First Minister Eluned Morgan gives passionate speech at Welsh Labour Conference 2024

First Minister Eluned Morgan, in her landmark speech at the Welsh Labour Conference on November 16, 2024, embraced her role as the first woman to lead Welsh Labour while underlining the party’s commitment to challenging times ahead. With humour and humility, Morgan reflected, “I haven’t quite got used to the idea of being your leader yet; I see myself more as a proud daughter of Wales.” Her emphasis on her heartfelt connection to her roots in Ely, a large council housing estate, informed her political vision, highlighting the essence of community and the importance of listening. “I learnt to listen,” she said, recalling her family’s open-door approach to serving those in need.

Morgan emphasised a transformative agenda, swiftly implemented within her first 100 days in office, including the groundbreaking rollout of free primary school meals across Wales, a hands-on response to immediate community needs. “No young child in Wales will go hungry on our watch,” she assured, while vowing to tackle healthcare challenges by increasing funding to the NHS from £28 million to an impressive £50 million, addressing growing waiting lists.

Upholding social democratic values, Morgan stated, “Our relationship with trade unions is fundamental to who we are as a movement,” insisting that Welsh Labour stands firmly for workers’ rights against any forms of governmental neglect or corporate greed. She framed Welsh Labour’s mission as one of unity and active partnership, declaring, “Progress isn’t just about what government does TO people, it’s about what we do WITH people.”

In closing, she rallied the conference with a call to collective action: “We’ve listened, we’ve learnt and we are making it happen. There’s a new Wales on the horizon – now, let’s go there together.” With a genuine commitment to her constituents and a clear vision for the future, Morgan’s speech set the tone for a progressive path forward as Welsh Labour aims to uplift communities and rejuvenate the Welsh landscape.

Read the full speech below: 

I won’t start by doing a Theresa May, I did enough of that on the dance floor last night.

Diolch yn fawr conference and thanks very much Becky for that kind introduction. And congratulations on being one of the new amazing crop of new Labour MPs who won seats at the General Election. Well done to all of you.

Now, Conference it seems extraordinary to stand before you today as the first woman ever to lead Welsh Labour.

And it’s about time, isn’t it?

Mae hi wir yn anrhydedd i fod yn arweinydd y Blaid Lafur yng Nghymru a dwi yn ymwybodol iawn o’r cyfrifoldeb sydd arnai I sicrhau fod y wlad a’r bobl sy’n byw ynddi yn ffynni.

You’re supposed to clap at that, but you forgot.

I haven’t quite got used to the idea of being your leader yet; I see myself more as a proud daughter of Wales, or I guess more of a mother these days, although I think on the dancefloor last night I was looking pretty cool – but it’s a living testament to what is possible when opportunity meets determination, and the transformative power of Labour’s values in action.

Conference, there’s a new Wales on the horizon and I intend to lead us there.

I know that the experiences I gained in the 15 years, when I served as a Labour MEP, along with my experience in as a Labour peer helped to prepare me for the important role that I now hold.

Now, you’ve all heard that phrase that “Well-behaved women seldom make history,” and let’s be honest – those of you who know me well know that this provably couldn’t apply to me any less! I am afraid I would have to confess to being a bit less well behaved than that other vicar’s daughter, Theresa May, whose huge confession was to run through a farmers field of wheat. – what a naughty girl! But – I promised my priest husband Rhys that I will do my very best not to swear in this speech as I did in those damn Whatsapp messages which came out in the inquiry! 

But the truth is – I’ve never been one to colour entirely within the lines, and you’ll be pleased to hear – I have no intention of starting now!

My family upbringing is what shaped me politically.

I grew up in Ely one of Europe’s largest council housing estates. A Welsh community where everyone knew and supported each other.

I didn’t just live on the estate, I lived right at its very heart- in the vicarage.

And let me tell you that the vicarage door was always open. – Always. 

I will never forget the door bell ringing at 3am when I was a teenager and sleepily answering the door to a young man with severe mental health problems who stood absolutely drenched from the rain –  entirely naked. You don’t need to be religious or know your Bible to know that your instinct in those circumstances is to offer support.

We had other visitors: a mother needing help with forms at midnight. A teenager kicked out of the family home. Someone needing food, or hope, or giving endless cups of tea to the patients from the local mental health hospital – they all just needed someone to listen.

That is where I learnt to listen.

That’s where I also learned what dedication to your community and society really means. Not from textbooks or manifestos, but from watching my parents advocating tirelessly for families battling an uncaring system at the height of Thatcherism. 

It was a unique upbringing – both my parents became Labour councilors and our home became the Labour Party HQ for the area. Now, it’s not everyone who has people like Jim Callaghan, Rhodri Morgan Ann Clwyd and George Thomas popping in regularly, along with my youth worker Mark Drakeford! A man who inspired me then, who inspired the nation during the covid pandemic and continues to inspire me today as the Finance Secretary.

My parents embodied the true essence of service. They showed me that real commitment means never turning away when someone is in need.  

But Ely also taught me about stark realities. I saw unfairness, raw and real. 

I saw 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.

O fy magwraeth mewn cymuned Ty Cyngor yn Nhrelai nes i ddod i ddealldwriaeth gan bobl oedd yn byw yn y gymuned fod gyda ni gyd fel cymdeithas gyfrifoldeb i sicrhau fod pob plenty yn gallu symud o’r hyn ydyn nhw nawr – i’r hyn y mae ganddyn nhw y potensial i fod. Nes I ddeall fod angen i ni fynd i’r afael a’r buddiannau sydd wedi cronni pwer sy’n dal pobl yn ol, a fod angen i ni daclo aneffeithlonrwydd a gwastraff cyfalafiaeth.

Yet within this adversity in Ely, I saw something else – something really powerful. I saw solidarity.

I saw women in Ely – and yes, they were mostly fierce, proud women – holding that community together through sheer force of will. Running food banks before the term had even been coined. Watching each other’s children, running the jumble sales, organising the bingo, fighting for better schools, better housing, better chances. 

These aren’t just memories – they’re the foundation of everything I believe in. Everything I fight for. Everything I’ve dedicated myself to.

This is who I am, and I can’t switch off from it – just ask my husband! Poor sod! 

When we got married, I had three non-negotiable conditions: Learn the family grace, learn Welsh, and bloody well join the Labour Party.

He said the first two were easy! But he got there in the end, and he became a member of the party and spent the next 30 years serving as a GP in Ely – the same community in which I was brought up.

In Ely we both learnt to listen and we were both determined to make things happen.

And now I really am in a position to make things happen.

You’ll all know that I became First Minister rather unexpectedly in the summer. And I would like to pay tribute here to Vaughan Gething for the time he served as First Minister and for his incredible work leading as health minister during the pandemic. Health minister in the pandemic is the toughest gig in town! His commitment to serving Wales has never been in doubt, and I thank him for the warm support he has shown me.

I undertook the task of being First Minister on a joint ticket with Huw Irranca Davies as Deputy First Minister.

Huw, thanks for being such a joyful soldier, willing to undertake any of the toughest tasks – you went out and talked to the farmers today, so…- and always acting with grace and confidence.

After I was elected you know that I undertook a listening tour of the nation. To take the pulse of the people on our streets and to make sure that we as a party and as a government were responding to the things that matter most to them. Those who know me well know that on the streets with the people, that’s where I feel most comfortable.

Time and again, I heard about the need for economic stability, decent wages, accessible healthcare, better housing and good jobs.

But these conversations weren’t just a formality – they were a powerful reminder of why we’re here, of the responsibility we bear. Of the essential need to listen to the people who keep our nation moving, who work for Wales every single day. And I assure you that they haven’t fallen on deaf ears. 

Ar ol ymgymryd a’r ymgyrch wrando dros yr haf, ry ni wedi rhoi siap Newydd I’n blaenoriaethau fel llywodraeth.

Every community I visited added something new to that agenda, reminding me that, while it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers and the policies, our true purpose is simpler:

It’s to lead a government that listens, that hears and makes things happen for every person in Wales.

I listened particularly to the people who our party was established to represent.

People who diligently get on with their lives, making their contributions to society – working families. Let’s call them Sian and Dan,

Sian is a care worker and Dan is a delivery driver. Struggling with the cost of living whilst bringing up their two small children.

I heard about their lives, their fears, their stresses and what would make their lives better.

People like these are the beating heart of Wales;

The people who keep Wales moving

And I want to say to them, and many thousands others –

I’ve listened, I’ve heard and I’m already making it happen.

I want them to know that my leadership is for them.

I won’t stand here and promise you everything will be easy. These are challenging times and we have all been through a lot, austerity, Brexit, a pandemic, rampant inflation. But I will promise you this – things can and will get better. That was the last song of my set last night. Not through empty rhetoric or grandstanding, but through delivery. Real change. Practical help for working families.

My leadership brings with it an opportunity for renewal in our party and in facing the challenges that lie ahead. 

Because in a hundred days we are already delivering real, tangible improvements to the lives of people like Sian.

No longer does she have to worry about paying or preparing her son’s school meals, because in my first 3 months as leader, we completed the rollout of free primary school meals across Wales – the only country in the UK to offer this . No young child in Wales will go hungry on our watch.

Sian also benefits from our game-changing free childcare program, which makes it worthwhile for her to continue her vital work as a carer. And just this week, we’ve made it even easier for Sian to benefit from the Welsh Labour Government’s free childcare offer through slashing business rates to zero in her child’s nursery.

Of course, we know how hard Sian’s job can be as a carer, which is why the Welsh Labour Government has already ensured that she earns the Real Living Wage. But in my first 100 days, we’ve gone even further – we’ve invested an additional £250 million to support older people like Sian’s clients, so they  continue to live independently in the comfort of their own homes. She knows how much they benefit from Labour’s  £100 per week care cap in Wales which provides far more protection than the limitless costs faced by vulnerable people elsewhere in the UK.

And this is just the beginning.

Sian and millions of others like her are the heartbeat of our nation – the selfless heroes who keep our communities thriving day in and day out. And I am determined to continue delivering the transformative support they deserve, empowering working families and safeguarding the wellbeing of our most vulnerable citizens.

Because in just 100 days, we’ve already proven once again what’s possible when we put the needs of people first. Just imagine what we will have achieved in the next 1000 days.

And during my listening tour, I heard time and again how the strain on our health services was causing hardship. Stories like Dan’s, who has been waiting far too long for an operation, they illustrate the very real human toll of the backlog that built up during the pandemic.

But Conference, let’s remind people that there are over 2 million contacts per month in a population of just over 3 million.

I made a commitment then that addressing this crisis would be an absolute priority for my government. And that’s why, just a few short months into my tenure as First Minister, I’m was proud that my Government announced a major new investment to help clear the NHS waiting lists and get people the care they need.

Initially, we had allocated £28 million to tackle this challenge. But after hearing directly from people like Dan, and seeing firsthand the scale of what we need to do, I can say with certainty that more resources are needed.

So, this afternoon, I am delighted to inform you that we are increasing that funding commitment from £28 million to £50 million, changing the lives of people in Wales.

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. And it’s not just about money – we’re also taking steps to grow our healthcare workforce for the long-term, like supporting the new medical school in Bangor that will train the next generation of NHS heroes.

Of course, we know that affordability of care is a major concern for people like Dan and his family. That’s why in Wales, we continue to provide free prescriptions – a benefit unavailable to patients everywhere in the UK. People take these things for granted. We have to remind them the difference a Labour government makes.

This is just the beginning.

I know that the cabinet secretary for Health Jeremy Miles, will maintain our relentless focus on reducing NHS backlogs and ensuring every person in Wales can access the care they need, when they need it most.

Blaenoriaethau’r bobl yw fy mlaenoriaethau i.

  • Yn y cant diwrnod cyntaf ers I mi ddod yn Brif Weinidog Cymru ry ni wedi Cyflwyno prydiau ysgol am ddim
  • Rhoi fwy o arian am ofal
  • Rhoi cefnogaeth I ofal plant
  • Agor ysgol feddygol Newydd
  • Cyflwyno arian Newydd I ddod a’r rhestri aros I lawr
  • Ac wedi rhoi codiad cyflog fwy na chwyddiant I ganoedd o filoedd o weithwyr cyhoeddus. 

I see you’ve all learnt Welsh in the last ten minutes.

And we’ve done this and far more than this in my first 100 days as First Minister. 

I’ve listened, I’ve heard and I’m already with my government making things happen.

 

The peoples priorities are my priorities.

Delivering Iechyd da. Bringing Waiting lists down, providing fast support for mental health along with improved social care and better women’s health services.

Delivering Jobs and growth – to keep Wales working – creating thousands of future proof jobs in new industries to flight climate change and power our economy.

Providing opportunities for all families – Higher standards in our schools and more social housing because your post code should never determine your prospects.

And Connecting communities – to improve transport and keep people in touch. New trains, a new bus bill, better roads. 

We have already introduced brand new trains made in Wales by Welsh workers………… 

But it’s not all about public transport. We know that most people travel by car, so let’s be honest – some people were not best pleased with the introduction of the 20 mph speed limit. But the truth is that in many places it has worked, and accidents have reduced significantly. But we also know that many thought that things had gone too far on some roads – so we listened, we heard and now we are making change happen with local authorities working with communities to make the common sense adjustments that need to be made.

Just yesterday I visited one of the first roads in Flintshire that will be switched back to 30 mph and there will be lots more changes to come. Local councils working with the public. – listening, learning and making things happen.

We know that we can’t, as a Welsh Labour Government deliver on our own. We know that working in partnership is the Welsh Labour way.

Keir Starmer, who made an amazing speech this morning, said his number one priority is to grow the economy and we agree that this is critical to our future prosperity. We also realise that when we talk about the need to grow the economy – we need to harness the power of the private sector. 

Private Sector

Now, when I left the European Parliament I deliberately left politics to work in the private sector to try to understand how and why people invest or don’t invest. I think they worked out I was a spy in the end.

I listened I learnt and now I am in a position to act on the things that I did learn during my time there. I learnt that as a government we have a responsibility to provide skilled workers, a stable legal framework, and we need to provide infrastructure and provide fast decision making systems on planning.

You will see a shift in emphasis in my government when it comes to the private sector. We have already started by streamlining our planning system and for some infrastructure projects, which are so important, decisions will be made 12 weeks faster than before.

Conference, Wales is on the move. There’s hope on the horizon.

But businesses must understand that our approach in Wales is not just partnership – its social partnership.

We all know of the “the unpleasant and unacceptable face of capitalism.” Capitalism which leads to greed. The ugliness of nepotistic corruption when Tory ministers handed out millions in dodgy Covid contracts to their friends while our NHS staff struggled for basic PPE!  That wasn’t just the unacceptable face of capitalism – it was the unacceptable face of Conservative governance.

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.

Our relationship with trade unions is fundamental to who we are as a movement and we have brought this right into the heart of Government – the only part of the UK to have embedded the need for social partnership into law.

Conference, not too long ago, the Tories tried to push through their anti-trade union legislation, and they thought Wales would just roll over and accept it.

Well, they thought wrong!

As you just saw in the video, during my time in the House of Lords, I stood up and said: “Not in our Wales!

They wanted to strip away workers’ rights in our hospitals, in our schools, in our council offices. But we weren’t having any of it. We fought back – tooth and nail – amendment after amendment – late night after late night.

And you know what? We won!

We protected our nurses’ right to speak up for patient safety.

We defended our teachers’ right to stand up for better schools.

We preserved our council workers’ rights to fight for local services.

Because we don’t just talk about workers’ rights – we defend them! We don’t just value our public servants – we stand with them!

We are fighting every day to build a Wales worthy of the public sector dedication of our workers and that is why, in September, we were pleased to offer an inflation busting pay offer thanks to the new UK Labour Government. 

And additional Labour government funding helped make this happen. Working in partnership with our colleagues, the UK Labour Government.

And that partnership is also key when it comes to Local Government. We work incredibly closely with our councils and I would like to pay a particular tribute today to all of the Labour councilors across Wales who work tirelessly on behalf of their communities and I would like to thank Andrew Morgan in particular for his leadership of the WLGA over so many years.

But we also need to partner with our communities because Communities aren’t just places on a map – they’re the heartbeat of our nation.

And when I talk about empowering communities, I’m not talking about grand gestures coming from Cardiff Bay. I’m talking about real power, in real places, in real people’s hands.

You see, we understand something our opponents never will – progress isn’t just about what government does TO people, it’s about what we do WITH people! 

That means working hand in hand with our brilliant local councils, our dedicated voluntary sector, our proud trade union movement 

But now we have a special new partnership with Keir Starmer’s Labour Government in Westminster.

Just a few months ago, our people made their voices heard loud and clear! That historic UK Labour victory wasn’t just an election win – it was a powerful endorsement of our values and our vision for the future.

 

27 out of 32 seats won for Labour in Wales. A Tory Free Wales –  doesn’t that feel good?

Congratulations to all our elected candidates who are now MPs, but I want to pay a particular tribute to all of our candidates who didn’t quite make it and also to you, our incredible volunteers who went out night after night delivering messages and leaflets. 

I also want to say a special thanks to Welsh Labour staff. They were thrown in the deep end and they swam like hell. I’d like to congratulate Joe Lock on his appointment as the new General Secretary of the party in Wales. They always deliver and the proof is in the pudding – Labour in Wales has been winning for more than 102 years. That is a heck of a legacy – and let me tell you – I have no intention of letting that record slip on my watch!

I know that in that next Senedd election that I will also be able to count on the support of Carolyn Harris, the Deputy Leader of the Party in Wales – unless of course her singing career skyrockets, not only because of what she did this morning, but also because she has a Christmas single out – I’d recommend giving it a listen!

Carolyn you are fearless and charismatic and just the right kind of bold person to be the deputy leader of the party and the woman I want by my side. The best campaigner I have had the privilege of knowing and a true asset to our party and your community.

Conference the experience of working with the UK Government has been transformed since Labour came to power.

It has been a great privilege to work with and alongside another feisty woman – Jo Stevens, she’s pretty feisty – the first female secretary of state for Wales.

Jo has hit the ground running and is delivering already in areas where we failed to make progress before.

Within weeks of coming into office- she had released millions of pounds of  funding for the community of Port Talbot facing the devastating closure of the blast furnace and the loss of thousands of jobs– delivering while the Tories talked.

For four years we in the Welsh Labour Government had been asking for support from the UK Government to help clear coal tips in South Wales – the last Secretary of State wouldn’t even sign a letter of support. But in the recent UK budget with Jo pursuing the chancellor and others they awarded £25m pounds to help clear our valleys communities of that historical legacy.

Partnership in power.

Conference, the recent UK Budget marks our first steps toward true rebuilding – towards a new chapter –  and let me be crystal clear about what this means for Wales.

This isn’t just another Budget – this is the best settlement that Wales has ever received since the beginning of devolution!

The Conservatives left us with crumbling foundations. They crashed the economy, they drove mortgages sky high, and then called an early election to dodge delivering a proper Budget. 

They poured billions into failed asylum policies, they propped up private rail companies, and signed off on dodgy Covid contracts, leaving a £22 billion hole in our public services. That is not acceptable.

Mae partneriaeth mewn pwer yn ganolog i’n Gwaith ni fel Llywodraeth Lafur. Partneriaeth gyda’r undebau, partneriaeth gyda llywodraeth leol, partneriaeth gyda’r trydydd sector a nawr partneriaeth gyda Llywodraeth Lafur Newydd yn San Steffan.

Mick got that one!

What I hope people have realised since that election -is that policies really do matter, and politics matter, and that who leads your country really makes a difference.

There are plenty out there who’d disagree – the populists, the cynics, the ones who want to drag us into a race to the bottom.  

Those who profit from division and despair, who tell us we can’t trust our neighbours, and that all immigrants are scroungers – who proclaim that nothing changes, or that all politicians are the same.

You know who I am talking about, Conference – Reform.

They offer simple solutions to complex problems. But Wales knows better. We know that real change comes through unity, not through division. Through hard work, not hollow slogans.

I’m here to say we won’t be dragged down by any of it. I’m here to prove that not all politicians are the same.

Farage has no more interest in our country than he has for the people of Clacton who he has been studiously avoiding since he became an MP!

Conference, Wales is not a one night stand. It’s a country. And I will fight with every ounce of my being for our people.

You see, Conference, there’s a fundamental difference between them and us…

They offer soundbites – and we deliver sound policies. They sow division – we build unity. They promise walls – we build bridges

They complain – while we campaign

And while they look backward – we move forwards.

Our approach isn’t about the easy route. We don’t elect leaders to give us easy answers. We elect them to make difficult choices, trusting they’ll do their best, be fair, and always – always – serve working people.

I won’t apologise for what we do, and I certainly won’t be embarrassed by our achievements.

Labour delivering in Wales is already happening

– Wales – the first country to serve school meals to every primary school child 

– Wales – where prescriptions remain free to everyone who needs them

– Wales – where pensioners travel for free on our buses

– Wales – where we are proud of having the second best recycling rates on the planet

Where are we? 

We are in WALES! 

Where? 

And we are Welsh Labour

That’s who we are as a movement, and as a nation. And I am fiercely proud of it.

Plaid will try and sell you their separation fantasy that would leave us poorer and more divided. A constant stream of negativity – of talking the country down.

And then there’s the Tories. That gets a giggle, I like that. Who are they? After years of chaos, after crashing our economy, after treating Wales like an afterthought, you’d think they might have learned something. But no – they’ve spent the last months refusing to listen to the public, dodging responsibility for the mess they created, and offering up the same old recipe of chaos, division, and reckless ideas.

Does dim plaid arall sydd wir yn cynrychioli gwerthoedd y mwyafrif o bobl yng Nghymru.

Every child fed, every prescription filled, every bus pass for our pensioners – that’s not just policy, that’s Welsh Labour values in action!  

And Wales isn’t just a nation that values its people – it’s a nation that treasures its relationship with the land. Representing a rural area, I know firsthand that our services must adapt to the unique geographic, economic, and demographic challenges of our communities.

And we’re planting the seeds of a better future – quite literally – with our National Forest initiative, a connected woodland stretching across the nation. This is more than a forest; it’s a commitment to green corridors, biodiversity protection, and a living legacy for generations to come.

But thanks to an accident of geography we also have an opportunity of a generation to once again make use of the natural gifts we have as a nation.

We will transform Wales into a renewable energy powerhouse thanks to the massive potential of offshore wind. In the last month alone we have approved five major renewable energy projects.

We listened – we heard and we are making it happen. 

It’s just 18 months until the next Senedd elections. We have very little time to make our case to the Welsh public to ask them to support us once again.

But next time will be more challenging. We will be moving away from the position where Wales is the least well represented parliament in the UK.

This reform is about building a stronger future – one where every community, every person, has a stake in the decisions that shape Wales.

It’s about democracy, fairness, and representation.

When the Senedd was first established 25 years ago – there were no law making powers, there were no tax varying powers and nothing like the budget we have today. 

But Conference, we need to make sure we are represented by the brightest and the best. And we will need a whole load of amazing candidates – so please consider putting your names forward.

Alongside that new expansion, we have a new voting system being introduced where every vote will really count. We will have areas where automatic registration of the public will happen and 16 and 17 year olds will be able to vote.

Bydd angen I ni yn yr etholiad nesaf I ymgyrchu am bob pleidlais ym mhob rhan o’n gwlad. 

Today we are a more confident, more democratic, more ambitious nation- a part of a strong United Kingdom.

But every single one of us needs to take responsibility for the Wales we want to build.

Because we don’t just need a government that serves the people – we need a government that empowers the people!.

A government that enables, a government that catalyses, a government that ensures fairness.

But never – NEVER – a government that thinks it has all the answers and certainly never a party that takes the electorate for granted! 

We stand at the dawn of an AI revolution which we will need to embrace- but in Welsh Labour’s Wales, technology will always

We’ll modernise our NHS – but we’ll never lose that Welsh care and compassion that makes our health service special.

We’ll digitise our services – but we’ll never digitise our values.

Because in Welsh Labour’s Wales, we don’t just embrace the future – we shape it.

And now, as we look to the future, we have a chance to write the next chapter of our national story. Gordon Brown’s Commission on Constitutional Reform and the Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales must not be just more reports gathering dust on a shelf – they are reports that map out a radical new vision of how our nations and regions can work together while growing stronger in their own right.

You see, we don’t define ourselves by what we’re against. We’re proudly pro-Wales and pro-success.

Our party is one that embraces devolution but rejects separation.

We don’t define ourselves in opposition to others, we are not anti – British nor anti-English. Whilst I love supporting the Welsh women’s football team – who by the way are killing it at the moment- a week on Friday, make sure you’re cheering them on. But I’m also happy to cheer on Team GB in the Olympics. Because that’s what a confident nation does.

And in Welsh Labour’s Wales, culture and language isn’t a luxury – it’s a birthright.

And on that note, we’ve committed to getting a million Welsh speakers by 2050. So, c’mon everyone, we’re going to practice practise – because you will have to learn it when you get to heaven so you might as well get started now! I want you to all repeat after me – “Pleidleisiwch Llafur!” That’s loads more for our million.

I want to thank each of you. Not just for being here today, but for every conversation, every leaflet, every late night, and early morning you give.

You are the backbone of our Party.

For over a century now, Welsh Labour has been the beating heart of Welsh politics. And our story – the story we write every day – is one of hope, resilience, and a deep belief that together, we can build a better Wales for all.

From my early days, surrounded by the strength and solidarity of my community, to my service in the European Parliament, the UK Parliament, now the Senedd as your First Minister, I have remained steadfast in my commitment to the values that define us as Welsh Labour, and I will continue to uphold them.

Today, I stand before you not just as the leader, but as a fellow member of our movement, ready to confront the challenges ahead with experience and determination.

We’ve listened, we’ve learnt and we are making it happen.

There’s a new Wales on the horizon –

Now, let’s go there together.

 


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