Mark Drakeford announces he’s quitting Welsh Parliament at next election

Mark Drakeford calls himself 'Prime Minister of Wales'

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford has said he will quit his seat at the next election, confirming his final retirement from frontline politics altogether. 

Mr Drakeford had previously said he would resign as First Minister by the end of 2024, but in a new interview at a Welsh festival he refused to say at what point before the 2026 Senedd election he would stand down. 

He said it is “important to have a refresh”. 

“I think it is difficult for those who will be doing the work in the future to have people like me sitting behind them.

“I don’t want to do that. I think of it like Tony Benn – when he decided to leave the House of Commons, he said ‘I’m going to stop being an MP in order to spend more time in politics’.”

He added: “I’m not going to be a Member of the Senedd after 2026 but I am not going to step back from the debate or stop thinking about Wales’ future.”

Mr Drakeford has served as First Minister since 2018, the fourth man to hold the position since the assembly’s creation in 1999.

He has proved an incredibly divisive leader of the country, spending much of his time banning road building, meal deals and cash to asylum seekers. 

He is very much on the left of the Labour Party, backing Jeremy Corbyn and opposing Britain’s Trident nuclear programme. 

However he achieved electoral success, not least in 2021 where a boosted profile from delivering Covid press briefings saw him fall just one seat short of an overall majority, Labour’s best result in Wales. 

Mr Drakeford suffered personal tragedy earlier this year, with the death of his wife Clare, to whom he had been married since 1977. 

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