Neither Rhodri Morgan or Ieuan Wyn Jones were present for First Minister’s questions yesterday, they were meeting royalty instead in Pembrokeshire, celebrating the opening of the new liquefied natural gas terminal that some Plaid Cymru Parliamentarians have opposed from the start.
Instead, Finance Minister, Andrew Davies stepped into the breach in a possible rehearsal for his future leadership ambitions. Once more Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader, Kirsty Williams stole the show with an impassioned plea for the government to take action on child poverty. David Williamson from the Western Mail takes up the story:
The spectators above the AMs gradually drifted away – Mr Davies does not play to the gallery and most AMs were more focussed on their computer screens than any dialogue. But a person who could play a decisive role in the fortunes of the next Labour leader did her best to ruffle him.
Kirsty Williams, the Liberal Democrat leader who will likely one day be involved in coalition negotiations, conveyed fury that child poverty levels in Wales have gone up.
She said: “Child poverty in Scotland has fallen, child poverty in Northern Ireland has stayed the same, and child poverty in Wales is getting worse.”
The circular seating arrangements of the chamber might have been designed to foster consensual politics, but it also means a Government minister can gaze out at Presiding Officer Dafydd Elis-Thomas while keeping his back turned to the opposition leader who asked the question.
Ms Williams sat shaking her head in apparently seething frustration. When Mr Davies started to refer to the record of the last Conservative Government, she shot out: “With all due respect, children in Wales do not need history lessons on the conservatives. They need some help from the Labour party.”
In the gallery, a woman’s voice was heard to remark: “She’s feisty!”And it sounded like a vote of approval. Public passion is a rare thing in Welsh politics, but if Mr Davies can flash it in public before the summer recess, the coming Labour leadership might be rather interesting.
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