Institute of Welsh Affairs

This summer has been extremely hot. In Wales we have experienced several record-breaking heatwaves, with deadly ...

In May, Welsh voters made Reform the official opposition of the Welsh Parliament. 34Reform Members were elected to the newly enlarged 96-seat Senedd, second only to Plaid Cymru’s 43. This result shattered the 26 year Labour domination in Welsh politics. Both the new government and the new opposition had never held their respective roles. It was clear that Wales demanded chang...

Over twenty-five-plus years of devolution, a ‘blame game’ narrative has emerged. The Welsh Government frequently points to restricted funding, limited powers, or problems existing before devolution as reasons for current challenges, while critics maintain that ongoing policy failures are the fault of the government in power.

The Welsh health service has exemplified thi...

Welsh higher education is under pressure.

The latest report from Medr (the Commission for Tertiary Education and Research, which funds and regulates Welsh universities) paints a sobering picture. W...

A note: this piece is not about the Cabinet Office programme that reviews whether an arm’s-length body should exist, merge, or close; it is about the standing machinery of audit and inspection that examines how public bo...