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 unsuccessful this time around. We plan to speak to each of the main parties in Wales, which we cons...
Jun 25, 2024•21 min
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 masses. So what should we think of the manifestos on offer? Is there any innovative thinking behind...
Jun 23, 2024•56 min
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 of Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer, Wales Plc, steel-making in Port Talbot and The Former Guy who u...
Jun 15, 2024•50 min
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 a full time unpaid carer for her adult son. She is also the Vice Chair for the West Glamorgan carers...
Jun 10, 2024•47 min
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 and First Minister of Wales end up losing a vote of no confidence in the Siambr, in the middle of a UK...
Jun 06, 2024•54 min
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 third sector, having been an active campaigner for many causes, not least Welsh links with Africa in ...
May 30, 2024•1 hr 1 min
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 are the current challenges for working people that will be on the agenda as it gathers for its 50th ...
May 22, 2024•58 min
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 Plaid Cymru and the extraordinary news that there is an active investigation into potential falsified...
May 18, 2024•15 min
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. We discuss the PCC elections, results, and future here as well as a round up of the English local ...
May 16, 2024•1 hr 11 min
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 European Union's programme to support education, training, youth and sport in Europe. With the UK Gove...
May 06, 2024•37 min
'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 budget exceeding £20 billion, the mayoralty has powers over housing, transportation, public safety, ...
Apr 30, 2024•53 min
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 the powerful building lobby appear to have prevented any significant interventions by Welsh Governm...
Apr 27, 2024•56 min
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, it also comes with notable concerns about mental health, distribution of dis-and mis-information, and...
Apr 20, 2024•54 min
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 community wellbeing, physical and mental health, community wellbeing, and the aesthetics of our vill...
Apr 13, 2024•1 hr 2 min
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 being called at short notice. We recently hosted a live Twitter/X Space with a fantastic mix of polic...
Apr 06, 2024•1 hr 1 min
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 the politics, policy, and media landscape in Wales, why we think Hiraeth and platforms like it are ess...
Mar 31, 2024•54 min
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 journalist' Will Hayward. Not only was Will one of the journalists who most closely covered the national &...
Mar 21, 2024•51 min
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 the Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS, and former Plaid Cymru MS Bethan Sayed. We discuss the race betwe...
Mar 07, 2024•56 min
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 Carmen about her political history and ambitions for representing Wales in an institution she, herself, ...
Feb 28, 2024•25 min
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 State for Wales Jo Stevens and even the Deputy Leader of Welsh Labour Carolyn Harris have publicly ...
Feb 18, 2024•1 hr 10 min
Completing our mini-series looking at the cases for and against the development of new nuclear power generation facilities in Wales, we are joined in this podcast by Mabon ap Gwynfor, Member of the Senedd for Dwyfor Meirionnydd and author of new book 'Going Nuclear'. Mabon is a Plaid Cymru MS for a constituency that has a history of nuclear power, with the legendary Trawsfynydd site in its footprint, not a huge distance away from Wales's other legacy nuclear site in Wylfa, represented in the Sen...
Feb 09, 2024•51 min
The Hiraeth team gather for our regular round up of the most interesting stories in Wales and Welsh politics. This month, the Welsh Labour leadership campaign continues to dominate discussions in Wales but we discuss whether there is much to learn from events so far. We touch on the distressing news from Port Talbot about the future of steelmaking in the town, the imperfections of the Welsh Government's new child poverty strategy, and the grand reopening of a Welsh railway line. With the Six Nat...
Feb 03, 2024•49 min
This is the first of a two-part series looking at the cases for and against the development of new nuclear power generators in Wales. We are joined to discuss this question by Monmouthshire County Councillor Rachel Garrick, who has worked in the nuclear and electrical distribution industries for 25 years. In this first pod, we discuss the merits of new nuclear generation in Wales, the economic and enivronmental benefits, and the opportunities for workers, We also discuss options for different ty...
Jan 22, 2024•42 min
At the Newport Rising Festival this year, we were inspired by the story of the Chartist march on Newport in 1839 and their six-point People's Charter to think about the reforms being made to our national democracy in 2024 via the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill. Steered by our own Matthew Hexter, our guests discuss the proposed reforms to parliament framed through the six points of the People's Charter and consider whether a modern day Chartist would approve of the recommendations. We ...
Dec 30, 2023•48 min
It has been an eventful year in Wales, the UK, and further afield and we all rely on journalists, newsgathering teams, and publishers to create and share news with us. But how healthy is the industry? Are commercial and public service news teams serving up the news in the right way to reach audiences across the nation? Are the business models behind news desks sustainable in their current form? And are regulators and governments doing everything that they can to ensure the public interest is ser...
Dec 28, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Celebrating its tenth year of work in the field of Welsh policy development this year is the Welsh Centre for Public Policy, a Cardiff-based research centre set up to provide independent advice and high quality evidence to policy-makers and government at every level. Primarily focussed on three key research strands (Tackling Inequalities, Environment and net zero, and Community Wellbeing), and is committed to maximising the benefit to Welsh public services by bringing robust evidence and strong ...
Dec 18, 2023•53 min
Despite ongoing and deepening issues in public services in Wales, there is only one big story in Welsh politics this week, that being the surprise (or not, discuss...) announcement of Prif Weinidog Mark Drakeford's intention to stand down as Welsh Labour leader and leader of the Welsh Government in March next year. We bring together our top Welsh Labour whisperers to discuss Prof. Drakeford's political achievements and impact, as well as the broader discussion about past, present, and future of ...
Dec 14, 2023•49 min
The last month has been a very difficult one for politics and policy optimists, with an apparently unrelenting series of bad news stories at local, national, and union level. Your Hiraeth hosts try and navigate the news and pick out some of the most interesting stories from a Welsh perspective. Among other things we cover: Simmering tensions behind the scenes as Welsh Labour gear up for a union-wide General Election: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/politics/discontent-grows-towards-mark-drake...
Dec 03, 2023•58 min
Barely a week has passed in 2023 without a bad news story about water. Whether it has been flooding, leakage, company debt, failing infrastructure, pollution at sea, or pollution in rivers, it's basically been bad news the whole way. With all that in mind, a deep dive into Welsh water might not seem like the most appealing prospect but that's exactly what we are going to do with this podcast. Our expert panel discuss the news stories and the industrial reality of the trials and tribulations of o...
Nov 26, 2023•51 min
There is something different about this week's pod. We're delighted to hand over the reigns to a guest panel to mark the recent women's takeover of the Senedd, organised by the Women's Equality Network Wales. So this week we discuss that women's takeover of the national parliament and many of the issues raised, including questions of access, representation, and the sad passing of Prof. Terry Rees, who did so much to advance the position of women in education and leadership. We also cover some of...
Nov 04, 2023•50 min
