Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:55 pm on 2 July 2024.
Rhun ap Iorwerth
Plaid Cymru
1:55,
2 July 2024
Indeed, the First Minister has spoken many times of his hopes for a more constructive relationship between the Welsh and UK Governments should Labour enter Downing Street on Friday. I'm sure the First Minister would be making an early call to Sir Keir, the Prime Minister, to congratulate him, should that be the case. But Wales is expecting much more than warm words from that conversation. The First Minister will have the luxury of not having to go through the No. 10 switchboard. I'm sure he'll have a direct line. I'm sure he could even text him, though I'd recommend he keeps a record of it. But can the First Minister confirm what Wales could hope for from that initial exchange? After a General Election campaign in which UK Labour have said 'no' to HS2 consequentials, 'no' to fair funding, 'no' to scrapping the two-child benefit cap, 'no' to the devolution of justice and policing, as even Labour in Wales have agreed with us on, is the First Minister confident that he can persuade a Labour Prime Minister to change his mind on any of these issues, or will Sir Keir, like his Tory predecessor, be hanging up on Wales's hopes?
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.
In a general election, each constituency chooses an MP to represent it by process of election. The party who wins the most seats in parliament is in power, with its leader becoming Prime Minister and its Ministers/Shadow Ministers making up the new Cabinet. If no party has a majority, this is known as a hung Parliament. The next general election will take place on or before 3rd June 2010.
The political party system in the English-speaking world evolved in the 17th century, during the fight over the ascension of James the Second to the Throne. James was a Catholic and a Stuart. Those who argued for Parliamentary supremacy were called Whigs, after a Scottish word whiggamore, meaning "horse-driver," applied to Protestant rebels. It was meant as an insult.
They were opposed by Tories, from the Irish word toraidhe (literally, "pursuer," but commonly applied to highwaymen and cow thieves). It was used — obviously derisively — to refer to those who supported the Crown.
By the mid 1700s, the words Tory and Whig were commonly used to describe two political groupings. Tories supported the Church of England, the Crown, and the country gentry, while Whigs supported the rights of religious dissent and the rising industrial bourgeoisie. In the 19th century, Whigs became Liberals; Tories became Conservatives.
