Generational change at top of Welsh Government

The new Cabinet Sectary for North Wales has pointed to PM Truss as a reason why things are different for his second time in Cabinet.

Speaking with Ken Skates MS we asked how he felt working with a former cabinet colleague who is now his boss.

Ken Skates MS said, “It’s great to have him there as as First Minister, because I’ve known him for a long time. We’re friends and his politics are really similar to mine. We’ve got similar interests, and we both have got a young child as well. So it’s really helpful having him as leader.

“I think he leads particularly well in areas such as quality of life for parents, making sure that children get the best possible start in life and the need to make sure that we listen to people. He’s always been super keen on, listening, not lecturing, making sure you take account of what the public feel they need. Work with people do things with people in communities, rather than ‘to’ them so.”

With Gething being 20 years younger than former First Minister Drakeford, we asked if this was a generational change and if it was reflected in mindset.

Skates replied, “It is definitely is a generational change and there is quite a buzz actually in government. Mark was brilliant as First Minister, really compassionate, competent person.

“With Vaughan I think we still have that compassion and competence but we also have somebody who is already being identified on the world stage as being something of a breakthrough. I think that’s going to help a lot of people who have often felt pretty disenfranchised, who feel like their voices haven’t been heard, and felt that their ambitions have been constrained. So, there is a real buzz about what’s happening.

“I thought long and hard about prospects of coming back into government. Vaughan was incredibly kind in insisting that it had to work for me, ie. staying in North Wales much of the time would be a key part of my working life, and that’s fantastic. I love North Wales, where my home is, heart is. I really enjoy serving all parts of North Wales.

“Coming back in with that brief, and with the Transport portfolio is very exciting. There are some immediate things that I need to get to work on obviously, but I’m thinking also longer term, about the opportunities that we can work towards.”

We asked about his time out of the Cardiff spotlight, and if that was a time of forming new ideas and policies, or has he spent recent weeks getting back up to speed.

“A little bit of both, insofar as I co-chaired Vaughan’s campaign for leadership, so I was able to discuss with him for several months what needed to be done, what needs to be done immediately. I guess because I have held the transport portfolio before I’ve been able to hit the ground running with some major issues, but equally, things have changed quite a bit since I was last in the role and so I am taking stock of the different environment that we’re in – not least the financial situation that we’re in.

“It’s more difficult than I’ve ever experienced. And that’s a direct consequence of what happened when Liz Truss was Prime Minister.”