Interesting piece on Alun Michael’s contribution to devolution over at the WalesHome site.
These days his tenure is either forgotten or reviled, but his account might well mean a reappraisal of his role. He casts Ron Davies as the devil of the piece, and blames yaboo politics for much of the atmosphere of the time. With another change of Labour Leader in prospect, he or she would do well to reflect on the lessons learned by their predecessors.
Lee Waters 10:59 am on 27 September, 2009 Permalink
They were dark days. Alun Michael is entitled to feel bitter about the circumstances in which he gained office, but it was widely thought that he’d been lobbying for the job for some time and as history reminds us, you need to be careful what you wish for.
He never tires of repeating his pro-devolution credentials, and you can understand why he resented the tag ‘architect of devolution’ that was applied to Ron Davies when he had been far more consistent on the matter – though he was hardly to been seen in the 1997 referendum. The fact is that he’s a Westminster man.
He may well have been a perfectly acceptable Welsh Secretary under the old model, but he proved himself unsuited for new environment – in temperament and in outlook. Kevin Morgan has made the point that until that point Ron Davies had managed to hold together the Labour coalition in Wales, but his painful departure exposed the tension that had been simmering away between the tribal and metropolitan sections of the party.
Poor old Alun Michael was plucked from the security of his red boxes in the Home Office and thrust, blinking, into shark infested waters. Wales was changing rapidly and it was a world he didn’t really understand. And still doesn’t really understand.