Mark Drakeford has vowed to be “radical” and “ambitious” in government after his party equalled its best-ever election results in the Senedd.
Following a dismal few days for the Labour Party the results in Wales will come as light relief after local elections in England saw scores of councils turn blue and Hartlepool fall to the Tories for the first time in 62 years.
It will also provide Sir Keir Starmer with a positive to reflect on amid a sea of abject misery.
Drakeford, who was the only sitting Cabinet member in any part of the UK to support Jeremy Corbyn in his bid for the national leadership of the Labour Party in 2015, has promised to be ‘radical and ambitious’ for Wales, much to the delight of people on social media.
Steve Howell pointed out that it is a “real shame Keir Starmer didn’t listen” to what the ‘Corbyn candidate’ said last year when he urged the next Labour leader not to abandon policies espoused under the previous administration.
It's real shame Keir Starmer didn't listen to what Mark Drakeford said a year or so ago.
— Steve Howell (@FromSteveHowell) May 7, 2021
"The incoming Labour leader must retain our best ideas from the last two manifestos to form the basis of the party’s new policy agenda."
It didn't have be like this. https://t.co/ymJpy28iLe
Reaction elsewhere has been of a similar ilk. Here’s what people had to say:
"Mark Drakeford was the only sitting Cabinet member in any part of the UK to support Jeremy Corbyn in his bid for the national leadership of the Labour Party in 2015."
— Frank Owen's Legendary Paintbrush ?? (@WarmongerHodges) May 8, 2021
Labour's success in Wales is a victory for socialism.
Ditto for Preston.
It's almost as if there's a pattern. https://t.co/5yqJJvntnK
Looks like Mark Drakeford, Andy Burnham and the entirety of Preston Council have natural immunity to ‘Long Corbyn’…….. or maybe Long Corbyn is just a load of old nonsense dreamed up by the circus currently running the Labour party, in an attempt to avoid taking responsibility
— Matt Zarb-Cousin (@mattzarb) May 7, 2021
The English left within the Labour Party should be keeping a very close eye on Senedd results.
— Morgan Paulett ??????? (@MorganPaulett) May 7, 2021
The Corbyn candidate, the Momentum-backed hard leftie Mark Drakeford may be on course to getting the first ever majority government in Wales. Llafur is SMASHING expectations today.
Related: ‘A truly historic result’: Conservatives win Hartlepool by a landslide