“If I am privileged enough to be elected leader, I would lead a Government that listens and brings people together. I know what it’s like to experience prejudice and adversity and have dedicated my working life to listening to and standing up for people as a councillor, trade union lawyer, and now in the Senedd. I would be honoured to continue doing so as Welsh Labour leader and First Minister.”
Gething’s answer is less combative than Miles’. Really it focuses on the two things that he has repeated throughout his campaign: I have experience during Wales’ toughest time and I have close links to the unions. You can read a breakdown of Vaughan’s pandemic performance in last week's newsletter.
Now I fully understand that when you are trying to win a party leadership race, you are really just trying to appeal to a pretty narrow group of people. This is not a time when they will necessarily say anything controversial or criticise previous Labour administrations.
However I do find the apparent total lack of any real change with the past from either man to be deeply depressing. We can all see that Wales needs to rethink how it does things, and both candidates seem to be just offering more of the same.
Before I continue, I must mention that my colleagues on the sportdesk joined me on Substack this week with the launch of Inside Welsh Rugby. Please check it out here
The joke that is the Welsh Conservatives…
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