Rebuilding Welsh Labour a marathon not a sprint, says new leader

Rebuilding Welsh Labour after the Senedd election will be "a marathon not a sprint," the party's new leader has said.

Having been in power in Wales since devolution in 1999, Labour came third in May with just nine seats in a parliament expanded to 96 seats, having previously held 30 of the 60 seats.

Ahead of his first party conference speech as Welsh Labour leader on Sunday afternoon, Ken Skates said there were reasons to be "optimistic" ahead of next year's local elections.

However, privately, some within the party accept it could take "years" to win back the support Welsh Labour lost at the Senedd election.

For more than a century before May, Labour had come first in Wales at every UK and Senedd election until it fell behind Plaid Cymru and Reform in May.

The results saw Eluned Morgan resign as Welsh Labour leader as she lost her own seat.

After being appointed interim leader in the aftermath, Skates was later confirmed as Welsh Labour's permanent leader in July.

Speaking to Politics Wales ahead of the Labour Party conference in Liverpool, Skates said rebuilding his party would be "a marathon not a sprint".

"I'm a runner myself and I love marathons, so I'm ready for it and I'm keen to get on with the job of building the party for the future."

However, with all 22 Welsh councils up for election next May, time isn't on his side.

Welsh Labour had strong results at the last local elections in 2022, winning 43% of the total number of seats available and securing overall control of eight councils.

Asked if it was inevitable his party would go backwards next year, Skates said: "No, I don't accept that.

"We are very firmly focused on retaining as many councils and as many councillors as we possibly can and building on the success of the last set of local elections.

"But they did take place against a very favourable backdrop and on this occasion that might not be the case."

Privately, senior Welsh Labour figures at the party's Cardiff headquarters acknowledge the party has its work cut out.

One said it needed to be rebuilt "pretty much from dust" and that "it could take years" for Welsh Labour to win back the support it lost in May.

However, there is also some optimism following Andy Burnham's appointment as prime minister.

A separate source said that enthusiasm for knocking doors was at rock bottom in May, but that had now changed.

They also said that Skates had made "no mistakes so far", and so, while next May will be tough, "there is a pathway to it not being an abysmal event for Welsh Labour".

In his speech on Sunday, Skates will make the case for transferring powers within Wales.

"We didn't create devolution just to reproduce a Welsh Westminster," he will say.

"Our Welsh government must be strong enough to lead and redistribute and strength doesn't have to mean central control.

"The principle is simple: Power from Westminster to Wales, power from Cardiff into our communities, power into the hands of people themselves."

Politics Wales is on BBC1 Wales at 10:00 BST on 27 September and on iPlayer