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‘I’m not interested in any government position’, says Welsh Liberal Democrats leader

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      • Welsh Liberal Democrats leader Jane Dodds spoke to ITV Cymru Wales' Political Editor Adrian Masters on Sharp End


      The leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats has told ITV Cymru Wales that she’s not interested in a government job but is open to reaching a budget deal with the Welsh Government if it meets her top three priorities.

      Jane Dodds has also spoken for the first time about the effect of the party’s UK leader, Sir Ed Davey, urging her to consider her position.

      She’s told the Sharp End programme that she did think about whether or not to resign but has insisted that she won’t be stepping down and will be leading the party into the 2026 Senedd election.

      Labour doesn’t have a majority in the Senedd chamber and so Eluned Morgan’s Welsh Government needs the votes, or abstentions, of at least one other MS to ensure it can spend a record £21bn in the coming financial year.

      It’s unlikely any deal could be reached between Labour and the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru has been highly critical of its former cooperation agreement partners. That leaves Jane Dodds as the most likely source of a deal.

      In her Sharp End interview she refuses to say how the negotiations are progressing but she does set out what she would expect in any agreement.

      She says: “We need to fix our health and social care system. We need to give dignity back to the people of Wales in relation to how they're cared for. We need to make sure that we get working parents of young children back into the economy by better childcare and tackling child poverty, and I want our local authorities to have a better deal.”

      Asked if she would expect to be offered a government role as her predecessor Kirsty Williams had been, she said: “I’m not interested in any government position. My position is I need to challenge and tackle a government on what they're doing and what they're not doing and make sure we have a better deal for Wales.”

      In the interview she addresses for the first time controversy about her leadership after her party’s UK leader, Sir Ed Davey, said publicly that she should consider her position.

      Before her career in politics, Ms Dodds worked as a child protection social worker for the Church of England.

      Criticism of her arose as part of scrutiny of the Church of England which led to Justin Welby stepping down as Archbishop of Canterbury.

      A report published in 2021 found that Jane Dodds had made “a grave error of judgement” by not pursuing a meeting to discuss a sexual abuse case when she worked as a child protection officer in the Church of England.

      That report resurfaced as part of the scrutiny of the Church’s historic handling of abuse allegations.

      Jane Dodds told ITV Cymru Wales that she’s 'not interested' in a government job Credit: PA

      The UK leader of the Lib Dems, Sir Ed Davey was asked by the BBC in November about that criticism and said: "I’ve spoken to Jane about this. She has apologised, and she has had an incredible career looking after children, but I’ve made it clear I think she needs to think about her responsibility on this.”

      Asked if she should consider resigning, he said: “I think she does need to reflect on this very carefully. I accept that she has apologised, but this is such a serious issue so I think she does need to think about what else she may need to do.

      She’s told Sharp End that she won’t criticise Ed Davey and won’t reveal what they’ve discussed in private conversations.

      “At the time when Ed said that he'd like me to reflect and consider my position, I took some time to talk to people, but it was clear from the messages I had and the support I had from the Welsh Party that I was to carry on as Welsh leader.

      “And that's where I'm at now. I'm going to carry on as Welsh leader leading us, I hope, to more Liberal Democrats here in 2026 and ensuring that I make the changes that we need to make life better for the people in Wales.”

      But she reiterates her apology to those affected by the case.

      “At the time when that when it was drawn to my attention that I'd failed to organise the meeting within the required timescale, I immediately took responsibility. When the report resurfaced in November, I once again apologised and I'm apologising now. It fell well below my standards as a child protection social worker.

      “I’ve done the work for a long time. I'm going to continue to raise the issues of children and young people. And my record in the Senedd shows that.”

      And she says that her own mental health has been affected.

      “As politicians, we all can make mistakes and we're in the spotlight. We're in the media straight away, and it's hard and I won't pretend that it wasn't difficult for me. I went to a very low place, my family and my friends and the amazing support of the Welsh Liberal Democrat leadership helped me to come out of that.”

      You can watch the interview with Jane Dodds in Sharp End at 10:45pm, ITV Cymru Wales or catch up here.


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