First Minister Mark Drakeford says he has spoken to new Prime Minister Rishi Sunak. Speaking during the Plenary at the Senedd on Tuesday, Mr Drakeford said any phone conversation would have to be "initiated" by the new Prime Minister.
It has been a tradition for as long as he has been in Welsh politics that the new Prime Minister contacts the leaders of the devolved nations, Mark Drakeford previously said. Speaking ahead of his first conversation with Mr Sunak, Mr Drakeford said he would raise the issues of the Welsh economy, the future of the Tata steelworks, and the future of the UK.
In a Tweet on Tuesday evening after Mr Sunak finished announcing his new cabinet, the First Minister said: "Tonight, I spoke to @10DowningStreet. A chance to congratulate the Prime Minister and discuss the importance of working together as four nations to address the urgent challenges we face as a United Kingdom."
In return, the new Prime Minister said: "Good to speak to @PrifWeinidog and @NicolaSturgeon this evening. I emphasised our duty to work closely together to respond to the shared challenges we face, so that collectively we can deliver for the people of the United Kingdom."
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Speaking earlier today, Mr Drakeford told Plenary: "I hope of course that the new Prime Minister will take a different approach to relations with the devolved Governments across the United Kingdom. I see a series of Welsh Conservative MPs today calling on the new Prime Minister to take that initiative, and it is the initiative for the Prime Minister to take. So, I hope very much that there will be early contact from the latest administration, and, if there is, then you can be sure that I will want to have a constructive relationship with the new Prime Minister."
On October 13 - around five weeks after Liz Truss became Prime Minister - Mr Drakeford said he still hadn't heard from her. By the time her 45 days in office ended, she did not get around to calling the First Minister. When we asked 10 Downing Street why the former PM had not called Drakeford, a UK government spokesperson suggested that she had no intention of contacting him directly, despite being "clear on her ambition to attract investment into Wales, and to work closely with the First Minister to drive economic growth".
Speaking to Irish media at the time, Mr Drakeford said: "Boris Johnson telephoned me and I know he telephoned the first minister of Scotland on the day he became prime minister. I know [Theresa] May had done the same before him. So it is a bit of a conspicuous difference this time, but as soon as the prime minister [Liz Truss] is able to reach out to talk to us in Wales we will be very pleased to hear from her."
During Tuesday's Plenary, Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price suggested that instead of waiting for Downing Street to initiate the call to the Welsh Government "we could break with tradition and proactively call them". "They may refuse to take the call but it would be a symbol of self-confidence and a message that we see the relationship as equals," he said.
Speaking to BBC Radio Wales Breakfast on Tuesday morning, Craig Williams, a former aide to Mr Sunak, said the Prime Minister will work with Mr Drakeford "in the national interest". He said: "Rishi Sunak today becomes the Prime Minister of Wales as well as England, Scotland and Northern Ireland and we need to work really closely together, we need to put egos, political ideologies aside. Mark Drakeford, at the core of him, is a good man and I know Rishi Sunak is a good man. I think they'll both work in the national interest."
Later, at a Welsh Government news conference, Finance Minister Rebecca Evans said she hoped Mr Sunak "makes contact with our first minister at the earliest possible opportunity". She added: "I do think that it demonstrates a willingness to work together for people and, at the end of the day, that's what people want. They want governments which work and collaborate effectively for their benefit, which I think is the appropriate thing to do."
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