Can Welsh Labour avoid extinction in the south Wales valleys?
The Valleys Lead spoke with Alun Davies, previously a Welsh Labour MS in the south Wales valleys, about how the party should recover after a huge loss in the Welsh Senedd election.
Hello and welcome to The Valleys Lead.
Thanks so much again for reading this week. Although The Valleys Lead aims to bring you exclusive, in-depth journalism every Wednesday and Sunday, our journalist, Lauren Medlicott, will be taking her children to north Wales next week, so you won’t hear from us Wednesday. We’ll be back up and running next Sunday - don’t fret.
As the new Welsh Government begins to govern, The Valleys Lead wanted to hear from long-serving Welsh Labour MS in the south Wales valleys, Alun Davies, about whether he thinks Welsh Labour has a chance to govern again in the future.
The story is below, but first we wanted to share some very exciting news with you. The Lead’s local coverage (of which The Valleys Lead is included) has been shortlisted in this year’s Publisher Newsletter Awards. We’re all super excited.
Off the back of such wonderful news, we just wanted to say thanks for reading, and thanks to everyone who has been in touch thus far with story tips. Rest assured, if you come to me with a story, discretion can be guaranteed. We’d love you to get in touch at valleys@thelead.uk or via Bluesky or Instagram with any stories you might have for us.
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The Valleys Briefing
(A little round-up of some stories in brief from our valleys.)
Christina Harrhy left her role as Caerphilly Council chief executive in October 2024, just over six months into the 2024-25 financial year. Harrhy had been on long-term special leave for 11 months – on full pay – when she left the council. It was reported at the time that she received a pay-off of £209,000. The final bill for council taxpayers’ following the departure of Harrhy can be revealed at £280,000. Caerphilly Council’s statement of accounts for 2024-25 show that this was made up of £98,656 in salary, £165,871 covering a settlement payout and lieu of notice payment with the rest made up by local authority pension contributions of £16,127, making a total of £280,654. Lindsay Whittle, Senedd Member for Blaenau Gwent, Caerffili and Rhymni, who was leader of the Plaid Cymru group on Caerphilly Council when Harrhy left, said: “To say I am staggered is an understatement. It’s worse than I thought. This is the equivalent of a lottery win and people struggling with cost of living and higher council taxes will rightly be shocked.”
Vikki Howells, Labour MS for Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr, has joined Ken Skates’ frontbench team as Chief Whip and spokesperson on Environment, Rural Affairs, Energy and Transport. “It’s a big portfolio covering policy areas that I care deeply about – as do so many people here in Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr and around Wales,” she said.
Blaenau Gwent Council has secured over £20,000 in funding to further enhance the district heat network at The Works, Ebbw Vale. The network provides heat from a central energy centre through around 4km of pipework to key buildings on site, including Ebbw Vale Sports Centre, Ebbw Fawr Learning Community, Coleg Gwent, the General Offices, Gwent Archives, Hybrid Units and Regain 2. The energy centre uses a mix of gas boilers, combined heat and power (CHP), and two biomass boilers. Together, these systems already supply most of the heat from lower-carbon energy sources. “We’re committed to working with partners and our communities to reduce carbon emissions and move towards a more sustainable, greener Blaenau Gwent,” said Blaenau Gwent Council’s Cabinet Member Neighbourhood Services and the Environment, Councillor Tommy Smith. “The heat network in Ebbw Vale has been very successful, and we’re delighted to secure this funding to look at how we can make it even more efficient, and cost-effective and to potentially connect more buildings to it in the future.”
How will Welsh Labour avoid extinction in the south Wales valleys?
As the dust settles following a historic Senedd election at the start of May, The Valleys Lead spoke to with Alun Davies, who served as a Member of the Senedd for Welsh Labour from 2007 to 2026, before losing his seat in the most recent election for the new Blaenau Gwent, Caerffili and Rhymni constituency.
“On a personal level, it’s obviously very disappointing to lose the opportunity to represent your home community,” Davies told The Valleys Lead.
Born in Tredegar and having spent years representing Blaenau Gwent in the Welsh Parliament, Davies said that while he was disappointed by the loss, he knows “democracy demands winners and losers.”
“You can’t support the extension and deepening of our democracy if you’re not prepared to be a victim of that democracy,” he said.
Following the election, only three seats in the whole of the south Wales valleys went to Welsh Labour – Vikki Howells (Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr), Huw Irranca Davies (Afan Ogwr Rhondda), and Jane Bryant (Casnewydd Islwyn).
Given the severe loss for Welsh Labour in the south Wales valleys, and the rest of Wales, Davies reflected on Welsh Labour’s mistakes, and told The Valleys Lead what needs to happen now if Welsh Labour is going to avoid extinction.
“A party that has been in power 27 years is a party that does need to review its performance in power, what it delivered, and how it governed,” he said. “What has Welsh Labour done well, and what hasn’t it done well? It’s important we have honest conversations amongst ourselves and the electorate.”
