Greater than twenty years in the past, Rhodri Morgan, then first minister of Wales, put “clear red water” between Welsh Labour and the United Kingdom birthday party. It’s a word that was one of the enduring cliches in Welsh politics.
Now, his successor Eluned Morgan is making an attempt to chart a contemporary path with a brand new slogan: “the red Welsh way”. In a up to date speech, Morgan set out Welsh Labour’s core values forward of the 2026 Senedd (Welsh parliament) election: “Solidarity, equality, sustainability and justice.” Those, she argued, are revolutionary rules rooted in Wales’ political traditions.
However the speech additionally had a transparent strategic objective: to reassert Welsh Labour’s distinct identification at a time when its dominance in devolved politics is below drive.
Morgan pledged to rise up for Wales each time she believed it used to be being left out via Westminster or when UK govt insurance policies disproportionately harmed the country. Deploying nationalistic language, whilst insisting she isn’t a nationalist, Morgan invoked a historical past of exploitation in Wales and vowed that such injustices would no longer be tolerated below Welsh Labour’s watch.
It used to be additionally a notable shift in rhetoric. All the way through the 2024 common election, Welsh Labour leaned closely at the thought of “two governments at both ends of the M4” operating in combination. Morgan’s speech additionally represents her maximum forthright try but to refill the pink waters between the Welsh govt and Keir Starmer’s management, and her maximum passionate defence of Welsh Labour as a definite entity.
Ballot drive
On the exact same day, a brand new ballot positioned Welsh Labour in 3rd position, in the back of Plaid Cymru and Reform UK. The polling comes with the acquainted caveats. It’s only one ballot, so much can trade at some stage in a 12 months and it might be unwise to underestimate the power of Welsh Labour’s electoral gadget.
However, whilst the Senedd is increasing from 60 to 96 individuals, Welsh Labour’s presence inside of it’s vulnerable to shrinking.
Morgan’s speech implicitly recognises that the Labour emblem is tainted. With the United Kingdom govt chasing Reform UK’s voter base in mild of latest election effects, the pink Welsh manner looks like an effort to reclaim floor from Plaid Cymru, to which Welsh Labour seems to be dropping strengthen, specifically from left-leaning and Welsh-identifying electorate.
Morgan will hope that formulating a brand new symbol (or, reasonably, resurrecting an outdated one) can revive the birthday party’s fortunes and make allowance it to proceed its over 100 years dominance of Welsh politics.
Eluned Morgan makes her ‘red Welsh way’ speech in Might 2025.
PA Photographs/Alamy
There’s common sense to this technique. I’ve argued prior to that Welsh Labour flourishes when it articulates a transparent, values-driven Welsh identification. However there are actually bold hindrances in Morgan’s trail.
First, looking to place a birthday party that has been in govt for 26 years as an rebel pressure is difficult. The transparent pink water rhetoric, rooted in revolutionary rules, has no longer all the time been matched if truth be told.Strained public services and products and entrenched poverty in Wales undermine Welsh Labour’s claims to reaching social justice. Whilst constitutional constraints and investment obstacles from Westminster are actual, slogans on my own don’t protect other folks from hardship.
In the long run, after years of austerity, other folks in Wales are on the lookout for a birthday party that may be offering them hope of a brighter long run. As an alternative of slogans, Welsh Labour will wish to display the voters that it’s creating a tangible distinction to other folks’s lives. As Morgan herself insisted within the speech: “Less chat, and more do.”
2nd, Morgan faces an additional problem from an emboldened Welsh parliamentary Labour birthday party (PLP). A contemporary Politico article paperwork the more than a few tactics by which the central Labour birthday party is trying to have a better say in Welsh Labour’s affairs, from manifesto writing to candidate variety. One Labour determine used to be quoted as pointing out: “The Welsh PLP hate the Senedd group.”
Amid experiences that Morgan accused Welsh MPs of no longer status up for Wales, a Labour Senedd member has warned of “simmering discontent” with Westminster.
A birthday party at a crossroads
Amongst those demanding situations, Welsh Labour will fight with its declare to be status up for Wales when judged in opposition to results. Repeated disasters to safe rail investment, additional devolution or even attention for the consequences of coverage adjustments on Wales, counsel that Welsh Labour’s voice in Westminster nonetheless struggles to hold weight. That’s even below a Labour-led UK govt.
If truth be told, the pink Welsh manner displays a birthday party stuck in a strategic bind. It’s keen to tell apart itself, however hamstrung via its personal long-term incumbency, inside divisions and restricted energy.
Because the 2026 Senedd election attracts nearer, Welsh Labour will throw the whole thing at transferring the narrative. However as issues stand, the transparent pink water that when symbolised distance from Westminster has turn into muddied.
