Do Welsh Labour need to lose? — Hollie Wickens
Wales is a picture of Labour dominance. We’ve won 26 General Elections in a row, and we’ve been in power in the Assembly for its entire existence. Moving to Wales after living in England for 18 years, I can see the difference that has made. The roads are not littered with potholes, I have never had to worry about paying for prescriptions the same way my sister has back in England. I’m hopeful, thanks to policies such as Rent to Own Wales, that I could one day own my own home. That is down to Welsh Labour, and we cannot forget that.
Whilst Labour in power has undoubtedly been good for Wales, there is a risk of complacency. As the Welsh Labour leadership contest slowly rumbles into action, I have seen very few people considering what should perhaps be the most important factor: our candidate needs to be electable. They need to be able to appeal to all of Wales — we cannot take it for granted that we will win the next Assembly election, that Wales will continue to always vote Labour.
The fiercely partisan part of me says that of course Labour needs to win again. Wales needs Labour, no other party could deliver for the people of Wales as much as Labour has. But such a long time in power with no serious threats must surely breed complacency. In his appearance on Sunday Politics, current leadership frontrunner Mark Drakeford said that not much would change with him as First Minister. Labour has been in power in Wales for 18 years. The country has changed in that time, but where are the new, radical ideas? Is it that we feel secure enough in our position that we don’t feel the need to come up with anything new?
Over the border in England, the party is consistently coming up with new, innovative ideas, to try and appeal to the electorate, to give them hope. We cannot ignore funding constraints: the ridiculous Barnett Formula means that Welsh Labour simply does not have the means to implement many of these policies, but the national party has the right idea. We have to give the electorate something to believe in, we have to try and win them over. We cannot just assume that they will always be behind us. Maybe losing, a spell in opposition, would give us a shock to the system that would change our attitude.
This is not to say that Welsh Labour AMs are doing nothing; Lee Waters has been a consistent voice calling for new policies around automation, and Eluned Morgan has set up a website, Beyond The Bubble, to try and start a conversation about what Wales really needs. But without the Welsh Labour leadership holding this attitude, it will be difficult to move forwards. Could it be that losing the next Assembly election, losing power for the first time in the Assembly’s history, could force new, radical ideas to the forefront?
In a few months I’ll be moving to Germany to complete my Erasmus+ year abroad as part of my degree. There, Labour’s sister party the SPD recently suffered its worst ever election results in the post-war period. During its internal debate on whether to enter into a third grand coalition with Angela Merkel’s CDU, the buzz phrase was Erneuerung — renewal. There is the belief amongst many SPD members that they’ve been in government too much, and they need time in opposition to renew and work out what exactly they stand for. In the end, the party elected to begin a new coalition with Merkel, but SPD Erneuerung is now a big focus
Of course, the problems facing the SPD in Germany are not the same as those facing Welsh Labour. But the SPD may have the right idea in wanting to renew.
Some may argue that the Welsh Labour leadership contest is already decided; after all, only one candidate so far has secured enough nominations to stand. If that is the case, then let the party put its internal differences to one side for the time being. The next Assembly election is approaching, and Welsh Labour need some new ideas — and fast.
Hollie Wickens