If a week is a long time in politics, then looking back from these last days of Summer at the previous three months or so feels like surveying a decade’s worth of political upheaval. At a UK level, we at last have a Labour government after 14 years of Conservative misrule was comprehensively smashed. Here in Wales, two leadership elections have passed in quick succession – but we now have an all-too-rare opportunity to show what Welsh Labour in Cardiff Bay and UK Labour in Westminster working in partnership can deliver.

In the Senedd, we now have a Welsh Labour & Co-operative Deputy First Minister, Huw Irranca-Davies MS. Huw, a hardworking and committed co-operator, is there at the heart of government – and the fifteen other Welsh Co-operators will soon return to work after the summer recess.

We have around eighteen months of this Senedd term to run, and there is still much to do to deliver on our Co-operative Agenda for Wales, “Owning the Future” – our manifesto written back in 2021.

The UK Labour manifesto had solid, positive commitments to growing the Co-operative and Mutual sector, a huge commitment on housing, and exciting pledges on community energy – all of these will have implications for the work of the Welsh Government and we must quickly get to grips with the detail of all this to make sure that the Co-operative voice is heard: can we ensure that Co-operative housing development gets its fair share of investment? Can we grow local ownership in community energy at pace? Can we make co-operative models work in social care? And what can we do to continue the growth of the sector overall in Wales?

The next Senedd elections will happen in the Spring of 2026, and we must be ready with a new manifesto. That can only be done through an understanding of the progress we have undoubtedly made through this Senedd term, like meeting our pledge to double the number of employee-owned businesses in Wales, but also what we need to do more on to secure a better Co-operative future.

I’ll soon be meeting with our new chair of the Co-operative group of MSs in the Senedd, Mike Hedges, as well as Welsh Labour Senedd staff to begin to map all this out – but most importantly it is our members that matter most in this process.

This Autumn will see a series of round table discussions, open to all members, to assess where we stand and to plan for the future. Keep an eye on your inboxes for dates and details. You can also send your thoughts and ideas direct to me at h.lewis@party.coop. I look forward to hearing from you.