Welsh Secretary declines to say if she’d quit if Labour lost power in Wales

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens has refused to be drawn on whether she would consider her position if Labour lost power in next year’s Senedd election.

Speaking to ITV Cymru Wales’ Political Editor Adrian Masters on Sharp End on Tuesday, Stevens insisted she was focused solely on winning the election rather than on her own future.

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'Confident'

“We will go into this election and fight for every single vote. I am confident that we can win this election. That’s what my focus is on,” she said.

“You know, I’m not thinking about beyond May at all. I want us to win. I want us to have stability in Wales. I want us to have a government that will lead us into the future on that decade of national renewal – two Labour governments working together for the good of everybody across Wales.”

When pressed by Masters, who asked: "So, next May, Labour will still be the Welsh government, you'll still be Welsh Secretary, Keir Starmer will still be prime minister?"

Jo Stevens replied: “I don’t make predictions. We will fight to win that election like we will fight every day for the people of this country to win the general election in 2029.”

‘Don’t write us off’

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Poll

The comments come as a recent ITV Cymru Wales poll suggested Labour could slump to just 14% of the vote in the 2026 Senedd election – trailing far behind Plaid Cymru on 30% and Reform UK on 29%.

Asked if she and her party recognised the scale of the challenge, she replied: “Absolutely, I’m not for a moment pretending that there isn’t a challenge. But we have been in this situation before.

“I can remember at least two Senedd elections where we were behind in the polls. Polls are very volatile. We were behind in the polls and Welsh Labour won those elections, got the biggest number of Senedd members, formed the government and led the government.

“So don’t write us off. We will be fighting for every vote.”