The Labour Party in Wales
11:18, 11 May 2026Updated 12:23, 11 May 2026
Mark Drakeford has been a leading figure in Welsh Labour for decades(Image: Welsh Government)
The only Welsh MP to sit in the UK Government cabinet has launched into a stinging attack on former First Minister Mark Drakeford and her own administration in Westminster as the Labour Party in Wales seeks to understand the causes of the collapse in its vote.
Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens has written an opinion piece for WalesOnline in which she accuses Welsh Labour under the former First Minister’s leadership of getting distracted from “the bread and butter issues that people care about the most”.
She singled out for criticism the unpopular rollout of 20mph speed restrictions and “tree planting in Uganda”, referring to the Welsh Government’s use of £270,000 a year to fund the planting of trees in Mbale, Uganda, to fight climate change and create jobs for women in the east African country.
In her piece, she also accepts that “people feel” the UK Government has “not yet delivered the change that people voted for in 2024” and admitted “unnecessary mistakes” had been made on the winter fuel allowance and welfare”.
However her article argues that dissatisfaction with Labour in Wales has been building for far longer because of the actions of the Labour Welsh Government.
Ms Stevens’s article follows a series of attacks from Welsh Labour figures who have pinned the blame on Keir Starmer and his government for the party’s catastrophic performance in the Senedd Election last week.
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Former Welsh Government cabinet minister Mick Antoniw called it ‘a defeat manufactured in Downing Street’, and an unnamed figure to the BBC ‘everyone in Wales is all saying this is Keir Starmer’s fault’.
In her opinion piece, Cardiff East MP Ms Stevens pointed to the performance of the Welsh Labour government in its handling of health and education as having driven disillusionment with Labour in Wales over a much longer period.
Although she did not name him in this context, her analysis puts the spotlight on former Health Minister and later First Minister Mr Drakeford whose administration she accuses of getting distracted by unpopular issues and not putting money into solving problems in the Welsh NHS.
Jo Stevens is Welsh secretary(Image: Matthew Horwood)
Ms Stevens said: “Welsh Labour is at its best when it mirrors the priorities of the people of Wales. But somewhere along the way, the party became distracted by causes that were miles away from the bread-and-butter issues that people care about the most.
“People are rightly cross about the rollout of 20mph speed restrictions and public money being spent on tree planting in Uganda when we weren’t getting the basics right. The NHS. Education. Cost of living. Any time spent away from those key priorities was time wasted.”
She said that this frustration with the Welsh Government had been growing for years.
She said: “Frustration about Welsh Government’s delivery has, though, been growing for many years. Before the pandemic, it was clear that people were running out of patience with our record on health. It felt like we were about to reach a tipping point.
She went on to say that Plaid’s victory was down to public disillusionment with the performance of Welsh Labour rather than any enthusiasm for Rhun ap Iorwerth’s party.
Ms Stevens said: “Plaid’s victory in this Senedd election was not a reflection of nationalist fervour or a genuine enthusiasm for independence. It was a rebuke of our own performance and a vote to stop Reform in Wales.