Mark Drakeford says he will leave Welsh parliament at next election

Mark Drakeford has said he will leave the Welsh parliament at the next election, though he stressed that he is “not going to step back from the debate or stop thinking about Wales’ future”.

Drakeford – who has held the role of Welsh First Minister since 2018 – said today he will not stand again for election to the Senedd in 2026, having served as Senedd member for Cardiff West since 2011.

Drakeford had previously announced that he does not plan to serve the whole current Senedd term as First Minister, saying in 2020 that he hoped to lead the Welsh government “well into the next Senedd term” but adding that around his 70th birthday would “be time for somebody else to have a chance to do this job”.

Speaking at Welsh language cultural festival the Eisteddfod today, the Welsh Labour leader said: “It’s important to have a refresh. I think it is difficult for those who will be doing the work in the future to have people like me sitting behind them.

“I don’t want to do that. I think of it like Tony Benn – when he decided to leave the House of Commons, he said: ‘I’m going to stop being an MP in order to spend more time in politics.’ I’m not going to be a member of the Senedd after 2026, but I am not going to step back from the debate or stop thinking about Wales’ future.”

Drakeford succeeded Carwyn Jones as leader of Welsh Labour and First Minister in 2018, having previously held government roles including cabinet secretary for finance and minister for health and social services.

Prior to entering the Senedd, he worked for the Welsh government as a health and social policy adviser and later as head of the First Minister’s political office. He previously worked as a probation officer, youth justice worker and Barnardos project leader, as well teaching at both Cardiff and Swansea universities.

Today’s announcement came after Drakeford said the Welsh government is facing its “toughest financial situation” since devolution, revealing that cabinet members will be working through the summer recess to “mitigate” pressures on the government’s budget for 2023-24.

The First Minister said the government’s priorities would include protecting “frontline public services” and “targeting support towards those at greatest need”.

Drakeford said the Welsh government’s budget was “up to £900m lower in real terms” after the UK Spring Budget in March this year than it was when the budget was set by the UK government in 2021.

He blamed the situation facing the Welsh government on “record levels of inflation”, “mismanagement of the economy and public finances by successive UK governments” and “unfunded commitments made by the UK government, particularly in relation to public sector pay”.

The UK government claimed that the Welsh government “is currently receiving the largest funding settlement in the history of devolution” and that the settlement is “still increasing in real terms”.

A spokesman said: “The best way we can help families and support growth across Wales is to have low inflation, which is why we’re sticking to our plan to halve it this year – something which the Bank of England forecast only last week that we are on track to do.”