Liz Truss and Mark Drakeford: Will the prime minister and Wales' first minister get on?

Liz Truss pledged to "crack down" on Mark Drakeford's "negativity" during her leadership campaign

First Minister Mark Drakeford made his feelings towards Boris Johnson abundantly clear after a meeting with the former prime minister in 2020.

With the cameras rolling, an S4C documentary recorded him saying: "Dear me, he really, really is awful."

The aside gave a clear indication of how Mr Johnson was viewed in Welsh government HQ.

During his time in office the relationship between Cathays Park and Downing Street was frosty, with long-running tensions over Brexit, post-EU funding and the best way to respond to the Covid-19 pandemic.

And months would go by without the two leaders sharing a conversation.

So can we expect things to improve with Liz Truss now occupying No 10?

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"Much there will depend on the kind of relationship that the new prime minister wants to have," said Prof Richard Wyn Jones from the Wales Governance Centre at Cardiff University.

"During the Johnson premiership that relationship was very, very poor.

"Does Liz Truss want to reset, or is she going to continue with this rather aggressive attitude which actually she showed during the campaign?"

At the leadership hustings in Cardiff at the beginning of August, Ms Truss described Mr Drakeford as a "low-energy version of Jeremy Corbyn".

She also accused him of being "ashamed of our history" and vowed to "crack down on his negativity about Wales and about the United Kingdom".

The Mark Drakeford-Boris Johnson relationship was distinctly frosty

Earlier in the campaign she had described Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon as an "attention-seeker", and pledged to "ignore" her.

But - more diplomatically - the new prime minister has committed to working with the Welsh government to develop economic opportunities in Wales.

"There's an old saying isn't there: you campaign in poetry and you govern in prose," said former Labour First Minister Carwyn Jones.

"You say one thing to energise people, and then when you need to deliver you get cracking.

"When Liz Truss gets a mandate of her own from the electorate, as both Nicola Sturgeon and Mark Drakeford have, then perhaps she can take whatever attitude she wants towards them.

"She was only elected by the Conservative Party, the Scottish and Welsh governments were elected by the people of those countries and that of course means there should respect for both those countries from Liz Truss.

"The worst possible thing that any UK government can do is try to run all over Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland."

A commitment by Liz Truss to back an M4 relief road could irritate Welsh ministers

Mr Jones also acknowledges that the Welsh government has a responsibility to help build a constructive relationship.

Following Ms Truss' leadership victory the first minister tweeted his congratulations, adding that "we now need to work together, with urgency" to tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

Mr Drakeford's comments were "good to see", according to the Conservative MS for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, Sam Kurtz.

"An arm of friendship is being extended and I hope there will be cooperation now.

"Of course they're going to disagree on political matters but it's important they can cooperate on the issues that are so important at the moment.

"With the challenges ahead, the cost of living crisis and the hard winter to come, the relationship must get better."

Plaid Cymru's Liz Saville Roberts says the UK government has lacked respect for ministers in Wales

But according to Mr Kurtz's boss in the Senedd, the Tory group leader Andrew RT Davies, Mark Drakeford "needs to recognise that we are one country - the UK, Wales, Scotland, England, Northern Ireland pulling together in the face of economic pressures that all households are facing".

He added: "The Welsh government and Mark Drakeford need to get on with dealing with the pressures in our NHS, delivering on the education system and delivering on our economy in Wales, rather than having political, constitutional battles with the government here in Westminster."

However constitutional wrangling is likely to continue, and Ms Truss's commitment during her campaign to press ahead with the M4 relief road scheme - scrapped by ministers in Cardiff - is one example of how the Welsh government's patience could be tested.

Plaid Cymru believe that when it comes to devolution Ms Truss' government will seek to "turn back the clock".

The party's leader in Westminster, Liz Saville Roberts, said she would like to see "far greater respect" between the UK government and the Welsh government.

However, the "lack of respect" shown by some in Westminster towards devolution "does not bode well for any form of nation-building", she warned.

Welsh Secretary Robert Buckland could help improve relations between London and Cardiff

Prof Richard Wyn Jones suggested that for electoral reasons Ms Truss' government may decide to turn away from the "muscular unionism" strategy of recent years.

"The polls now are so negative for them, especially in Wales, that you might have thought that they might want to rethink and try and rebuild some of their support in Wales."

Sir Robert Buckland, re-appointed this week as Welsh secretary, will have a key role to play in building the relationship between the two administrations.

Mr Drakeford said on Wednesday his relationship with Sir Robert was "off to a reasonable start".

"I think he is a better appointment than certainly some of the ones we've had in the past," said Mr Jones.

"He will genuinely try to build bridges if he's allowed to by Liz Truss."

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