‘We need to pat ourselves on the back more’: Cymru reflections from Merthyr Tydfil

Reporting straight from the early stages of Labour’s campaign in Wales continues for LabourList, as each day brings us closer to the upcoming Senedd elections in May.

After getting a strong sense of the situation on the ground in the Welsh capital, my colleague Daniel Green and I travelled further into the valleys of South Wales for a change of scenery and a deeper look into Welsh Labour’s current circumstances amid a vital, but difficult campaign.

Last autumn, Welsh Labour suffered a troubling loss in the Caerphilly by-election, demonstrating that seats the party would have once considered unwavering in their overwhelming support now stood on shakier grounds. We travelled to nearby Merthyr Tydfil, another once-assumed Welsh Labour heartland that recent polling continues to suggest may be taken by the populist forces of Reform on the right and the surge of Plaid Cymru on its left.

The journey out of Cardiff allowed us to take in some of the nation’s natural beauty while en route. Working in London usually, it is always a privilege to see some of the genuinely stunning greenery that somewhere like Wales has to offer. It provides that occasionally necessary reminder, of the differences in need across areas around the UK.

Arriving in Merthyr Tydfil, we were greeted to cold winds and rain as we stepped onto the platform and walked into the town centre. Beginning with a quick walk around, I noted the relative business of the high streets and the clear sense of pride in the area’s history, before we settled in a cafe and met one of Labour’s candidates for the new Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr ‘super-constituency’: Dr Lloyd Watkins.

READ MORE: ‘Ensuring union representation in the Senedd’: Cymru reflections with Shav Taj

Watkins is a self described socialist “from cradle to grave” and trade unionist, previously working as a senior associate in the equality and human rights commission, before standing down to run for Labour in the upcoming campaign. Just 36 years old, Watkins joined the party in 2013, explaining to us that he felt politicised by the austerity measures of the coalition government while studying at university.

It was clear he had a strong belief in the value the Welsh Labour government had placed in their higher education system, discussing the differences in choices made by the devolved nation and the benefits he had received as a result.

“The Welsh Labour government invested in me,” he told us, comparing his experience to that of friends from England at university who came away with larger sums of debt. While others couldn’t go on to do a masters, because of the Welsh Labour government’s political choices to support the next generation with more funding, he was able to stay in education and ultimately pursue a PhD, as was his brother who he told us was now “cutting up brains, researching dementia.”

“We need to pat ourselves on the back more” for the achievements of the Welsh government, he told us, saying there were “so many successes”. When on the doorstep and having discussions with voters, Watkins made it sound as though it was easy to discuss all that the Welsh Labour government had achieved, suggesting voters were receptive to these conversations. He pointed to the NHS in Wales, stating most people had relatively good experiences with it, and issues that affected England like RAC in school buildings that “hardly impacted Wales.”

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Watkins supported the claims made by Eluned Morgan at the Welsh Labour campaign launch that their time in government in the Senedd had been to push for policies that sought first to protect the Welsh people against the impacts of austerity measures. Due to this, if wider global economic issues settled, Wales would be in a much better position for “the daffodils to grow higher than most” when compared to many places in England, Watkins suggested.

If the Welsh Labour government had achieved so much, why then were the polls in the position they were, predicting a shocking Labour defeat?

Watkins suggested there were a number of factors. A lack of political education was one he pointed out, feeling strongly about this due to not receiving any while at school himself. With the new voting system in Wales, he suggested voters had not been properly informed about the real impacts of their choices  – with the likes of Plaid and Reform targeting areas like Merthyr encouraging people to “roll the dice.”

He also accepted that many voters were generally fed up, having voted for change and not feeling as though it was being delivered in Westminster. Watkins claimed there had been a mixed reception on the doorstep for the Prime Minister specifically, explaining that some voters were pleased with his response to the crisis in Iran, while others were unhappy with his leadership and the government direction.

“You’re asking him to turn fourteen years around in fourteen months, it’s not achievable,” Watkins explained, before listing off a range of significant events from Brexit to the current conflicts that had made things chaotic domestically. Though while sympathetic to the national circumstances inherited by the Prime Minister, did Watkins feel the government should be bolder in their response to the situation?

“I must admit, when we did win that election in 2024, I thought we were finally going to be talking about a four day work week, about a universal basic income.

“I see nations like Finland that have eradicated homelessness, I see nations like Iceland who have got a four-day work week. So why not [here]? That’s what we should be looking forward to, what we should be going towards in the future.”

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If the polls were to be believed and Labour was to lose heavily across Wales, should the Prime Minister therefore resign?

“Potentially, yeah, it depends.

“I think he’s a decent guy, but I don’t know who’s kind of next in line, and he’s got a super-majority for a reason. I just think he’s in a dogfight – and at the moment, he needs to stop pandering to Reform.”

“He said Wales was a blueprint, but it feels like at times he’s lost that blueprint. He’s putting on free school meals in England, but we’ve been doing so more and he’s got the facilities to go further and the super-majority to get things over the line in Parliament.”

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