Hiraeth - Welsh Politics

The UK general election is now in its final stages and while the union-wide result hardly seems in doubt, each constituency and candidate has a story to tell. Here at the Hiraeth Pod we are recording a series of short interviews with new candidates who are contesting constituencies across Wales. These are new faces on the national scene and will no doubt feature in the 2026 Senedd campaign even if...

The UK general election is now in its final stages and while the union-wide result hardly seems in doubt, each constituency and candidate has a story to tell. Here at the Hiraeth Pod we are recording a series of short interviews with new candidates who are contesting constituencies across Wales. These are new faces on the national scene and will no doubt feature in the 2026 Senedd campaign even if...

The UK general election is now in its final stages and while the union-wide result hardly seems in doubt, each constituency and candidate has a story to tell. Here at the Hiraeth Pod we are recording a series of short interviews with new candidates who are contesting constituencies across Wales. These are new faces on the national scene and will no doubt feature in the 2026 Senedd campaign even if...

The UK general election is now in its final stages and while the union-wide result hardly seems in doubt, each constituency and candidate has a story to tell. Here at the Hiraeth Pod we are recording a series of short interviews with new candidates who are contesting constituencies across Wales. These are new faces on the national scene and will no doubt feature in the 2026 Senedd campaign even if...

The UK general election is now in its final stages and while the union-wide result hardly seems in doubt, each constituency and candidate has a story to tell. Here at the Hiraeth Pod we are recording a series of short interviews with new candidates who are contesting constituencies across Wales. These are new faces on the national scene and will no doubt feature in the 2026 Senedd campaign even if...

The UK general election is now in its final stages and while the union-wide result hardly seems in doubt, each constituency and candidate has a story to tell. Here at the Hiraeth Pod we are recording a series of short interviews with new candidates who are contesting constituencies across Wales. These are new faces on the national scene and will no doubt feature in the 2026 Senedd campaign even if...

With all of the manifestos now published and it being written in black and white what the parties are pledging to deliver if elected to government in May, are electors excited about the prospects on offer? In short, not particularly. With Labour clearly on course for a massive victory in May, even their manifesto is surprisingly safe, with the emphasis on reducing electoral risk over inspiring the...

As listeners of the pod will know, during major events on Britain we like to fire up the Blanchsignal and invite New Hampshire's & Wales's very own Professor Danny Blanchflower to join us to chew over the latest news. And with the UK General Election now in full swing and the UK economy still largely swinging downwards, we have plenty to talk about. We discuss the party manifestos, the leadership...

The UK General Election is full swing and promises are being made by politicians and parties right, left, and centre. However, what really matters in government is delivery, especially for those who need it most. So as we head into Carer's week, we take a look at the policy landscape and lived reality of carers in Wales with our special guests: Jo Phillips - https://twitter.com/SwanseaPCForgJo is...

Another week, another bonus pod from us. All because this - to coin a phrase - is not normal. Welsh Labour, the democratic world's most successful election-winning machine, has relied on party discipline and a phenomenal campaign machine to win every general election for a century. Its ability to close ranks is legendary, especially during contested elections. So how does the Welsh Labour leader a...

In one of the most emotive podcasts we have recorded - its central subject has touched all our lives - we are taking a break from covering the politics and campaigning that is taking place all around us during the UK general election, to take time to listen to one of the of the most prominent health campaigns in Wales at the moment. Claire O'Shea is a familiar face for many in Welsh politics and t...

50 years ago, the newly-formed Wales TUC under the stewardship of Dai Francis called for the creation of a Welsh Assembly with approximately 100 members based on multi-member constituencies. In a case of exquisite timing, this is exactly what our own parliament has recently resolved to create. What other issues has the TUC faced in this time, what areas of work is it currently looking at and what...

Now, it's not often that you can say that there has been too much news in Welsh politics, but this week there has been. Ongoing concerns about the financial donations to the First Minister's leadership campaign, leaks hinting at deletion of messages, his sudden sacking of a member of the Welsh Government, their replacement being appointed, the end of the Co-operation Agreement between Labour and P...

You will no doubt have heard that there was a nationwide election in Wales recently for us to elect our Police and Crime Commissioners for our four police forces. If you don't know who they are or what they do, you are not alone. Over 80% of registered voters declined to express a preference so, not for the first time, people are asking about the value, validity, and futures of these elected roles...

With opinion still divided about what the upsides of Brexit have been (if any), one thing is clearly the case, Wales and the other British countries are all having to review, rebuild, and re-imagine links with EU countries and the rest of the world. One EU network where Wales not only participated in greatly but also had a founding link to its creation - via Hywel Ceri Jones - was Erasmus+, the Eu...

'Assembly' elections may well be a thing of the past in Wales, but they're front and centre of daily life in the UK's capital city this week. The London Assembly itself struggles to gain the same level of visibility as its Mayor so we're using the opportunity to shine a light on one of the biggest electoral events in the UK and find out more about the campaigns trying to oust Sadiq Khan. With its...

We clearly have issues in our construction industry in Wales. There are horror stories of all kinds across the country with regards to the quality, location, and design of new homes and other buildings. The regulatory landscape is mixed with enforcement regimes largely soft-touch and increasingly stretched local and national government budgets in Wales are rarely able to intervene - not to mention...

In politics, as in all aspects of 21st century life in Wales, social media continues to play an ever-growing role, for good or ill. It has undeniable positive benefits such as tackling loneliness, allowing people and ideas to communicate and connect across the planet, and providing a platform for individuals and groups to platform issues or causes they are passionate or concerned about. However, i...

Wales has a rubbish problem - a big one. We have issues throughout the country with litter, fly-tipping, and pollution and social media is awash with stories of local environment being spoiled or ruined by wilful or careless decisions to make it worse for citizens and nature. So what can be done? Is legislation the answer, are voluntary groups the key resource to be harnessed? How can we maximise...

With the Easter break coming to an end and a new parliamentary term about to start, it will be the first session for the new national government in Wales, with the new First Minister and his new cabinet beginning the daunting task of addressing a huge number of difficult policy and funding challenges, as well as ongoing expectation/threat (delete as appropriate!) of a union-wide general election b...

Happy Easter to you all / Pasg Hapus i chi gyd. We are marking a bit of a milestone this week as we approach the fourth birthday of the podcast - our 200th episode. We've taken the chance to look back at our work over the last few years and realised that we've never really introduced ourselves, what we do, or why we do it. So for this big number pod, we thought we would share our thoughts about th...

While the election of new Labour leader has dominated the headlines, this last week has been a significant week for both outgoing and incoming First Ministers and indeed for all citizens of Wales as the UK Government's Covid Inquiry concluded its first Wales evidence sessions. We are joined by Welsh Affairs Editor at WalesOnline, eponymous author of the Will Hayward Newsletter, and 'serious journa...

All Welsh politics watchers will have seen and heard much from the Labour Party's two leadership candidates and their teams in the race to succeed Mark Drakeford as leader and First Minister. So here at Hiraeth this week, we're taking a look at the race through the eyes of other parties in Wales. Our all-female panel to comment on this all-male election features guest host Sarah Rees, leader of th...

This week we speak with Carmen Ria Smith - or should that be Baroness Smith of Llanfaes, the United Kingdom's youngest ever appointment to the House of Lords? Carmen is a former Chief of Staff for Plaid Cymru and was lead female nominee in the latest selection process for Plaid Cymru nominations, which has seen her nominated by the party to the union parliament's second chamber. We speak with Carm...

After the report of Independent Commission on the Constitutional Future of Wales restated the case for devolution of justice and policing to Wales, as in Scotland and Northern Ireland (indeed, arguably England, too), it has since become part of the discourse in the Welsh Labour leadership contest. It has also revealed tensions between the UK and Welsh Labour parties as both the Shadow Secretary of...