Wales’ First Minister today begged voters not to treat May’s Senedd election as a protest against Sir Keir Starmer’s government, as Labour faces losing power for the first time since devolution.
Baroness Eluned Morgan said Sir Keir is ‘not on the ballot paper’ in Wales and refused to say he was a ‘good prime minister’ as she appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
Polls have suggested that the Senedd is likely to be run by a coalition government made up of nationalists Plaid Cymru and the Greens, with Reform leading the opposition.
Baroness Morgan could see her party reduced from its current 29 seats to just eight, becoming just the third largest party.
One poll, released this afternoon, suggested just 10 per cent of voters in Wales believe Sir Keir’s Government is doing a good job, with the figure little better for the Welsh Labour government (14 per cent).
This morning, asked about Sir Keir’s catastrophic poll ratings, she told the BBC: ‘What I’m saying to the people of Wales is that he’s not on the ballot paper, that is not what people will be voting for in May.
‘This is not an election, this is not an opportunity for a free hit against the UK Government.
‘This is not a time for protest votes.
‘The things that matter here is who is going to deliver those services that people rely on in Wales, and the fact is that people will have a choice.
Baroness Eluned Morgan said Sir Keir is ‘not on the ballot paper’ in Wales and refused to say he was a ‘good prime minister’ as she appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
‘They’ll have a choice between the chaos that Reform will offer, the pipe dreams that Plaid (Cymru) will offer, which will be a road to independence.’
The First Minister previously said there are ‘a number of reasons’ why her party is performing poorly in the polls.
‘We know that there’s a challenge ahead,’ she added.
A poll earlier this month by YouGov for ITV Wales also shows Nigel Farage‘s Reform UK is on course to become the main opposition party, despite not yet having a leader in the country.
However the numbers suggest it will fall way short of taking power itself, even with Conservative support.
The poll shows Labour and the Conservatives, the current two largest parties in the current 60-seat chamber, will be reduced to little more than a dozen seats between them after an election that increases the size of the assembly to 96.
The survey suggests a radical realignment of politics is underway, with the May vote, taking place at the same time as election for the Scottish Parliament and local elections in England, heaping yet more pressure on Sir Keir Starmer.
It could also have far reaching consequences for the UK. As well as the SNP being expected to retain power in Scotland, the leader of Plaid Cymru has said his party would use time in government to make the case for Welsh independence.
