00:00The Senate has been off for a long time now, and we haven't seen our politicians out on
00:08the floor of Ashamba since July. Now, in just a few days, they'll be back with plenty to
00:13discuss with some major issues on the cards. Before the summer recess, we saw Vaughan Gething
00:18resign as First Minister after his incredibly controversial decision to accept a £200,000
00:24donation from a company previously found guilty of dumping illegal waste on a conservation
00:29site, among other issues. We then saw Eluned Morgan take the reins as First Minister after
00:35being the sole name put forward for the role. Earlier on this week, she named her cabinet
00:39of senior Labour members who will shape the backbone of the Welsh Government, bringing
00:43former FM hopeful Jeremy Miles back into the government as Health Minister and former First
00:48Minister Mark Drakeford as Finance Minister. She's put together an experienced outfit and
00:55will hope to hit the ground running over the next few weeks. The biggest issue facing
00:59Eluned Morgan is undoubtedly the NHS wasting list issue. It feels like every time there
01:04are new stats published, they're breaking new records for The Times, and the plan will
01:08be to try and buck that trend. Eluned Morgan has served as the Health Minister during much
01:14of the time while the NHS had suffered the historically long waiting times, and she will
01:18surely face questions over her ability to run the Senate and the country as a whole
01:23considering, under her leadership, that the NHS was clearly not doing well. She will have a very short
01:29lead over mistakes and problems coming to the fore over the next few months.
01:36Other issues, as Miss Morgan previously alluded to, will have to take a back seat to some extent,
01:41but all of those issues will be in part smoothed out if she can strike a new deal with the UK
01:45government, with two Labour governments in charge of the Senate and Westminster for the first time
01:50in over a decade. If she can use her influence to win over Keir Starmer and his government
01:55and pull in funds that many believe Wales are owed through things like HS2 funding,
02:00then things like the NHS, schools and rural issues can be given a cash injection. This
02:06is the crux of a lot of the problems facing Eluned Morgan over the next few months, and
02:09will need to be sorted quickly and smoothly.
02:14Topically there are also some other issues, for example the 20mph speed limit, for which
02:18a review has been promised by her predecessor Vaughan Geffing. So questions will surely
02:24remain for Morgan and whether she'll take a look at that as a priority, or whether the
02:28speed limits may be of a lower concern.
02:32Eluned Morgan went on a listening tour of Wales this summer, but Plaid Cymru has called
02:37the entire exercise a PR stunt, and wants to hear more ideas from the new First Minister.
02:42The Tories, Plaid and the sole Lib Dem member have all said that they want to see action
02:46taken quickly, especially in terms of the NHS, in order to avoid a catastrophe.
02:52The next few months will surely be a career-defining time for Eluned Morgan.
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