The Will Hayward Newsletter

Reporting by the Newsletter Team Hi everyone, Here is your latest midweek update. We have lots for you this week including some concerning early signs from Andy Burnham regarding devolution and some more declarations of interest from Welsh politicians. Let’s hope they don’t quit to avoid scrutiny… Training and talks on Welsh politics Will Hayward delivers bespoke training to help your senior leadership team understand what is happening in Wales so they can plan for the future.

Good morning and welcome, I want to start with a quick request. When I was working for a large media organisation, covering politics in the summer was always tricky because all of the politicians head off on their holidays and there is less “political stuff” going on. But what is great about long-form newsletters for story telling is that less “breaking” news simply leaves more space for deep dives, explorations and talking about ideas.

Reporting by the Newsletter Team Hello everyone, There is a lot to talk about. Is Reform’s leader in Wales planning to ditch the Senedd? Is Wales going to lose out on cash because of defence spending? What will Burnham mean for Wales? Let’s get into it! Training and talks on Welsh politics Will Hayward delivers bespoke training to help your senior leadership team understand what is happening in Wales so they can plan for the future.

Today there will be a debate in the Senedd, tabled by Reform, which: “Calls on the Welsh Government to scrap the Nation of Sanctuary plan”. It is perfectly legitimate for the opposition inside the Senedd to question public spending. It is literally their job. However, it’s really important that we debate, discuss and make decisions based on facts and rooted firmly in reality. This is a topic that really matters.

In the coming weeks we have some deep dive pieces we have been working on. As some of those will be…well…deep, I wanted to do something a bit more lighthearted today. We are at the halfway point of the year. In January I made some predictions for what would happen in Welsh politics over 2026. You can read them here. Many of them have come true. Many of them have made me look a bit of an idiot.

Reporting by Will Hayward, Ryan O’Neill and Marcus Hughes Hello and welcome to heat hell, I was tempted to change this newsletter from Wales Watching to “Gobi Gazing”, “Desert Dissection” or “Sahara Studying”. There is plenty going on this week. I have been down the Senedd speaking to people from all parties, and it’s becoming clearer how they are planning to operate as the dust settles post-election. Let’s get into that, Starmer stepping down and plenty of other Welsh news.

Below is a piece by Welsh academic Professor Richard Wyn Jones. He is the Director of Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre. He has written extensively on what underpins Welsh Labour’s recent decline in Wales and has penned this guest article looking at the issue. I hope you enjoy the piece. Additionally you can also watch this video from him and friend of the newsletter Dr Jac Larner where they breakdown details of the Senedd election results.

Hello! I am back from my European adventures (blimey some of the beer there is strong) and ready to dive back into the wonderful world of Welsh politics. Today’s newsletter is in two halves. The first half breaks down why I believe it was a mistake for Senedd Members to walk out of the chamber after a controversial speech by a Reform MS. Then we have a fascinating special report from Marcus on the current situation in Wales’ universities.

Reporting by the Newsletter Team Hi everyone, Will might be off on his European travels, but we are back nonetheless with another midweek briefing for you. This week we saw members of the Senedd trade blows over a question concerning the Nation of Sanctuary, and further examples of Reform’s increasingly confusing approach to childcare.

(Copyright: Rob Norman/HayMan Media) Hi and welcome back! In the second half of our interview with the First Minister I wanted to dig into a few areas where I think there are already real questions around Plaid’s plans. The environment. When/if the first ructions and disagreements within the Plaid group happen, I strongly suspect they will be around the environment. I think you can already argue that they are falling short of their previous rhetoric regarding the nature emergency. The economy.