Drakeford links Welsh Labour's collapse to lack of new powers from UK government

Former Welsh first minister Mark Drakeford says the UK Labour government offered "so little" to Wales in terms of new powers since it came to power in 2024.

Drakeford attacked Welsh Labour MPs in Westminster, arguing the lack of a devolution agenda from them was a significant factor in the party's Senedd election defeat this month.

Drakeford said Labour's "unique selling point" of supporting Wales having more control over its own affairs within the United Kingdom, rather than going it alone, had been weakened by his own party.

But a Welsh Labour source described Drakeford as the "architect-in-chief" of Labour's crushing defeat and demanded a period of "silence" from him.

It comes after Drakeford, the last Welsh Labour leader to win a Senedd election, called for Sir Keir Starmer to set a timetable for his resignation.

Labour lost control of the Welsh government to pro-independence Plaid Cymru at the 7 May election, and was pushed into third place for the first time.

It had won every Cardiff Bay election since 1999 and held half of the Senedd's seats until its defeat, when it was relegated to just nine Members of the Senedd (MSs) - less than 10% of the total.

Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast, Drakeford defended his government's record on health and education, but said the "sense that somebody else needed to turn to address" problems in those services was "very real".

Complaints about changes to the winter fuel allowance and the standing of the prime minister "was raised time and time again", he said.

"For me the thing that made this election so difficult from a Welsh Labour point of view was that we had so little in the first two years of that Labour government at Westminster that allowed us to demonstrate that we are still the party of devolution here in Wales.

"That was our unique selling point.

"Only the Labour party offered strong devolution where people in Wales took charge of their own domestic affairs while still remaining inside the United Kingdom, with all the advantages that that brings."

He added that the "unique offer that we make was weakened by two years in which the evidence for it wasn't there to be found".

In response, a Welsh labour source said the Drakeford government's 20mph law, as well as Welsh NHS waiting lists, the decision to expand the Senedd and change Wales' voting system, and a feeling that Welsh government had taken its eye off day-to-day issues "all contributed to the result".

"As the architect-in-chief of Labour's crushing defeat, you'd think Mark would show some humility with a period of silence," they said.

"Mark should reflect on the consequences of his leadership before blaming others."

Another source claimed the UK Labour government had "delivered on all of its general election manifesto commitments to strengthen the devolution settlement - and more, since 2024."

They listed reforming the fiscal framework for Wales' funding, devolving employment support and youth justice funding and "restoring power to Welsh government over the local growth fund" as among the changes Labour has implemented.

Welsh Labour has long called for the devolution of the Crown Estate, the sharing of funding as a consequence of High Speed Rail 2, and for policing and justice powers to be handed to the Senedd.

Labour colleagues in Westminster have not shared those views, and despite small steps has not agreed to any of the plans.

A Welsh Labour source based in Westminster accused Drakeford on Tuesday of "student politics"

"The idea that who owns the seabed was the deal clincher in this election is baffling. People were fed up with us," they said, suggesting Drakeford did not want to acknowledge that.

In response, Drakeford said: "If you spent a month on the doorstep talking to people you knew that people were fed up with us."

Ken Skates has taken over as interim leader of Welsh Labour and has said he would "love" to do the job permanently, while Drakeford called for there to be a leadership contest.

"I've listened carefully to the things that Ken has said so far and I think he set out a very sensible prospectus for that small group of Labour members," Drakeford said.

"But there is a wider debate to be held in the party. Choosing the leader of the party here in Wales would galvanise that debate and I would hope would lead to a better set of outcomes."