MARK DRAKEFORD is the self-avowed left candidate for Welsh Labour leader and has been a socialist man and boy growing up in Carmarthen, west Wales.

The former probation officer and social science professor is clear that he first sought election as a councillor in Cardiff because he wanted to do something positive for the greatest number of people to try and improve their lives.

But Mr Drakeford has a life outside of politics and enjoys going to the cinema, cricket and opera.  

“In the aftermath of the Thatcher victory in the 1983 general election a friend and I decided we wanted to do something to take our minds off the awful result and so we got allotments.”

Allotments are not the only thing Mr Drakeford has in common with Britain’s Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, although the two don’t swap gardening tips.

“Jeremy and I come from the same wing of the party and I am the only cabinet member to support him in both leadership contests.

“In politics it is not a personality contest but it is a case of finding the candidate whose views are closest to your own.

“In that first UK leadership election I knew straight away I would vote for Jeremy, not because I thought he would win but because I wanted to send a message that our wing of the party should not be ignored.”

He has said that in Wales his government will invest in the conditions in which wealth is created. But Mr Drakeford explained that this would be common wealth to be shared out fairly for all.

He went on to explain that he disagrees with colleagues about using the income tax powers that the Tories devolved to the Welsh government as he believes the tax and benefits system is part of the glue holding the UK together.

“Breaking up tax and benefits is to break up part of the essential socialist machinery that we could use to ensure that the contribution we all make is shared fairly across the whole UK.

“I am not looking for new powers in that area because it undermines our ability at a UK level to do things that are very important for us here in Wales.”

Mr Drakeford wants a Labour government in Westminster to scrap the Barnett formula of funding because it “does not allow a socialist government to align the money we have with the needs that face it. It is not needs driven.”

The former professor’s manifesto is brimming with radical policies and progressive ideas and his excitement at the prospect of having the chance to put them into action is palpable.
He has committed to take forward the Fair Work Commission and payment of the real living wage in all companies receiving public funds as a first step.

His green agenda for Wales is an attempt to protect the environment while creating jobs and technology and make Wales a world leader in renewable energy.

“Our basic ecosystem is in decline. We have to make it resilient again.”

He will extend the ban against fracking and will establish an energy commission to look at whether nuclear energy has a place in the energy mix in Wales.

“I want to commit to an environmental growth plan for Wales and this will be my first action to halt and reverse the damage done to our natural environment – promoting industries which enhance rather than damage the natural world.

“At the start of the next industrial revolution geography once more sits on our side – we have tremendous advantages of wind, water and waves.

"These offer not just breakthrough technologies, but jobs for the future.

“Because we have so much to gain we need to be single minded and develop these as manufacturing industries.”

Mr Drakeford is also setting out more policies to deal with child poverty.

“It is a scandal that 50,000 more children in Wales have been pushed into poverty due to the deliberate Conservative policies of austerity and welfare reform.”

He is looking to extend free school meals to a wider range of families, making the school-holiday “fun and food” programme permanent, sustaining investment in tackling period poverty, continuing to invest in Flying Start and extending the new Education Access grant.

Mr Drakeford is also clear that all existing funding programmes across the Welsh government will have a renewed focus on delivering the maximum impact on the lives of children in poverty.
His sweep of policy ideas include a house-building programme delivering warm and affordable homes.

“As First Minister I will appoint a cabinet secretary with responsibility for housing, remove all constraints to local council housebuilding and deliver legislation to ban private tenancy fees.”

His other policy pledges include a commitment to tackling youth homelessness, a reduction in the number of children taken into care and abolition of zero-hours contracts within the social care sector.

The leadership election has seen Mr Drakeford criticised for saying that he will stand down as leader a couple of years after the next round of Welsh Assembly elections in 2021.

“That is what I offer and I do not think it is a huge selling point any more to be First Minister for a decade or more.”

And does he think just five years is enough time for his government to enact his full and radical programme?

“Clement Attlee was only prime minister for five years and he didn’t do so badly, did he?”

Like one of his political heroes, the late Tony Benn, Mr Drakeford believes politics is about ideas and issues, not personalities.
But asked whether his candidacy is inspiring he is very clear in his answer.

“The set of beliefs and values I hold are the ones that motivate people to join the Labour Party. What I have been trying to do is remind people of what Labour stands for, why we are in politics and remind them of our socialist values.”

The ballot period runs until December 3.

Mark Drakeford’s policies and campaign pledges can be found on Facebook at Mark4Leader and on Twitter @Mark4Leader.