WELSH Labour has celebrated its new leader’s first 100 days in office — and the first woman to hold the post of first minister of Wales.
Eluned Morgan said it seemed extraordinary to stand before the conference in Llandudno at the weekend as the first woman ever to lead Welsh Labour.
“There’s a new Wales on the horizon and I intend to lead us there,” Ms Morgan said.
The new First Minister told delegates that she grew up in Ely, in one of Europe’s largest council housing estates, although she did not live on the estate, but in the local vicarage.
She said: “It was a unique upbringing — both my parents became Labour councillors and our home became the Labour Party HQ for the area.
“It’s not everyone who has people like Jim Callaghan, Rhodri Morgan and Ann Clwyd popping in regularly, along with my youth worker Mark Drakeford.
“Ely also taught me about stark realities. I saw unfairness and how children just as bright, just as deserving, had their horizons limited by circumstance, by postcode, by a Thatcherite ideology that had already made up its mind about them before they'd even begun.”
Ms Morgan said on her listening tour of the nation she had heard about the need for economic stability, decent wages, accessible healthcare, better housing and good jobs.
She said: “I won't stand here and promise you everything will be easy.”
The First Minister pointed to the rollout of free primary school meals across Wales during her first three months.
Ms Morgan announced that in addition to £28 million already allocated to the NHS to cut waiting times, her government would increase funding to £50m.
She said: “This additional investment will go towards ensuring more operations are done, through expanding treatment capacity, and ensuring patients don’t have to wait unacceptably long periods for the procedures that can dramatically improve their quality of life.
“This is just the beginning. Socialism is about our belief in our ability that through acting together we can transform society, that the market does not have all of the answers, that we know we have a responsibility to tackle poverty, support employment, tackle injustice and preserve our ecology.”
