The Unconservative Conservative

Other politicians must join Jonathan Morgan in the big ideas game

WHEN Jonathan Morgan departed the Conservative Assembly front bench in February after 10 years’ high profile service, including the last six as health spokesperson, opinions were mixed as to his motivations. How bad must his falling out with Conservative group leader Nick Bourne have been? How deep were the divisions within the group? What was game plan now?

Jonathan Morgan stressed that on losing the health portfolio and being unenamoured of returning to the proffered alternative education brief, which he had previously covered for the first four years of the Assembly, he took a long hard look at what he wanted to do instead.

The easy line to take here would be that he wanted his next job to be that of Mr Bourne’s. To an extent this must certainly be true. A speech he gave a few weeks ago on expenses and probity in public life was certainly read in that light. Pushing aside the code of colleagues that remarks must be coded, he argued that: “Politicians who have claimed inappropriately or illegitimately, whether it be phantom mortgages, iPods, plasma televisions, trouser-presses or duck islands for their ponds”. Just in case people still didn’t understand the not-so-subtle nuances of his remarks, he suggested that those who had been guilty of such claims had lost “the moral, ethical and political capacity to show leadership”. And bearing in mind the painful Bourne iPod saga of six months ago, it was clear it wasn’t David Cameron’s wisteria that was causing such anger.

But Jonathan Morgan also said on leaving the front bench that he wanted to contribute to the thinking of the Welsh Conservative Party. He followed up the acerbic monologue with a more measured speech at the end of last week during which he did as much to bring fresh thought to his party as anyone ever has since devolution arrived. He seized the opportunity to address the Welsh Governance Centre at Cardiff University and gave one of the most thoughtful and challenging speeches from an Assembly Member that we have heard for many a year, either from inside or outside the Assembly.

Speaking to the topic, Welsh Conservatism and how the 2015 Assembly election was won – a concept perhaps a little less bold since last weekend’s success at the European Elections in Wales – the AM for Cardiff North set out a range of ideas that has party needed to look at if it was to capture ground in Wales. Some of these were very internally focussed such as the nature of the funding structure of the party in Wales or the way in which it communicates externally through the new online media. He also called for the next leader of the Welsh Conservative Party in the Assembly to become the leader of the whole party in Wales. This is of course already the case with the other main parties. More boldly, perhaps, he advocated the use of open primaries to select the next such leader.

The most refreshing thing about the speech, however, was that it was given at all. When the Assembly was first established, a range of politicians used their new status to make contributions to public debate from both venues outside the Assembly building as well as from within it. The most notable example was perhaps Rhodri Morgan AM’s speech when he set out the case for “Clear Red Water” between New Labour in Westminster and “Classic Labour” or “Labour Gold” down here in Wales. These days, only a handful of Welsh politicians offer their thoughts in speeches of this kind. Thinking orations are a rare occasion now, which is perhaps what made the speech so fresh.

Politics isn’t just about doing, it is also about thinking. Being on the front bench of any political party curtails the ability of politicians to think out loud and to make structured contributions to a broader political or party agenda. Indeed, in recent years there have been all too few opportunities to do so too. Our lack of policy think tanks and the under-development of Welsh academia’s interest in Welsh politics and governance have limited the range of platforms available. And of course chances for speeches by Welsh politicians on English stages are few and far between, notwithstanding Kirsty Williams’ recent outing to the Oxford Union. Rabble rousers to party conferences and rouble rousers at party fundraisers are all very well, but they serve a different purpose.

There is a real place in Welsh politics for people to think big thoughts about how politics can function better, how their parties can better connect with the electorate, how governance can be improved. Think back to the “Clear Red Water” speech. Until that time, Welsh Labour could be seen to have been without an intellectually distinctive purpose. We knew it was different from New Labour, but we couldn’t quite put our finger on how. The speech was critical in setting out a vision and a purpose.

Because unless the leading politicians start to offer ideas and visions for their politics, how on earth can we know what they stand for and where they want to take their parties? This is of course a particular question for those who aspire to lead their parties one day, as Jonathan Morgan well knows. But what about big vision speeches from leading players in other parties where leadership elections may come a little sooner? It’s hard to escape the feeling that this topic will be returned to time and again in coming months.