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Senedd members debated Eluned Morgan’s record following her first 100 days, with the first minister rejecting claims she has failed to stand up for Wales. Andrew RT Davies led a Conservative debate on the eve of November 14, which marks Eluned Morgan’s hundredth day in office. He accused the first minister of letting the country down, pointing to the withdrawal of the universal winter fuel allowance for pensioners and warnings of 4,000 premature deaths.
Mr Davies said 4,000 patients have been added to NHS waiting lists since the first minister took office in August, with 614,000 people now waiting for treatment. He told the Senedd: “That is a damning indictment of government failure here. "That is not standing up for patients here in Wales, it's not standing up for clinicians, and it's not standing up, importantly, for the workforce.
” Rhun ap Iorwerth said Baroness Morgan’s first 100 days have shown little evidence of a change in direction from the Welsh Government. The Plaid Cymru leader said: “By any objective measure, nothing has fundamentally changed in those 100 days.” Labour’s Hefin David was unconvinced by the 100-day measure of success, coined by former US president Franklin Roosevelt in the 1930s.
He said: “It worked for him; I'm not sure it's going to work so much across modern politics, which moves so quickly and so differently.” He suggested the next Senedd election in 18 months is a much better yardstick. The Caerphilly Senedd Member pointed out that Wales’ first female first minister, from Ely, Cardiff, one of the poorest parts of the UK, succeeded against the odds.
He described Baroness Morgan as a “listening first minister”. Responding to the debate, Eluned Morgan reeled off a list of achievements including £28m to cut waiting times, £13m on better end-of-life care and a new north Wales medical school. She claimed the Labour Welsh and UK Governments also secured a better deal for Tata steelworkers, accusing the Tories of failing to budget for a £80m transition fund.
“This is a lengthy list,” she said. "The first 100 days demonstrates how Welsh Labour is delivering real investment, real jobs, real support for communities – not promises and pledges but delivery.".
