'I hope the year is a good one for you and your family'

MS for North Wales

I’d like to start by wishing you a Happy New Year! We are now in the thick of 2024 and I hope the year is a good one for you and your family.

I’d also like to thank those who worked to keep the country going over the festive period, including police officers, NHS staff and the armed forces just to name three. Our forces, in particular, serving all over the world do an excellent job protecting us, and being away from family is difficult at Christmas.

This week, the Welsh Parliament is back in action after a break and I’ll be making my regular journeys down to Cardiff again. 2024 will certainly be a big year of change – there will be a new Welsh First Minister after Mark Drakeford steps down in March, and we will also be having a UK General Election at some point in the next 12 months.

Both of these are big moments and will have a long-term impact. There’s no doubt that the performance of Drakeford and his Labour Welsh Government colleagues will play a role in the General Election campaign – the longest NHS waiting lists and the worst-performing schools in the UK are in Wales. They are both run by the Welsh Government in Cardiff, not the UK Government in London.

When you cast your vote in that UK election, it’s certainly worth remembering those facts. Letting Sir Keir Starmer do to the entire United Kingdom what Drakeford and his friends have done to Wales would be disastrous!

As ever, I’ll do my bit to hold the Welsh Government to account and represent the views of people across North Wales.

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.