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First minister of Wales Mark Drakeford during the Labour Party Conference
WELSH LABOUR leader Mark Drakeford threw down the gauntlet to Sir Keir Starmer and said it was time to scrap the first-past-the-post system and embrace electoral reform.
Speaking at the weekend’s Welsh Labour conference, the First Minister said the next Labour government must lead the task of democratic renewal.
“I hear what the critics say: that first past the post produces strong government.
“Well, I’ve lived and seen at first hand for most of my adult life the results that strong Tory government brings.”
But in an immediate response in an interview with BBC Wales, Sir Keir rejected the call, saying that it was not one of his priorities.
Mr Drakeford related a childhood experience when his grandmother had fed a homeless man and the youngster had asked her why she had shown so much kindness.
“I’ve remembered her answer ever since: ‘Because he was a stranger,’ she replied. It’s that answer, I later realised, which made me a socialist.
“It’s rooted in our sense of a common humanity, where an injury to one is an injury to all.
The First Minister explained that the older he gets, the more radical he becomes after 50 years in political life.
“The Tories have caused profound damage to the case for the United Kingdom,” he said. “Because the case for the UK is a Labour case and it is a socialist case.”
In a passage that brought a roar from delegates, Mr Drakeford quoted Karl Marx when he said: ”Conference: from each according to their ability, to each according to their needs.
“If Labour is to save the union, we can’t do that by defending the status quo — by nervously hoarding power at the centre, as this Tory government has done.”
Mr Drakeford said his government was dedicated to solving problems in Wales through social partnership with the trade union movement.
“I am hugely proud that our landmark Social Partnership Bill will become law next week.”
And Mr Drakeford brought delegates to their feet in a display of emotional solidarity when he spoke about his moral obligation to fight on just months after the death of his wife, Clare.
