Sir Ed Davey, leader of the Liberal Democrats, has stated that he does not regret his public call for the party’s Welsh leader, Jane Dodds, to reflect on her position, following her involvement in a historic church abuse case.
Speaking ahead of the Liberal Democrat party conference in Bournemouth, Sir Ed acknowledged it was “good” that Ms. Dodds had issued an apology.
Ms. Dodds, a Member of the Senedd (MS) representing Mid and West Wales, has previously acknowledged that their relationship “would take time to repair.”
A 2021 report concluded that Ms. Dodds, who leads the Welsh Lib Dems, made a “grave error of judgement” by failing to organize a meeting to address a specific case of abuse involving a deceased former bishop.
Sir Ed stated that his last conversation with Ms. Dodds occurred “earlier this year.”
When questioned about whether she was the appropriate figure to lead the Welsh Liberal Democrats into the upcoming Senedd elections in May, he appeared to stop short of offering his full endorsement.
“She’s going to lead us into the Senedd election, it seems,” he remarked.
The relationship between Sir Ed and Ms. Dodds came under scrutiny following the release of the 2021 report.
Ms. Dodds issued an apology after the case resurfaced last November and received backing from the Welsh party. However, she asserted that Sir Ed’s public suggestions for her to consider her position had damaged their relationship.
Sir Ed defended his handling of the situation, stating, “It’s important that people are held to account from wherever they are, and she has apologised.”
Ms. Dodds is currently the sole MS for the Welsh Lib Dems, and the party secured one Welsh seat, Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, in the last general election.
According to the latest polling data from the YouGov MRP model, released on Tuesday evening, the Lib Dems currently hold the support of 6% of voters and are projected to win three seats if a Senedd election were held now.
The poll, conducted for ITV Cymru Wales and Cardiff University eight months ahead of the scheduled election, indicates that the Liberal Democrats are currently the fifth-largest party in Wales, trailing Plaid Cymru (30%), Reform UK (29%), Labour (14%), and the Conservatives (11%).
Projections by Dr. Jac Larner of Cardiff University suggest that Plaid Cymru would currently win 38 seats in an expanded Senedd, Reform UK 37, Labour 11, the Conservatives six, and the Greens one.
Sir Ed noted that the party was “on a roll in Wales” following the last general election and expressed hope for new results under the new electoral system.
“We’re putting our biggest campaign force we’ve ever done into the field, because it’s a proportional election, we think we can do really well,” he stated.
He said the party would focus on the “massive issue” of social care, an area where Labour had failed “dramatically.”
“People aren’t getting the care that they need, and causing a huge backlog in our hospitals. That’s why the Welsh health service is performing so badly.
“Liberal Democrats are literally the only party coming with solutions for social care in Wales.”
He denied that this year’s budget, which passed only due to the Welsh Liberal Democrat leader’s support, represented a missed opportunity to secure additional funding to address issues in social care.
“We are very strong on social care, the problem is Labour isn’t,” he said.
Welsh government ministers made £100m worth of commitments to secure Dodd’s abstention, including £30m for social care to tackle delayed discharges.
Regarding other matters, Sir Ed stated that boycotting the state dinner with President Donald Trump over the war in Gaza did not represent a missed opportunity to advocate for Welsh farmers and steelworkers, ahead of a finalized UK-USA trade deal.
“I’ve been to state banquets, they’re lovely, but you never get to speak to the visiting head of state,” he said, adding it was better to prompt a debate by not attending.
“I’m gaining an opportunity to speak for farmers, to speak for steel workers, and to speak for our whole country, who, frankly, is fed up of Donald Trump, fed up of people like Elon Musk interfering with our democracy and undermining our economy.”
The Liberal Democrats achieved a record performance across the UK in the last general election, but only one of those 72 seats was in Wales.
However, in the Senedd, they have often leveraged their single seat to play a significant role.
The question remains whether they have fully capitalized on these opportunities to increase their vote share and reach.
Next year, they aim to expand beyond their mid-Wales stronghold and “paint Wales in gold,” but face a competitive landscape.
The emergence of Reform has pushed them into fifth place in many polls, and the Green Party will also be vying for votes on similar policy platforms.
With a challenging campaign ahead, some may view the recent public hints of a continuing rift between the party leaders as unhelpful and unwelcome.
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