The cost of winning and the strain on party coalitions

Welsh Poitics enters a new era

The dust has settled and the work of the new Senedd and the new national government for Wales has begun. In our final pod of this run we review the astounding election result across the political picture and what we've learned about the country and its political changes. Of course we also look forward to the challenges for the new Plaid Cymru government, the new parliament, Reform UK's lead opposition group, and the difficult conversations that need to be had within Labour and the Conservative Parties about what rebuilding looks like. Thank you for listening, commenting, and sharing the pod. We're joining the whole of Welsh poliics and looking towards a new era ourselves. The Welsh Politics Pod is a process, not an event, so we'll hope to see you all again in the future. #Senedd26 #Wales #Cymru Your hosts: Prof Laura McAllister of the Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University, former national football team captain and Vice President at UEFA Lauren McEvatt, political commentator and former Conservative Special Advisor to the Wales Office in UK Govt Lee Waters, former Labour Party Member of the Senedd for Llanelli and former Welsh Govt Minister Find us on the socials: YouTube: www.youtube.com/@WelshPoliticsPod TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@welshpolitics Instagram: www.instagram.com/welshpoliticspod/ X: www.x.com/WelshPolitics99 BlueSky: www.bsky.app/profile/welshpolitics.bsky.social Web: www.welsh-politics.com Produced by Richard Martin for Mimosa Cymru Artwork by Alison Hurren Music: Where Is It Instrumental by Jonworthymusic Press/Media queries to podcast@welsh-poilitics.com

As electoral reality dawns are the parties ready to govern?

It’s all getting very real for the parties, just days away from the 2026 Welsh Parliament election. The landscape doesn’t seem to have changed much, if polls are accurate reflections of how people across the country will vote on Thursday. Plaid and Reform continue to jostle to lead the next government or lead the opposition - we discuss who really wants to do what. And elsewhere, is there a sense of crisis around the Labour Party as reality dawns on campaigners that the bleak UK-wide picture is potentially going to put the party in a distant third - or fourth - in Wales? What does that mean for the 'most successful party in the democratic world', Welsh Labour? Is the Green surge going to push them closer to governing with Plaid? Will the Conservatives have to change leader again? And will we see even one Liberal Democrat in the next parliament? We discuss it all! #Senedd26 #Wales #Cymru Your hosts: Prof Laura McAllister of the Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University, former national football team captain and Vice President at UEFA Lauren McEvatt, political commentator and former Conservative Special Advisor to the Wales Office in UK Govt Lee Waters, former Labour Party Member of the Senedd for Llanelli and former Welsh Govt Minister Find us on the socials: YouTube: www.youtube.com/@WelshPoliticsPod TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@welshpolitics Instagram: www.instagram.com/welshpoliticspod/ X: www.x.com/WelshPolitics99 BlueSky: www.bsky.app/profile/welshpolitics.bsky.social Web: www.welsh-politics.com Produced by Richard Martin for Mimosa Cymru Artwork by Alison Hurren Music: Where Is It Instrumental by Jonworthymusic Press/Media queries to podcast@welsh-poilitics.com

The cost of winning and the strain on party coalitions

What does winning mean anyway? With no party likely to be able to govern alone after May's national election in Wales, the lead contender to form a government - Plaid Cymru - has a job on its hands to wrangle internal and external coalitions in order to form a stable government. This will fall against a backdrop of a party learning how to govern in real time and an increasingly challenging economic outlook that none of the parties seem to have prepared the public for. We discuss this meaty issue along with challenges for the other parties, notably Labour's post-election leadership crisis and how the parties of the right - Reform and Conservatives - deal with the election result and in all likelihood being unable to find a route to government. This is likely to be our penultimate pod so please be in touch with questions for the team that we'll pick up after the election and do remember to vote! #Senedd26 #Wales #Cymru Your hosts: Prof Laura McAllister of the Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University, former national football team captain and Vice President at UEFA Lauren McEvatt, political commentator and former Conservative Special Advisor to the Wales Office in UK Govt Lee Waters, former Labour Party Member of the Senedd for Llanelli and former Welsh Govt Minister Find us on the socials: YouTube: www.youtube.com/@WelshPoliticsPod TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@welshpolitics Instagram: www.instagram.com/welshpoliticspod/ X: www.x.com/WelshPolitics99 BlueSky: www.bsky.app/profile/welshpolitics.bsky.social Web: www.welsh-politics.com Produced by Richard Martin for Mimosa Cymru Artwork by Alison Hurren Music: Where Is It Instrumental by Jonworthymusic Press/Media queries to podcast@welsh-poilitics.com

The view from inside the Wales Office

In recent shows we've looked at the working of Welsh politics from inside the Welsh Government. But how do these same forces look from Westminster? In this pod we're delighted to be joined by Glynne Jones who worked inside the Wales Office for 20 years and was Director for the decade before retiring in 2025 and explore the role the institution plays in Whitehall, the role of the Secretary of State, and how it might interface with a Plaid-led Welsh Government. #Senedd26 #Wales #cymru Your hosts: Prof Laura McAllister of the Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University, former national football team captain and Vice President at UEFA Lauren McEvatt, political commentator and former Conservative Special Advisor to the Wales Office in UK Govt Lee Waters, former Labour Party Member of the Senedd for Llanelli and former Welsh Govt Minister Find us on the socials: YouTube: www.youtube.com/@WelshPoliticsPod TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@welshpolitics Instagram: www.instagram.com/welshpoliticspod/ X: www.x.com/WelshPolitics99 BlueSky: www.bsky.app/profile/welshpolitics.bsky.social Web: www.welsh-politics.com Produced by Richard Martin for Mimosa Cymru Artwork by Alison Hurren Music: Where Is It Instrumental by Jonworthymusic Press/Media queries to podcast@welsh-poilitics.com

Labour's Manifesto: Coalitions and Credibility

Recorded in the week of the Labour Party's Manifesto launch for Wales, we take a look at the outline of how the party is seeking to win over over voters. We also look at the credibility of the approach and prospect - and mechanics - of how a manifesto can open the door for coalition or collaboration in the subsequent parliamentary term. Of course we also cover the latest polling, the ongoing constitutional friction inter-government and intra-party, and talk about the Wales Green Party prospects. #Senedd26 #Wales #cymru Your hosts: Prof Laura McAllister of the Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University, former national football team captain and Vice President at UEFA Lauren McEvatt, political commentator and former Conservative Special Advisor to the Wales Office in UK Govt Lee Waters, Labour Party Member of the Senedd for Llanelli and former Welsh Govt Minister Find us on the socials: YouTube: www.youtube.com/@WelshPoliticsPod TikTok: www.tiktok.com/@welshpolitics Instagram: www.instagram.com/welshpoliticspod/ X: www.x.com/WelshPolitics99 BlueSky: www.bsky.app/profile/welshpolitics.bsky.social Web: www.welsh-politics.com Produced by Richard Martin for Mimosa Cymru Artwork by Alison Hurren Music: Where Is It Instrumental by Jonworthymusic Press/Media queries to podcast@welsh-poilitics.com