A Strong Voice for a Strong Wales
As I am sure you know, Rhodri Morgan has announced his intention to retire as Labour Leader and First Minister in the Assembly. Let me begin by putting on record the debt of gratitude which we all owe him, for the outstanding leadership he has provided over the past ten years, in good times and in times of difficulty.
I would like to take a moment of your time so that you know that I have decided to stand for the Leadership of the Labour Party at the National Assembly. In my life, the Gower and the Labour Party, like many other communities in Wales, have always been bound together. The constituency is a barometer of Welsh society, from its urban and rural communities, to its commuter belt. I have lived here all my life and know, at first hand, the importance of connecting the concerns of local communities with those of the wider Labour Movement. I was brought up in a family where practical politics was part of everyday life, both through the trade unions and in local councils.
That experience taught me, from early on, that standing up for working people takes determination. No advances for progressive causes have ever been made without a struggle, including devolution itself. When my mother was born, women in Wales had never had the vote. Now, less than a century later, I am a candidate to be the first woman to lead our Party in Wales. None of this has happened without the Labour movement and I am proud of the part I have been able to play, both as President of the Wales TUC and as Minister in Rhodri Morgan’s Assembly Government for the past ten years.
As Finance Minister, Minister for Local Government and Social Justice, and now as Health Minister, I have worked hard to put into practice the principles which brought us all into politics – creating a strong economy and a more equal society, determined to protect and promote our public services, developing a new social partnership between the citizen and the services on which we all depend.
I believe I can offer the combination of experience and determination to help reconnect our Party with its wider supporters and to win a Labour majority at the next Assembly elections.
With your support I can provide a strong voice for a strong Wales, giving our Party the leadership it needs - A leader for the whole of Wales.
