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Leadership politics in the United Kingdom's local government

From Rhodri Morgan to Carwyn Jones, two different styles of leadership

Stéphanie Bory
p. 117-132

Résumé

Wales was given a National Assembly in 1998, following the devolution referendum held in September 1997. Since the first elections of its Assembly Members (AMs) in May 1999, the nation has only experienced three First Ministers, two of them leading the government for most of the time: Rhodri Morgan and Carwyn Jones, both from the Labour Party. They have turned out to display different styles of leadership, between proximity and distance, familiarity and professionalism. They have nevertheless managed to turn the weak institutions, endowed with limited powers, into a parliament that must be reckoned with in London.

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Texte intégral

  • 1 Ted Rowlands, in Western Mail, Western Mail Assembly Handbook 1999, The Essential Guide to the Nati (...)

1For a long time, choosing a political career meant becoming an MP and/or being appointed as a lord, hence sitting in Westminster. Yet, in 1998, the British Parliament voted the Government of Wales Act, thereby granting executive devolution to Wales with the creation of the National Assembly for Wales. This devolution process has obviously changed the balance of power, as expected by Labour MP Ted Rowlands who stated in the House of Commons during the third reading of the bill: “I have been wondering what I should recommend to my sons or daughter should they want to pursue the privilege of being an elected representative. Where should they go? I have reluctantly come to the conclusion that I would tell them to go either to the Welsh Assembly or, sadly, to the European Parliament”1. The devolution of powers to Wales allowed some local politicians to make careers on the political stage in Cardiff, thus to become prominent leaders whereas they were often regarded as second-rank ones in London.

  • 2 Barrie Clement, “The Saturday Profile: Rhodri Morgan, MP for Cardiff West: The clown prince of Wale (...)

2This paper proposes to particularly study the premiership of the two main First Ministers Wales has had so far, Rhodri Morgan and Carwyn Jones, both members of the Labour Party in Wales and Welsh-speakers, considering the different political contexts they had to face. With quite different styles of leadership, Rhodri Morgan embodying “the people’s choice”2 while Carwyn Jones allowed to start a new era in the Welsh governance, they have nevertheless managed to impose themselves as leaders, reckoned with not only in Wales but also in Britain at large.

Rhodri Morgan : “the people’s choice”

The early stages of the Assembly

3Rhodri Morgan already played a prominent role on the Welsh political scene in the period leading to the creation of the Assembly. He became a Labour MP in 1987 and the party spokesman on energy between 1988 and 1992. He opposed Ron Davies, the Secretary of State for Wales in the Blair government, to become the leader of the Welsh Labour Party in 1997 but was defeated. He was naturally once again a candidate to be the leader of the Labour Party in Wales after the dramatic resignation in October 1998 of Ron Davies, expected to become the first First Secretary of Wales3. In an interview Morgan gave to Jeremy Paxman, an English journalist, on BBC Two’s Newsnight, he made it clear he still had political ambitions in Wales, as indicated by Phil Parry in an article published in 2009 : ‘Asked on BBC Two’s Newsnight whether he would stand again to lead Labour in Wales, Mr Morgan came out with one of his classic lines – ‘Does a one-legged duck swim in circles ?’. A puzzled Jeremy Paxman asked if that was Welsh for ‘yes’. It was – albeit ‘in typically Morganesque style’4.

  • 5 Gerald Taylor, “Labour”, in John Osmond & James Barry Jones (eds), Birth of Welsh Democracy. The Fi (...)
  • 6 Patrick Hannan, Wales Off Message. From Clapham Common to Cardiff Bay, Bridgend: Seren, 2000,
    p. 53

4But another candidate, Alun Michael, the new Secretary of State for Wales, was imposed by the London headquarters of the party and Tony Blair. He was not popular in Wales, far less than Rhodri Morgan, so that Welsh people, especially members of the Welsh Labour Party, felt that he was “imposed by the Party machine and backed by the London government against the wished of Welsh Labour activists”5. Furthermore, his early months as First Secretary of Wales were extremely difficult since he clearly lacked legitimacy as the Welsh leader and he was not considered as a good leader. Michael was laughed at by Patrick Hannan in Wales Off Message. From Clapham Common to Cardiff Bay: “Sceptics said that, just as Ron Davies had “sorry” written on his hand when he gave his first post-Clapham Common interviews, so Alun had “Wales” written on his, to remind him of what he was supposed to be doing”6.

  • 7 Wales was to get £1.4 bn for West Wales and the Valleys from the European Union in Objective One fu (...)
  • 8 Patrick Hannan, op. cit., p. 83.

5When Michael was forced to resign in February 2000 on the Objective One issue7, Rhodri Morgan eventually became the Welsh First Secretary, illustrating Wales’ will for independence, a fight between two leaders, two different personalities, Tony Blair and Rhodri Morgan, the latter winning, as indicated by Patrick Hannan: “Even Tony Blair, the arch foe who, from the safety of his Westminster fortress, had fomented opposition to Rhodri, eventually came to bend the knee in a kind of homage”8. As soon as he became the new First Secretary, Rhodri Morgan set up a specific political model for Wales, as stated in the speech he delivered during the annual conference of the Institute of Welsh Politics:

  • 9 Rhodri Morgan, “Check Against Delivery”, speech delivered during the Institute of Welsh Politics an (...)

Although Westminster is the mother of parliaments, it doesn’t mean that it’s the last word on parliaments. It doesn’t mean that the perfections of the unwritten British Constitution are so hugely admired that we must fall into the Westminster model. We need to develop our own political culture and processes9.

“Clear red water”

  • 10 Ron Davies, Devolution A Process and Not an Event, Gregynog Papers, Vol.2, n°2, Cardiff: IWA, 1999, (...)

6Rhodri Morgan very soon made his mark, displaying a strong leadership, first by changing his title from First Secretary to First Minister, on 16 October 2000. He also acknowledged the sharp differences between Labour in Westminster and Wales, thus echoing Ron Davies, who, in 1999, insisted on the specificity of Welsh Labour : “From 1994 a new vocabulary had crept into Labour’s lexicon. Party members were now supposed to be, at least in the eyes of the media, either New Labour or Old Labour although truth to tell many of us were neither. […] There was, I always thought, a third strand. Not New Labour or Old Labour but Welsh Labour10. Rhodri Morgan hence wanted to be a leader different from Tony Blair, one representing Wales’ interests and implementing specific policies, meant to be Welsh policies, a difference which he called “clear red water” in a speech he delivered in December 2002 at the National Centre for Public Policy at Swansea University:

  • 11 Rhodri Morgan, “Clear Red Water”, speech delivered at the National Centre for Public Policy, Swanse (...)

I will wish to say a little more about the issue of distinctiveness, the so-called ‘clear red water’, as the Guardian inevitably put it and which has emerged over the lifetime of my administration between the way in which things are being shaped in Wales and the direction being followed at Westminster for equivalent services. […] The actions of the Welsh Assembly Government clearly are more to the tradition of Titmus, Tawney, Beveridge and Bevan than those of Hayek and Friedman. The creation of a new set of citizenship rights has been a key theme in the first four years of the Assembly11.

  • 12 Cathy Owens, in David Williamson, “Seven ways devolution has changed Wales in the 20 years since de (...)
  • 13 David Williamson, op. cit.

7Thus, Morgan was willing to defend traditional Labour values, endangered in his opinion by the advent of New Labour. His agenda was clearly more left-of-centre than the Blair government in Westminster, as illustrated by his desire to offer free access to social welfare services, such as free prescription charges in 2007, a symbol, and a move later implemented in Northern Ireland (2010) and Scotland (2011), or the opposition to plans to introduce competition into public services. Morgan’s will to set up “clear red water” is clearly illustrated as much in the measures introduced by the governments he led as by what his ministers in Cardiff chose not to implement, thus refusing to follow the lead of Westminster governments led by both Labour or the Conservatives. Cathy Owens, a Labour special adviser at the Welsh government between 2003 and 2006, stressed that the Assembly refused, as indicated earlier, to introduce any competition in public services, but also grammar schools or academies in education, on the contrary deciding to invest in charitable and third sector organisations12 and to dissolve quangos, considering it was time for a “bonfire of the quangos13”. This desire to set up specific policies for Wales, as in health and education, was reinforced by a very different style of leadership.

Rhodri Morgan’s popularity

  • 14 David Williamson, “Beloved by the public – how does Rhodri do it?”, WalesOnline,
    28-10-2009, http:/
    (...)
  • 15 Ibid.
  • 16 Ibid.
  • 17 Ibid.

8Polls conducted by YouGov on 28 October 2009 revealed that after 9 years as First Minister, Rhodri Morgan was extremely popular since 63% of the Welsh electorate believed he was performing well14. For David Williamson, a journalist, many western leaders would love to have such approval ratings : “Even Barack Obama can’t compete in the popularity stakes with outgoing First Minister Rhodri Morgan”15. He added that this was something exceptional : “A leading Welsh political thinker yesterday looked at First Minister Rhodri Morgan’s approval ratings and wondered if these should be sent to the Vatican as proof of a miracle”16, especially in a context of economic recession and decreasing support for Labour across Britain. And Williamson to conclude : “The enigma of Mr Morgan will intrigue historians (yes indeed ! !) in the decades ahead, but also throws down worrying questions for the two men and one woman who last night gathered at a hustings in Rhyl to argue why they should gain the keys to his office”17.

9The YouGov polls also indicated that 80% of people who expected to vote Plaid Cymru in the forthcoming General Election (2010) approved of Morgan’s leadership, even 50% of Conservative supporters. Young people were not even disenchanted since 55% of 18 to 34-year-olds were well disposed towards the First Minister. He enjoyed greater support than the very leaders of party since Ieuan Wyn Jones, Plaid’s leader, was backed as a potential First Minister by 65% of likely Plaid voters. How can such a support be explained?

  • 18 Ibid.
  • 19 Barrie Clement, op. cit.

10As for David Williamson, “support for Mr Morgan transcends party politics. He occupies a place in the public imagination which is not the automatic inheritance of any successor”18. In other words, he is close to Welsh people and enjoys real proximity with the population. He was first born and raised in Wales, being a Welsh-speaker, hence a good representative of Welsh people in general: “The problem with Rhodri Morgan is that he has failed the Hyacinth Bucket test in BBC’s Keeping Up Appearances. Impeccably middle-class he might be but, unforgivably, he is an intellectual, he is often informally dressed and he is clearly not English”19. As the First Minister of Wales, he tried to set up a new form of governance, a more transparent and direct one, as indicated in his Swansea speech, previously mentioned:

  • 20 Rhodri Morgan, op. cit.

Inside the Assembly we have done our best to maximize the advantages of being the relatively small government of a relatively small nation. Members of the Cabinet see each other almost every day. Our offices stand next door to one another. We are able to meet quickly when sudden needs arise. I sometimes like to think of Cabinet members as popping in and out of each other’s offices like neighbours from Pobl y Cwm or Coronation Street – although definitely not like Eastenders!20

  • 21 Kevin Brennan and Mark Drakeford, Foreword to Rhodri Morgan, Rhodri, A Political Life in Wales and (...)
  • 22 Nick Horton, “Senedd speech prompts royal laugh”, BBC Wales, 01-03-2006, http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/ (...)
  • 23 Rhodri Morgan, in Nick Horton, op. cit.
  • 24 Rhodri Morgan, opening speech in the Senedd, 01-03-2006.

11The comparison with the two British soap operas is quite telling since Coronation Street, shown on ITV since December 1960, is noted for its depiction of a down-to-earth, working-class community, as the Welsh community in Morgan’s view. On the contrary, Eastenders, displayed on BBC One since 1985, is set in the East End of London, a less industrial place. As indicated by Kevin Brennan and Mark Drakeford in the Foreword to Morgan’s autobiography: “For 10 years, Wales had a First Minister whose address and telephone number remained in the directory (which was still in those days delivered to every house)”21. Such proximity is reinforced by his humour. Journalist Nick Horton considers this is a special characteristic of Rhodri Morgan: “It’s his comic turn that gives Mr Morgan the edge”22. He indeed even made the Queen laugh on the inauguration of the Senedd, the Assembly’s new building, on 1 March 2006, with his remark about Saint David’s Day in 2006, on how churches had shifted Saint David’s Day back that year because it clashed with Ash Wednesday, or the fact he was late the year before for the Royal Welsh Show: ‘Well, I’ve been late to gatherings before but never, I admit, 24 hours late and never in such a distinguished company’23. He also compared the Siambr, the Assembly’s debating chamber to USS Enterprise from the popular US TV series Star Trek: ‘This new chamber with all its computers has been likened to the control room of the Starship Enterprise. Now that’s progress for you – boldly going into the future’24.

  • 25 Phil Parry, op. cit.
  • 26 Ibid.
  • 27 Lorraine Barrett, in BBC News, “Rhodri Morgan funeral in Cardiff attended by hundreds”, BBC News, 3 (...)
  • 28 Ibid.

12According to Phil Parry, such an attitude was ‘typically Morganesque style’25, and that was what made people feel close to their First Minister, regarded as a simple man: “Rhodri Morgan will leave centre stage as one of the biggest names Welsh politics has seen. He became known for his colourful turn of phrase and his man-of-the-people image, but also to his supporters as the Welsh Labour leader who steadied the ship after his predecessor’s abrupt departure”26. As opposed to Tony Blair who tended to presidentialise the position of the PM. On the day of his funeral, on 31 May 2017, humanist celebrant Lorraine Barrett, a former AM having served between 1999 and 2011 who conducted the ceremony, declared Morgan was the “people’s first minister27”. He was also considered as “the father of the nation28”.

13And yet his popularity was not necessarily a lever for electoral success, as illustrated by the documentary shown on BBC One Wales on 7 December 2009 and entitled “Rhodri Morgan: Portrait of a First Minister”, on his last year as FM, by Gareth Jones.

  • 29 David Williamson, op. cit.

14Therefore, Rhodri Morgan, due to his casual and simple style of leadership, left a difficult legacy to Carwyn Jones, as emphasized by David Williamson in his article “Beloved by the public – how does Rhodri do it ?” : “It seems ludicrous to suggest one of the three candidates to succeed him will still enjoy such heights of popularity in 2019”29. The style of political leadership embodied by Carwyn Jones, the First Minister of Wales since 2009, will now be examined.

Carwyn Jones

A new face for Wales

15Carwyn Jones took after Rhodri Morgan in December 2009, winning the contest with 52% of the vote. As indicated by David Williamson: “the Carwyn era has begun, and a new chapter in Welsh devolution is underway”30. He immediately published his leadership manifesto entitled Time to Lead. Even if he had never sat in Westminster, he had been an AM ever since 1999 and a member of the Welsh Government, with several positions: “For almost a decade, Carwyn Jones has played a key role in the Labour Government. He demonstrated his leadership skills when Wales faced a crisis [foot-and-mouth disease]. Carwyn kept a cool head, reassuring the country and reaching out to all parts of Wales. […] He is one of Labour’s ablest communicators”31. The commentator went on to say: “He has the presence of a leader”. And yet he is obviously less visible than Rhodri Morgan, adopting a different style of leadership. An article published on 27 June 2014 was even entitled “Carwyn who? Poll findings reveal Welsh leaders significantly less known among Welsh voters than UK leaders”32. Graham Henry was commenting on the findings of a poll carried out by YouGov for Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre between 2 and 15 June 2014 on 2,270 adults. As for him, the poll revealed that a proportion of Welsh voters did not know who Carwyn Jones was since 22% of respondents chose “Don’t know” for Welsh Labour leader Carwyn Jones when asked to assess leaders on a scale of 1-10 on how they liked them. Graham Henry considered they chose that answer because they did not know who Carwyn Jones was… Professor Roger Scully, from the Wales Governance Centre, played down such an interpretation:

  • 33 Professor Roger Scully, in Graham Henry, “Carwyn who?”, op. cit.

Despite having been First Minister for four and a half years, Carwyn seems to be significantly more anonymous with the people of Wales. But Carwyn, in turn, is far more well-known to the Welsh public than the three opposition leaders in the Assembly, none of whom have seen their public profile increase significantly over the last 11 months.33

  • 34 BBC News, “Poll: Carwyn Jones’s rating slips but he stays in front”, BBC, 27-06-2014, http://www.bb (...)
  • 35 Ibid.
  • 36 Simon Jenkins, “Wales: can the slumbering dragon awake?”, The Guardian, 30-09-2014.

16Nevertheless, the poll also indicated that Carwyn Jones was still the most popular party leader in Wales since he came first with 4.6/10, before Leanne Wood (4/10) and Kirsty Williams (3.9/10). Ed Miliband, the most popular leader for Westminster, came fourth (3.7/10)34. According to a Welsh Labour spokesman: “He [Carwyn Jones] was elected on a promise to be a Welsh Labour leader for the whole of Wales, and these figures show that he is clearly honouring that promise”35. He is indeed presenting himself as a Welsh leader first, as the voice of Wales, adopting a more political style of leadership, thus managing to become an authoritative leader, as indicated by Simon Jenkins, in September 2014 in The Guardian: “Wales’s leader and first minister, Carwyn Jones, is no firebrand but an agreeable Swansea barrister – the sort of desirable match sought by Welsh mothers for their daughters. In five years Jones has gained quiet authority over Labour’s ‘one-party state’”36, especially by adopting a more political approach.

A more political approach

17Carwyn Jones has politicized again the position of First Minister, by standing in opposition to London in a partisan way. He has indeed run the Welsh nation as a more conventional leader. He first opposed David Cameron and the Conservatives’ policies. Only a few months after becoming the First Minister of Wales, he became the most senior Labour leader in the UK, thus gaining more visibility. British politics was once again characterized by bipartism, and Carwyn Jones implemented a policy breaking with London’s austerity, a left-wing policy defending Wales’s interests. As indicated by Carwyn Jones himself in a speech he made for a LabourIN rally at Swansea University on 9 June 2016:

I’ve spent nearly 7 years as First Minister of Wales, almost all of them sadly with the Tory Government at the other end of the M4. Getting a single extra penny out of the Treasury in that time has been like trying to get blood out of a stone. […] My message to those that have asked is that we have to have faith in our Labour values. Values of co-operation, of internationalization.37

  • 38 BBC Cymru Wales and ICM poll, 27-02-2013.

18These Labour values, traditional ones, can also be regarded as Welsh values since Wales has always been attached to the community. Contrary to Rhodri Morgan who always worked with a Labour PM in London, Carwyn Jones very quickly had to cooperate with a Conservative government. Jones was quite successful in Wales since a poll carried out by ICM between 20 and 25 February 2013 showed that 55% of respondents considered Carwyn Jones was doing a good job whereas only 32% for David Cameron, against 54% thinking Cameron was doing badly38. His leadership strategy is mostly based on the policies he defends, his record as the FM of Wales, more than on his personality. In the Brexit negotiations, he is becoming a strong voice, asking to become a key player in the talks and calling for a close cooperation with the First Ministers of the other devolved nations.

19Since September 2015, he has also had to work with a new Labour leader in London, Jeremy Corbyn, and the two of them disagree on several points such as Trident and nuclear power, to name a few. Following the Labour Party Conference in February 2016, Rhodri Morgan himself was quick to point out the gap between the two leaders, praising Carwyn Jones’s leadership:

  • 39 Rhodri Morgan, “What Carwyn Jones can teach Jeremy Corbyn”, Prospect, 26-02-2016, <http://www.prosp (...)

When Corbyn and Carwyn addressed the Welsh Labour Conference in Llandudno last weekend within an hour of each other, the comparison was remarkable. The Welsh Labour leader’s speech was far better. […] Corbyn’s views on business are at odds with those of the Welsh Labour leadership, and Carwyn Jones has indicated that he wants to distance himself from the London leadership.39

  • 40 Ibid.

20Quite interestingly, Rhodri Morgan calls the Welsh FM by his first name while using the British Labour leader’s family name, hence displaying more proximity with Carwyn Jones, as if they were relatives. In other words, Carwyn Jones’s priority is to bring jobs to Wales, as for instance with Aston Martin in Saint Athan, the former RAF station in Glamorgan. He is thus more willing to collaborate with the business interests, as stressed by Rhodri Morgan: “That’s why Carwyn Jones describes the Welsh Labour government as ‘business friendly’ – Jeremy Corbyn and the Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell have never described the party in those terms”40. Or in The Telegraph on 17 April 2016, an article entitled “Carwyn Jones: ‘business’ is not a dirty word to Labour in Wales”. Such a leadership strategy was clearly illustrated during the campaign for the May elections in Wales: Jeremy Corbyn was absent from the Labour manifesto, he did not come to Wales during the campaign and Carwyn Jones insisted on the fact he was the leader of Welsh Labour:

  • 41 Steven Morris, “Carwyn Jones says Welsh Labour will distance itself from Jeremy Corbyn”, The Guardi (...)

Division in Westminster is having ‘negative effect’ in the run-up to Welsh Assembly elections, first minister says. Jones said the tactic on doorsteps would be to emphasise that candidates represent Welsh Labour, not the UK party. “It’s a Welsh election”, he said. “This is Welsh Labour, which in terms of policy is autonomous. We develop our own politics, our own laws – there’s no influence from London at all.41

21His objective is ultimately the same as Morgan’s: ensuring the autonomy of Wales and allowing the nation to make her own decisions, free from any influence from London. Two different styles of leadership to reach the same objective.

Conclusion

22To conclude, the two main First Ministers Wales has had since 1999 have displayed different styles of leadership. Rhodri Morgan, on the one hand, was regarded as the father of the nation and took advantage of his proximity with Welsh people. He had a strong sense of humour, which made him very popular. His funeral in May 2017 in Cardiff was attended by hundreds of people. Carwyn Jones, on the other hand, was first less visible and popular, and he adopted a more political approach, hence endowing the position with more authority. The ongoing negotiations for Brexit have nevertheless allowed him to become a more prominent figure in British politics.

23The two leaders’ different styles can obviously be explained by the context, as well as the powers held by the Assembly. Rhodri Morgan was the FM of a young assembly endowed with limited powers, only secondary legislative powers to start with, until 2006, when it was granted primary legislative powers but on a case-by-case basis, through a complex process (LCOs). His main objective was to strengthen the legitimacy of the Welsh institutions. Very soon after Carwyn Jones’ election as the First Minister, the Assembly gained full primary legislative powers in the devolved areas after the March 2011 referendum which saw 63.5% of voters support the transformation of the assembly into a parliament (whereas only 50.3% of voters had supported its creation in 1997). Ron Davies himself, on the 20th anniversary of the 1997 devolution referendum, admitted the Welsh institutions had gained legitimacy:

  • 42 Ron Davies, in Martin Shipton, “The devastating verdict on devolution from the man who was its arch (...)

In terms of an assessment, the 20 years have been very, very successful in terms of building up the institution. If someone had said to me 20 years ago that in 20 years’ time we’d have an Assembly which is viewed by most people of Wales as the legitimate focus of government, supported by all political parties, and well recognized by the British government – and today, in terms of Brexit, having a legitimate say in what the British government’s position is – I wouldn’t have believed them.42

24Even if Davies then expresses his disappointment regarding the outcomes of the policies implemented by the Assembly, especially in education and health, there is no denying that Morgan and Jones contributed to the developing legitimacy of the Welsh institutions. Due to the successive acts voted to enlarge their prerogatives, the FM now has to fully govern in Wales as the head of the government, hence playing a more political role. Nevertheless, it can be noticed that even if the two FMs displayed different styles of leadership, they ultimately aimed at the same objective : breaking with London, that is to say embodying Welsh values – equality, community, fairness - , which for now seem to correspond to Labour values considering Wales has become the party’s last stronghold in the UK. Besides, it is interesting to note that both are Welsh-speakers, able to address “the whole of Wales”, contrary, quite paradoxically, to Leanne Wood, Plaid Cymru’s leader since 2011, who cannot speak Welsh (though learning to).

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Bibliographie

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Notes

1 Ted Rowlands, in Western Mail, Western Mail Assembly Handbook 1999, The Essential Guide to the National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff: The Stationery Office, 1999, p. 47.

2 Barrie Clement, “The Saturday Profile: Rhodri Morgan, MP for Cardiff West: The clown prince of Wales”, The Independent, 13 February 1999.

3 Ron Davies, credited with being “the architect of devolution” as the leader of the campaign to create the National Assembly for Wales, had to resign from Tony Blair’s Cabinet on 27 October 1998 following what became known as a “moment of madness” when he had his car stolen after agreeing to go for a meal with a man he had met at the well-known gay meeting place of Clapham Common. The scandal was nicknamed the Rongate.

4 Phil Parry, “Morgan’s bumpy path to the top”, BBC, 01-10-2009, http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/8257363.stm, accessed in July 2016.

5 Gerald Taylor, “Labour”, in John Osmond & James Barry Jones (eds), Birth of Welsh Democracy. The First Term of the National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff: Institute of Welsh Affairs (IWA), 2003, p. 166.

6 Patrick Hannan, Wales Off Message. From Clapham Common to Cardiff Bay, Bridgend: Seren, 2000,
p. 53.

7 Wales was to get £1.4 bn for West Wales and the Valleys from the European Union in Objective One funds for 2000-2006. But to secure such fundings, it had to obtain equivalent subsidies from the British Treasury, a process commonly called match-funding. It was reckoned in Wales that Michael was easily going to obtain the funds, due to his close ties with London. When the Treasury only granted £75 m, he had to face a vote of confidence in the Assembly and decided to resign beforehand.

8 Patrick Hannan, op. cit., p. 83.

9 Rhodri Morgan, “Check Against Delivery”, speech delivered during the Institute of Welsh Politics annual conference and published in 2001, Aberystwyth: Institute of Welsh Politics, 2001, p. 7.

10 Ron Davies, Devolution A Process and Not an Event, Gregynog Papers, Vol.2, n°2, Cardiff: IWA, 1999, p. 6.

11 Rhodri Morgan, “Clear Red Water”, speech delivered at the National Centre for Public Policy, Swansea University, partly reproduced in “Clear Red Water”, Agenda, Cardiff : IWA, Spring 2003, pp. 13-14.

12 Cathy Owens, in David Williamson, “Seven ways devolution has changed Wales in the 20 years since devolution”, WalesOnline, 17-09-2017, http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/seven-ways-devolution-changed-wales-13630066, accessed in September 2017.

13 David Williamson, op. cit.

14 David Williamson, “Beloved by the public – how does Rhodri do it?”, WalesOnline,
28-10-2009, <http://
www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/beloved-public-how-rhodri-2078866>, accessed in June 2016.

15 Ibid.

16 Ibid.

17 Ibid.

18 Ibid.

19 Barrie Clement, op. cit.

20 Rhodri Morgan, op. cit.

21 Kevin Brennan and Mark Drakeford, Foreword to Rhodri Morgan, Rhodri, A Political Life in Wales and Westminster, Cardiff: Wales University Press, 2017, p. xii.

22 Nick Horton, “Senedd speech prompts royal laugh”, BBC Wales, 01-03-2006, http://www.news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/4763440.stm, accessed in June 2016.

23 Rhodri Morgan, in Nick Horton, op. cit.

24 Rhodri Morgan, opening speech in the Senedd, 01-03-2006.

25 Phil Parry, op. cit.

26 Ibid.

27 Lorraine Barrett, in BBC News, “Rhodri Morgan funeral in Cardiff attended by hundreds”, BBC News, 31-05-2017, http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-40099436, accessed in September 2017.

28 Ibid.

29 David Williamson, op. cit.

30 David Williamson, “The man who will lead Wales”, 02-12-2009, http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/man-who-lead-wales-2063066, accessed in February 2016.

31 Time to Lead, Youtube video, 05-11-2009, http://www.m.youtube.com/watch?v=LMA5F5-6UZ4, accessed in May 2016.

32 Graham Henry, “Carwyn who? Poll findings reveal Welsh leaders significantly less known among Welsh voters than UK leaders”, 27-06-2014, http://walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/carwyn-who-poll-findings-reveal-7333198, accessed in February 2016.

33 Professor Roger Scully, in Graham Henry, “Carwyn who?”, op. cit.

34 BBC News, “Poll: Carwyn Jones’s rating slips but he stays in front”, BBC, 27-06-2014, http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-politics-28057489, accessed in May 2016.

35 Ibid.

36 Simon Jenkins, “Wales: can the slumbering dragon awake?”, The Guardian, 30-09-2014.

37 Carwyn Jones, <http://www.welshlabour.wales>, accessed in June 2016.

38 BBC Cymru Wales and ICM poll, 27-02-2013.

39 Rhodri Morgan, “What Carwyn Jones can teach Jeremy Corbyn”, Prospect, 26-02-2016, <http://www.prospectmagazine.co.uk/politics/carwyn-jones-lessons-for-jeremy-corbyn>, accessed in June 2016.

40 Ibid.

41 Steven Morris, “Carwyn Jones says Welsh Labour will distance itself from Jeremy Corbyn”, The Guardian, 21-02-2016, http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/feb/21/carwyn-jones-says-welsh-labour-will-distance-itself-from-jeremy-corbyn, accessed in May 2016.

42 Ron Davies, in Martin Shipton, “The devastating verdict on devolution from the man who was its architect”, WalesOnline, 18-09-2017, http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/devastating-verdict-devolution-man-who-13635670, accessed in September 2017.

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Stéphanie Bory, « From Rhodri Morgan to Carwyn Jones, two different styles of leadership »Observatoire de la société britannique, 20 | 2018, 117-132.

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Stéphanie Bory, « From Rhodri Morgan to Carwyn Jones, two different styles of leadership »Observatoire de la société britannique [En ligne], 20 | 2018, mis en ligne le 01 septembre 2018, consulté le 23 mars 2023. URL : http://journals.openedition.org/osb/2003 ; DOI : https://doi.org/10.4000/osb.2003

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Stéphanie Bory

Maître de conférences à l'Université Jean Moulin Lyon 3

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