The New Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:15 pm on 20 September 2022.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:15, 20 September 2022

Well, Llywydd, as the Member said, I welcomed the appointment of the latest Prime Minister—the fourth in six years—and I hope that it will be possible to conduct relationships between the UK Government and the other nations of the United Kingdom in that spirit of mutual respect. There has been no opportunity as yet to test the appetite of the new Prime Minister for such an approach. I think it would just be fair for me to say that, on the day that he was appointed, the then Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, telephoned me and telephoned the First Minister of Scotland, and the same thing happened on the first day that Theresa May was appointed and the day that David Cameron was appointed. Now, I understand that the new Prime Minister has not had the first week that she would have expected and that business as usual has not been characteristic of recent days, and now the Prime Minister has left the country. But, I hope that it will not long be delayed before she does find an opportunity to speak with the elected leaders of other Parliaments in the United Kingdom.