Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:58 pm on 12 May 2021.
Adam Price
Plaid Cymru
4:58,
12 May 2021
Thank you, Llywydd, and may I start by congratulating you on your election as Llywydd? It's good to see a member of Plaid Cymru winning at least one election this afternoon, but may I extend the same congratulations to David Rees, and, of course, I extend my warmest congratulations to Mark Drakeford on being confirmed as First Minister this afternoon? As I said following the result of the election, Mark Drakeford did secure a mandate to lead the Welsh Government for the ensuing period, and I would sincerely want to wish him well in dealing with the challenges and opportunities of the next months and years.
From a Plaid Cymru perspective, I'm very proud of the committed, energetic team that we have on our benches and joining us virtually today, of course, and the new and innovative ideas that they will bring to the sixth Senedd and to Welsh politics more generally. I want to take this opportunity too to pay tribute and to thank Leanne Wood, Helen Mary Jones, Dai Lloyd and Bethan Sayed for their work and public service over a number of years in serving their communities and Welsh democracy. The sixth Senedd will be poorer without them. I look forward to working with my fellow Members as we continue to build the case for independence and to continue to scrutinise constructively but robustly the Welsh Government's response to COVID as we recover from the pandemic. We will look for all opportunities to work in this Chamber and outside of it in order to implement our transformational programme and to be a voice for the hopes and aspirations of the communities that have elected us to represent them here.
It feels that we are returning to a Senedd that is more confident in its own skin. The Senedd elected does demonstrate that the people of Wales voted by a vast Majority in favour of self-government and put its faith in a Welsh Government and a Welsh Senedd to make the important decisions about their lives, including keeping them safe and safeguarding their health. The First Minister stood on a platform that stated that the UK was over and that we needed far-reaching constitutional reform and reconstruction, with more powers to Wales. That's his mandate, and we will hold him to that commitment. Just yesterday, we saw Michael Gove rejecting the call for home rule, despite the vote of confidence from the people of Wales in this place. The Westminster attacks on devolution are only beginning. As the UK dismantles over ensuing years, we in Plaid Cymru are as convinced as ever that we need a new Wales, a united Wales, a free Wales, an equal Wales, where the future of Wales will be in the hands of Wales. And this is the real oath that we as Members of Plaid Cymru have taken in taking our seats in our national Parliament here.
Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.
The House of Commons.
The term "majority" is used in two ways in Parliament. Firstly a Government cannot operate effectively unless it can command a majority in the House of Commons - a majority means winning more than 50% of the votes in a division. Should a Government fail to hold the confidence of the House, it has to hold a General Election. Secondly the term can also be used in an election, where it refers to the margin which the candidate with the most votes has over the candidate coming second. To win a seat a candidate need only have a majority of 1.