Eluned Morgan

Morgan was confirmed as the sixth First Minister of Wales after Vaughan Gething's resignation, which followed a no-confidence vote, ministerial resignations, and the controversy over a £200,000 donation. She stood unopposed on a 'unity ticket' with Huw Irranca-Davies as Deputy First Minister, signalling a desire to move on from months of internal Labour turmoil.

In her inaugural address, Morgan committed to 'listening to what people want and delivering in every corner of this great nation,' deliberately signalling a break from the Gething era's controversies. She immediately met with PM Keir Starmer to discuss 'resetting the relationship' between Cardiff and Westminster, focusing on NHS funding, energy independence, and Tata Steel jobs. The meeting was symbolically important — the first between two Labour leaders in Wales and Westminster in nearly fifteen years. Morgan's appointment as the first woman First Minister since devolution began in 1999 was itself a milestone, though she inherited a difficult legacy: polls showed Labour's dominance under serious threat from both Plaid Cymru and Reform UK ahead of the 2026 election.

Speaking at a fringe event during the UK Labour conference, Morgan addressed the growing electoral threat to Welsh Labour from both Plaid Cymru and Reform UK. Internal polling was showing Labour in third place in some scenarios for the 2026 Senedd election — an unprecedented position for a party that had governed Wales since devolution began.

Morgan warned that either Reform or Plaid Cymru coming into power would undo Labour's work since devolution, framing the 2026 election as an existential moment for the devolution settlement itself. She revived Welsh Labour's 'clear red water' strategy — the doctrine used by her predecessors Rhodri Morgan and Mark Drakeford to distance Welsh Labour from UK Labour on policy. This represented a strategic shift: rather than running as an extension of Starmer's government, she was positioning Welsh Labour as a distinctly Welsh progressive force. A Senedd candidate at the conference acknowledged the scale of the challenge, describing the situation as 'even between Reform and Plaid — we've got a real uphill battle on our hands.'

With just four months until the May 2026 Senedd election, Morgan delivered what was arguably the most significant speech on devolution by a Welsh Labour First Minister since Mark Drakeford. Independence polling was showing 41% support (excluding don't knows), and Plaid Cymru was leading most polls. Morgan needed to articulate a compelling pro-devolution but anti-independence position.

Morgan called for a 'new chapter for devolution,' setting out the most detailed package of demands from a Welsh Labour leader in years. She called for a Constitutional Reform Act to legally protect devolution from being undermined by Westminster, an independent adjudicator to ensure financial fairness across the UK nations, and devolution of policing, rail, youth justice, probation, and the Crown Estate. She explicitly stated that 'Labour is the party of devolution' and that her interest in advancing devolution was 'motivated by better delivery for the people of Wales, not by any ideological move towards an independent Wales.' She directly addressed the rise in independence support, arguing that 'support for independence tends to rise when politics feels stuck or uncertain, and it falls when people see devolution deliver.' Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar dismissed the speech as 'constitutional navel gazing,' while Plaid's Heledd Fychan accused Labour of blocking the very reforms it now claimed to support.