The film Pride that tells the true story of a group of gay activists travelling from London to a valley in west Wales to support striking miners in the mid 1980s has a particular resonance for Jeremy Miles, one of the two men vying to become the next Welsh first minister.
Miles grew up in the area, wondering about his place in the world as a gay young person as the strike raged around him. Four decades on, he represents the valley in the Senedd, the Welsh parliament, and goes into the leadership campaign with the backing of the National Union of Mineworkers.
Speaking to the Guardian as he presented his leadership manifesto on Thursday, Miles says the sense of injustice he felt at Margaret Thatcher’s attack on the miners – plus the response of the community and unions – led to his political awakening.
“I’m not asking for people to vote for me because I come from a working-class family or because I’m gay,” he says. “I’m describing my life story and my journey because I think it shows why I have the values I do.
“I grew up in industrial south Wales in the 80s, seeing the industrial strife around us, the attack by the Tories on mining communities. I went to a Welsh medium comprehensive with a big catchment area – kids from the tip of the Gower peninsula to the top of the Swansea valley and you could see the families who were struggling.
“I have a strong sense that the purpose of the Labour party is to support that working-class aspiration that I was brought up with. It isn’t about personal advancement but the collective.”
Miles says his sexuality made him feel “on the outside”. He says: “That isn’t something people should feel. The heart of my politics is that people should feel they belong.”
Another vital part of Miles’s pitch is the Welsh language. He was raised in a Welsh-speaking community and says as education and Welsh language minister, inclusivity is at the heart of what he is trying to achieve. “An inclusive vision for the language is part of our politics on the left in Wales. We talk about using a little bit every day and it belongs to you as much as it belongs to me. There’s something inclusive and warm about that. We can learn how to relate to other policy areas by thinking through that lens.”
The outgoing first minister, Mark Drakeford, has urged his successor to be as radical as possible. “I think he’s right. We need political courage to grapple with some of the big challenges we have ahead and new ways of looking at things.”
One of Drakeford’s most bold policies has been the widespread introduction of 20mph limits in Wales. Miles says: “The policy is the right policy. It will absolutely lead to safer roads and alleviate pressure on the NHS.” But he has called for a review of it to be moved forward. “People haven’t felt heard. We have to respond to that.”
Commentators and Labour insiders see the race between Miles and his lone rival for the top job, Vaughan Gething, as neck and neck. As the health minister during the Covid crisis, Gething has the higher profile. But decisions made during the pandemic by the Welsh government were not universally popular and he will face a grilling when he is questioned at the Covid inquiry’s hearings in Cardiff later this month.
The leadership race was hit by a minor storm when it emerged that Miles was not eligible for the support of Unite because he has not been a lay union official. Gething received the backing, which is being seen as a “stitch-up” by Miles’s supporters.
Miles came to elected politics comparatively late but he sees that as a strength. He studied law at Oxford and held senior legal and commercial posts in the media sector before being elected in 2016. Two years later he was Brexit minister, strongly leading criticism of “full-on frontal attacks” on Welsh devolution from the UK government.
He has attracted the ire of the Tories during his leadership campaign over his pro-EU stance and remains unabashed. “I support the closest possible relationship with the European Union,” he says. “My personal view is that rejoining the single market would be a positive thing for Wales and the UK.”
Miles says many people have lost hope that things could be better. Asked if Welsh Labour, which has governed since devolution was not at least partly to blame, he says: “We’re not an independent country. We’re not divorced from the choices that 14 years of Tory governments have made in London. Our economy has suffered, our public services have suffered, the life chances of our young people have suffered.”
He says it is critical that Labour wins the UK general election. “If I’m elected leader, that will be my urgent priority: to play our party in delivering that government. It will be a step-change in the life of people in Wales to have two Labour governments in Cardiff and London.”
Miles mentions inclusivity and cooperation a lot. He has pledged to have at least as many women ministers as men. And he will work with other parties in the Senedd, which is a much more collaborative place than the House of Commons. If he loses, he would still work with Gething. “We get on fine. If he was to ask me, I’d be very glad to serve in his government.”
