Mark Drakeford resigns

[RoyalCorgi]

No idea why he's resigned, but I can't say I'm sorry. Any chance at all he might be replaced by someone who isn't fully on board with the gender woo?

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-67702232

Fantastic news! Horrible and evil man.

No chance at all that he won't be replaced by a gender woo believer. Welsh Labour would bring in self ID if they could

Horrid man. I remember him shaking with anger at people refusing to bow to some gender nonsense.

I wonder if this is related to his son.

My immediate thought was 'what is about to come out about his son' as well.

He’d previously said that he would stand down as First Minister before the next Senedd elections. Sometime between two years after the last election at the earliest and before he turns 70 at the latest, I think.

Drakeford’ d GI credentials have been on clear display. I was more surprised to hear Starmer describe him as a close personal friend at PMQ’s.

I just read on another forum that his resignation is five years to the day he was appointed First Minister, and that back then he said he would serve five years. Maybe this is just a rare case of a politician keeping a promise!

What about his son?

What's already come out about his son is bad enough. This is from July. Could it get any worse?
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-66272183

www.itv.com/news/wales/2023-08-11/first-ministers-rapist-son-sent-back-to-prison

The son -

A convicted rapist, and the son of Wales' first minister Mark Drakeford, has been sent back to prison for breaching a sex offender's order.
Caernarfon Crown Court heard Jay Humphries, used a fake name on an online dating app and deleted his internet history while out of prison on licence.
Humphries, who was previously known as Jonathan Drakeford, was sentenced to more than eight years in jail in 2018 for the rape and assault of a vulnerable woman and for attempting to arrange the commission of a child sex offence when he tried to contact someone he believed to be a 15-year-old girl online.
One of the conditions of Humphries' licence was that he can only use names approved by the police but checks showed he had created an account on a dating app under the name "naughty 5007387."
He had also deleted part of his internet history, which he is barred from doing.
Prosecuting, Catherine Elvin told the court the first minister's son had been released from prison in January and, whilst living in approved accommodation in Bangor, Gwynedd, had regularly had his electronic devices monitored by police.
Humphries had been allowed to create a profile on a dating website but was told he had to use the name Jay.
The prosecutor said officers could still tell he had been accessing the dating site frequently with other consenting members.
In Humphries' defence, his lawyer admitted the court's sentencing options were limited but said his client's autism diagnosis made face-to-face communication difficult and he finds it easier to interact with people online.
Judge Timothy Petts said it was clear the defendant had deliberately deleted his internet history and took "limited responsibility" for what he had done.
Humphries had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of breaching his Sexual Harm Prevention Order.
The court heard Humphries has been recalled to prison to serve the rest of the sentence he was given in 2018 and is not due to be released until May 2027.
He will serve another 58 weeks in prison on top of his sentence for breaching the conditions of his licence.

His son was adopted as a teenager and had a very troubled life. I would be wary of using that against him. Also I’ve been in many meetings with him and found him to be a fair man who works hard and listens to others. He and I may not always agree on everything but I think we have lost a very good leader today and it’s been a rare case of a politician sticking to his word and knowing when the right time to go is.

His son’s particular circumstances can’t be blamed on his father, but he may well have a high level of need his family need to focus on.

I didn’t like the phrase about being sorry for everyone ’caught up’ in it, especially the victim. I suppose he’s aware of a wider context the comment may make sense within.

My feeling is that he is basically a kind, principled man with the best intentions and is an old-fashioned socialist. His approach over the years has been measured, if not downright cautious, especially during COVID. I do think his attitude to women is 'old-fashioned', he doesn't see GI as a big issue and hasn't bothered to look into it fully - though maybe I am being too kind!
Worryingly, I can well imagine that whoever takes over from him will take the same position.
Oh for a feisty, female, GC replacement!

I’m not keen on involving politician’s dcs or partners so the son thing isn’t a factor

I don’t agree with him on some issues, thought him draconian in pandemic and gender stuff is very off plus misogyny showed through when he had a go at a female MP on gender

I did hear he always said he’d do five years and he has

A few words on his ratings falling so Labour keener to change pre GE but I’m not sure he was that much of a liability for Labour voters

I doubt much will change with whoever is next

His son was adopted as a teenager and had a very troubled life. I would be wary of using that against him.

Agree completely. Really awful to use that against Drakeford. Let's judge him on his record.

No they can't.

However a sex offender who ignores a condition where only police approved online names raises questions about name changes and sex offending might well be 'challenging' for Mark Drakeford. That's not even legal name changes either by the sound of it, just online ones.

A man who made it illegal to buy socks during Covid. All of these political leaders tried to outdo themselves over who could introduce the strictest lockdown and he created a real mess with people crossing the border to escape his lockdown.

Good to see the back of him.

Labour Women's Declaration Cymru have issued a statement:

An unexpected announcement and we wish Mark Drakeford well. Whilst in many ways a principled politician, he lacked an understanding about women’s sex-based rights and appeared unable to grasp that the electorate expected single-sex spaces to be protected across Wales.

We look forward to frank conversations with leadership candidates who need to grasp the issues around women's rights, and end the omerta and abuse of the majority of the Welsh population, who OPPOSE the dangerous promotion of Gender over Sex

This must herald a new chapter in the relationship between Welsh Women and
Welsh Government , with an end to Stonewalls era of No Debate

Meanwhile the response is more damning from
Wales-Women’s Rights Network @WRNWales
·
Welcome news. The First Minister of Wales has;
Swallowed gender ideology
Destroyed women’s rights
Sought to redefine women to include men
Wasted money on an unlawful Gender Quotas Bill
Refused to listen outside of his echo chamber
And more. Happy Christmas!

Not just Welsh Labour members, but Welsh members of affiliated Trade unions will get a vote in the leadership election so we are talking about a potential electorate of over 150,000. Last time there was transferable votes in the election. Plenty of time to raise issues in the leadership hustings and it is pretty clear that the candidates will not be able to duck the issue.

Discussion of the 4 most likely candidates to stand here Vaughan Gething, Jeremy Miles, Eluned Morgan and Hannah Blythyn . Don't think any are great on gender issues, but Hannah Blythyn might be the worst.

https://www.politico.eu/article/mark-drakeford-successor-who-will-be-wales-next-first-minister/

To me he embodied everything that’s wrong with the Left in terms of his handling of Covid: we know what’s best for you and we’re going to do things you don’t like, but it’s for your own good. We know better than you.

I’m sure that at a personal level he’s a nice chap and he means well. But the Covid and the TWAW means he was a dreadful politician.

That's already bad - how much worse could it get?

Good fucking riddance.

My feeling is that he is basically a kind, principled man with the best intentions

He seems to only be a kind, principled man to other men and nor be at all interested in women’s fears and viewpoints

Also I’ve been in many meetings with him and found him to be a fair man who works hard and listens to others.

But he doesn't listen to people. It's widely acknowledged across a number of different issues that he actively avoids having to listen to anyone who doesn't support his views. This is a major personal flaw, and one that's seeped deep into Welsh Labour policy-making. He and his ministers run away from dissenting voices rather than sit down and listen.

He's shunned old friends and colleagues who have tried to talk to him about gender issues from a GC point of view. He made a last-minute change to his schedule on a visit to Swansea to avoid encountering a group of GC women waiting for him at the venue. In front of a public audience he promised that Julie James would arrange a meeting with WRN Wales and other women's groups and then did nothing when she refused to make the arrangements. He agreed to a round table event that would include various groups and individual experts who are critical of GI — and then ignored all attempts to set the event up.

It's shocking behaviour from someone who was once a respected academic and should be open to listening to all sides.