'Wales needs better and bolder leadership '

MS for North Wales

The big news down in Cardiff Bay in the last couple of weeks has been the selection of a new First Minister.

Vaughan Gething narrowly won the Welsh Labour leadership contest, and has ascended to the top job ahead of his rival, Jeremy Miles.

Most of the coverage focused on Mr Gething receiving a £200,000 donation from a company run by a man who has been convicted twice for environmental offences.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t a great deal of substantive policy discussion. It would have been nice to hear more detail from the candidates on their views and political outlook.

It’s not just a new FM, but a new Cabinet too. Seeing the winners and losers from Cabinet reshuffles is always interesting, as it shows the direction of travel the leader wants to go in. For example, there is no longer a Minister with named responsibility for tourism.

Wales faces a lot of challenges, with lengthy NHS waiting lists, the worst education outcomes in the entire United Kingdom and rural communities feeling like their livelihoods are under attack – just to name three.

I do wish the new First Minister and his Cabinet well, because we need things to turn around in order to fix those problems and more.

I’m afraid to say, though, it looks like business as usual in Cardiff Bay. I hope I’m wrong, because Wales needs better and bolder leadership instead of the managed decline we’ve had from the Cardiff Government since 1999.

If I had one ask, it would be that North Wales gets the attention and funding it deserves. I will always fight for that in my role as your Senedd Member.

As ever, if you have any queries or issues, please don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can contact me by emailing sam.rowlands@senedd.wales or calling on 0300 200 7267.