Minister for Welsh Language and Lifelong Learning, Eluned Morgan AM has announced that she would like to stand for election to be the next leader of the Labour Party in Wales.
Eluned has made it clear that she believes a thorough debate should take place regarding the future direction of Labour Party policy in Wales and that the opportunity must be seized to renew the party in office through the election of a new leader.
The Former MEP and Former Shadow Minister in the House of Lords said:
“Labour has been in power in Wales since the Assembly was established back in 1999; I believe that I would be the candidate to represent change in this election. I am a relatively new member of the National Assembly, but I have decades of broader political experience having represented Wales in the European Parliament for 15 years and served on the front benches in the House of Lords. ___
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The Party needs to focus unrelentingly on tackling poverty in Wales, and the way to do that is to grow the economy and provide quality jobs and training. The fall-out from Brexit will be the dominating issue for at least the next five years in Wales, and I feel that my 15 years’ experience as a Welsh MEP in Brussels has taught me how to negotiate difficult and conflicting positions.”
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When Carwyn Jones announced his intention to step down last month, Eluned launched a national listening exercise on an online forum, “Beyond the Bubble”, inviting people to share their ideas, hopes and visions for the future of Wales. She emphasised the necessity of reaching out to all parts of Wales stretching beyond Cardiff Bay and the Labour Party in an attempt to develop new policy ideas to ensure that we are in tune with the people who are living and working in communities across the nation.”
Eluned said:
“The response to Beyond the Bubble campaign has been overwhelming. I have engaged with hundreds of people up and down the country, asking what matters to them and what they would like to see change. These grass-roots contributions will form the basis of a people’s manifesto, and it will be on this basis that I will seek formal support from my Assembly colleagues before the end of the summer.”___
She added:
“I have been encouraged to stand as leader by many who have said that they would like to see a new, fresh and energised leadership in Wales heading into the next Assembly elections. I was extremely moved that many inspirational women who took part in the procession through the Cardiff streets yesterday expressed hope that I would stand. As this year marks a century since women won the right to vote, I feel that would be letting these women down if I did not put my name forward.”_
Responding to the Wales Labour Party Executive’s proposal to undertake a review of the leadership voting system Eluned said:
“Whilst the form of the voting system must be a decision for the Labour Party in Wales, I feel that we need to move to a one member one vote system; although we must find a way of ensuring that the politically affiliated union voice is heard within that system.” She added “it would be a tragedy if the leadership election did not move beyond a debate of the mechanics of an internal voting system; Wales is confronting serious future challenges and we need to position ourselves to be a highly skilled and responsive economy with strong public services which takes account of the needs of the environment and future generations.”_
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