Welcome back to the all new Senedd Bulletin Podcast. This week we are joined by Russell George MS, Natasha Asghar MS and Tom Giffard MS. We discussed the need for a Welsh Covid inquiry, transport infrastructure and the early voting pilot.

Senedd Bulletin Podcast - Season 2 - Episode 1

Ministers Reflect interviews show us what governing looks like from the inside. They offer a range of perspectives on what being a minister actually involves on a day-to-day basis, the different aspects of the job, and how ministers develop their approach to the role over time.

To explore ministerial life and what the archive reveals about it, we were joined by Leighton Andrews, Professor of Practice in Public Service Leadership at Cardiff University, and a former Minister for Education and Minister for Public Services in the Welsh government. Leighton not only uses Ministers Reflect interviews in his teaching about government and policy making, but is also drawing on the archive in a forthcoming book about ministerial leadership.

Tim Durrant, Programme Director at the Institute for Government

This event was part of the IfG's Ministers Reflect one-day conference.

Welcome and What is the reality of being a minister?

Following the 2024 UK General Election, many Labour MPs are grappling for the first time with the challenge of becoming a government minister. Of the 111 appointments made by the new Prime Minister, only 18 have held ministerial roles before and only 4 are returning to the roles they previously held. 

Of course our own national government in Wales is currently poised to begin its third (and hopefully final) iteration of 2024 as the "Labour’s first female head of state in the UK” will reshuffle the government once she is confirmed as new First Minister. With some new members of the government such as Sarah Murphy and Jack Sargeant barely months into their roles, they too will be trying to learn quickly.

So what does it take to become a good minister, whether at national or union level? Well, thankfully Prof Leighton Andrews has just written a book on this very subject and we are delighted to be joined by him to discuss not only this subject but also the recent events in Cardiff Bay that ultimately led to the resignation of former First Minister Vaughan Gething. 

We recorded this in the period overlapping the embattled end to Mr Gething’s tenure and ahead of the commencement of Eluned Morgan’s so Leighton has kindly recorded an updated final segment to reflect this.

Leighton can be found here: https://x.com/LeightonAndrews 
Leighton’s Substack is here: https://t.co/AplBOByve3 
And his book can be found here: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-50008-4

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What makes a good Minister & the two Labour Governments

The home of modern Welsh politics - Cartref gwleidyddiaeth cyfoes Cymru

What makes a good Minister & the two Labour Governments

Hiraeth - Welsh Politics

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