Welsh Minister Admits Government Seen as 'Distant'
Wales' new minister for government effectiveness told the Senedd the Welsh Government has lost the trust of the people it serves.
Within minutes, opposition leaders were accusing his own party of being obsessed with exactly the kind of reform he'd just promised.
What the Minister Actually Said
Dr Dafydd Trystan Davies, appointed to the cabinet role last month, addressed Senedd Members on Tuesday, June 23.
"Trust and confidence in government is hard-earned but easily lost," he said. "The Welsh Government, over recent years, has lost the trust of the people of Wales."
He described a government perceived as "distant, talking rather than listening, promising rather than doing, and failing to reflect the priorities of the nation."
His role covers oversight of the cabinet office, the government's wider priorities, and constitutional affairs — making him the minister most directly responsible for fixing the exact problem he just described.
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The Commission Nobody Will Cost
Dr Trystan Davies confirmed plans to establish a standing national commission on the constitution, intended to "support informed, inclusive, and deliberative engagement on Wales's future."
Three opposition parties asked him the same direct question in succession: how much will it cost, and who decides who sits on it.
He gave a partial answer. The previous equivalent commission cost £1.5 million, he told the Siambr, adding that it sits within a budget line carried over from the prior government.
What he did not provide was a forward cost estimate for the new commission, despite being pressed on the point three separate times by Reform, the Conservatives, and the Liberal Democrats.
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The 'Obsession' Accusation
Reform's Adrian Mason set the tone for much of the session, telling the minister that "the people of Wales have had enough of constitutional obsession."
"They want shorter NHS waiting lists, they want better schools, they want decent transport, safer communities and an economy that works," Mason said. "They do not want public money, civil service time and political attention diverting to yet another stage of the separatist obsession."
Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar echoed the criticism directly, telling Dr Trystan Davies: "It doesn't surprise me, because we know that that's your obsession. It's not the obsession of the people of Wales."
Millar went further, calling the proposed commission a "waste of money" that would be better spent on the NHS, schools, or roads, and accused independent commissions generally of producing predetermined conclusions because "you appoint people... and those people play to the tune of the people that pay them."
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The Defence That Named a Former Archbishop
Dr Trystan Davies pushed back hard on Millar's suggestion that commission members simply tell governments what they want to hear.
He accused Millar of doing the commission's members a "disservice," naming former Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams specifically as someone whose conclusions wouldn't be bought by a government paycheck.
"I don't know how much time you've spent with the former archbishop, Rowan Williams, but the suggestion that he would come to a view because he was being paid by a particular government I think does the commission a disservice," he said.
That exchange captures the deeper disagreement running under the cost questions: it isn't really about money, but about whether anyone believes a government-funded commission on independence-adjacent questions can ever be seen as neutral.
Where Labour and the Lib Dems Landed
Not every opposition voice matched Reform and the Conservatives' tone.
Labour's democracy spokesperson, Huw Thomas, welcomed the minister's commitment to "resetting" the relationship with Westminster, while insisting that "devolution doesn't end, or shouldn't end, in Cardiff Bay."
Liberal Democrat leader Jane Dodds noted her party's support for the broad direction — "further powers, further devolution" — while pressing for specifics on what the new commission would actually cover, pointing out the last one reported only two years ago.
Dr Trystan Davies said he would update the Senedd "in due course" on the commission's arrangements, and is due in Belfast on Wednesday for his first inter-ministerial standing committee with counterparts from England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland.
Key Takeaways
- Dr Dafydd Trystan Davies, Wales' minister for government effectiveness and the constitution, told the Senedd the Welsh Government has lost public trust.
- He confirmed plans for a new national commission on the constitution, but did not provide a cost estimate when pressed three times.
- The previous equivalent commission cost £1.5 million, he confirmed.
- Reform's Adrian Mason and Conservative leader Darren Millar both accused Plaid Cymru of a "constitutional obsession" distracting from public services.
- The minister defended the commission's independence by name-checking former Archbishop Rowan Williams.
- He is due in Belfast on Wednesday for his first inter-ministerial standing committee.
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Rachel Hayes reports on international affairs, geopolitics, and breaking world news. Based in London, she covers stories shaping the UK and global political landscape.
