Eluned Morgan becoming FM sees glass ceiling shattered but long-established difficulties remain

Eluned Morgan is the first woman to become First Minister of Wales in the Welsh Government's 25-year history.

The glass ceiling may be shattered, but this new dawn is full of long-established difficulties: NHS problems, education standards and creating a stronger economy.

Add in an upcoming Senedd election in 2026, and this new dawn could be a defining era for Welsh Labour. 

Deep-seated issues within our health service 

In congratulating her, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Andrew RT Davies MS, spoke of "deep-seated issues in our health service", particularly long waiting times for treatment.

The new FM nodded as he added: "I’m sure she feels that personally because she’s had those conversations with patients, medics and families the length and breadth of Wales."

And it is a problem the length and breadth of Wales, with the former health secretary notably putting Betsi Cadwaldr University Health Board into special measures back in 2023, while those stubborn NHS waiting times have reached record highs during her tenure in health. 

Her 'Planned Care Recovery Plan', which aimed to eliminate two-year waits in most specialties by March 2023, failed to meet that target.

Morgan has admitted there’s a long way to go to reduce long waits which built up during the Covid pandemic but has highlighted that facilities like the new theatres at Neath Port Talbot Hospital, designed for knee and hip operations, could help reduce orthopaedic surgery waiting times.

Former first minister Mark Drakeford takes over as health secretary, expected to be on a temporary basis before a full cabinet reshuffle in the autumn, and he inherits a Wales where so much of what our NHS does is under the spotlight. 

Education standards

In just a few short weeks, Welsh students will receive their GCSE and A-level results, and although it is becoming increasingly difficult to compare results in Wales to other parts of the UK, the number of students choosing to attend universities will give us a sense of how we’re comparing to other parts of the UK.

And the mood music is not positive. 

Just last month, figures released by UCAS showed an “alarming drop” in the proportion of 18-year-olds from Wales applying to go to university, figures which education secretary Lynne Neagle described as “worrying”. 

The Welsh Government has consistently said educational attainment is a priority, but there was more bad news in December 2023.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) evaluates countries’ education systems based on the performance of a sample of 15-year-olds tested in mathematics, reading and science.

Not only did Wales fall further behind the rest of the UK , but our results were the lowest they had ever been.

Jeremy Miles MS, the then education minister, said it "requires a national effort to turn things around, while Plaid Cymru’s Heledd Fychan MS went further by saying the results should be a "wake-up call" and that "every child, no matter their background should have an equal chance of succeeding in life".

As Eluned Morgan was appointed leader of Welsh Labour unopposed, we didn’t get to see a manifesto from her.

But in her opening speech after being nominated as first minister, she was keen to say "it’s our job in government to provide everyone with the opportunity to fulfil their potential and this is based on a deep belief I have that the success of one leads to the success of many".

A strong economy 

The Welsh economy has been described as "sluggish", with around one in five people here living in poverty: a figure that has remained fairly constant over the last 18 years.

Creating well-paid, sustainable jobs plays a part of the Welsh Government’s Child Poverty Strategy, and that focus on improving opportunities here is part of Morgan’s ambitions.

One of her most high-profile challenges will be the situation facing steelmakers in Port Talbot, and indeed one of the first meetings she had as Welsh Labour leader was with Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens, the new deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies and Tata workers and union representatives about the ongoing situation at Tata steel. 

The 2026 factor

Since throwing her hat in the ring to become Welsh Labour leader, and indeed first minister, Morgan has admitted that Labour has taken its eye off the ball of delivering for the people of Wales.

She hopes she can unite a divided Labour Senedd group, and her clearest example of that is the appointment of Huw Irranca-Davies MS as her deputy. In the previous leadership election, he supported Jeremy Miles while Morgan supported Vaughan Gething. 

Her speech was full of suggestions of unity: "I extend my hand in gratitude and genuine partnership to everyone in Wales". She will need partnership if she wants to deliver on her policies.

Without a majority in the Senedd, Labour need the support (or abstentions) of opposition parties to get their budget and any other legislation through.

How she handles that will affect the vein in which Welsh Labour enter the next Senedd election.

Scheduled for 2026, there will be a new voting system in place to deliver a larger number of Senedd Members to Cardiff Bay: increasing from 60 to 96.

With a UK Labour Government now in Westminster, it’s unlikely we’ll hear complaints from Labour in Cardiff Bay of Westminster paying Wales short, but finances will continue to be a big factor.

In her speech in the Senedd, Morgan said the greatest threat to our democracy is the belief that politics cannot change society for the better, and she now has less than two years to show the people of Wales that her government can change some of the biggest challenges Wales faces.

The glass ceiling may be shattered, but with three first ministers in less than six months, the public patience might be frayed, and Eluned Morgan will be judged on how she pieces that back together.

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