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Wales Online
Wales Online
Politics
Will Hayward

Rishi Sunak and Mark Drakeford have not spoken since March

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and First Minister of Wales Mark Drakeford haven't spoken since March. Mr Sunak's predecessors Liz Truss and Boris Johnson had both been pretty clear in their disdain for devolution.

Mr Johnson called devolution a disaster whereas Ms Truss said that the best way to handle then Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon was to "ignore her". In both cases this disdain manifested itself in them refusing to speak to First Minister Mark Drakeford for months at a time. In the case of Liz Truss this was her entire tenure.

When Mr Sunak took over he expressed a desire for a better working relationship between the UK and Welsh Governments and called the First Minister, as is tradition, within 24 hours of taking office. However this does not mean that there has been regular direct contact between the pair since then.

Read more: UK Government Minister attacks Welsh Government for not having a Wales Covid inquiry

WalesOnline understands that the last time the pair spoke was when they both visited Holyhead on March 23. Welsh Government sources have indicated that despite the lack of regular contact the relationship is "better" than with previous PMs and the First Minister has written to Mr Sunak in the intervening time.

Speaking in the Welsh Affairs Committee secretary of state for Wales David TC Davies was asked about how much contact the leaders of the UK and Welsh Governments had. He said: "I'm sure that the important thing is that the Prime Minister would be available for the First Minister and vice versa. And the First Minister knows I'm always available to speak to him and vice versa. We all have each other's numbers.

"We're not in the sort of job where we're going to try and be best friends for life having a chit-chat every afternoon but I think all of us know that all of us can talk to each other at any time they need to."

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