Setting the Record Straight — Capturing the Voices and Papers of Women in Welsh Politics 1999-2021

Disgrifiad Cymraeg / Welsh Description

Casgliad nodedig o dystiolaeth gan wragedd o fewn llywodraeth gyfoes yng Nghymru: y cyntaf yn y byd i ennill cyfartaledd rhwng y rhywiau.

Disgrifiad Saesneg / English Description

Landmark collection of first-hand testimonies of the women in contemporary Welsh government who were the first in the world to achieve parity and an equal balance between the sexes.

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Adolygiad y Cyhoeddwr / Publisher Review

This year marks 25 years since the first election to the National Assembly for Wales, now the Senedd, and the start of Welsh devolution. Much has been made of the milestone, but all too often it’s the contributions of male politicians that are remembered, and it’s with them that many associate that time in Wales’ history. But what of the pioneering women first elected in 1999 and in the years since? This book aims to redress the imbalance of that narrative by putting on record the experiences of female politicians, many of whom were, and continue to be instrumental in the development and direction of devolution in Wales. One of those whose testimony is included has just become Wales’ first female First Minister. The book comprises a collection of interviews conducted between 2019–2020 by Archif Menywod Cymru/ Women’s Archive Wales for the Setting the Record Straight / Gwir Gofnod o Gyfnod project undertaken ahead of the Assembly’s 20th anniversary in 2020, with the aim to ‘capture and preserve’ women’s experiences of Welsh politics while still within living memory. Oral interviews were filmed with 48 of the 62 AMs/ MSs who had served during this period, and this volume comprises edited versions of those interviews, collected by Catrin Edwards and Kate Sullivan, with a foreword by project coordinator Catrin Stevens. An extensive number of themes are covered, from those first experiences of the newly minted institution, political influences and inspirations, the specific influence of female voices on policy and the debates of the day, to experiences of cabinet positions and of party leadership. A prominent topic throughout is the numerous campaigns undertaken by female members, some that resulted in changing the law, such as the ban on physical punishment of children and the Future Generations Act, and others that changed processes within political parties in order to promote gender representation. Measures which led to the then Assembly achieving gender parity in 2003, the first democratic legislation in the world to deliver such an achievement. The collection makes abundantly clear the enormous impact of women AMs/ MSs in shaping not only Wales’ politics but the history of Wales itself. Indeed, interviews with (now) Baroness Jenny Randerson (Liberal Democrat AM 1999–2011), Jane Hutt (Labour AM/ MS first elected in 1999 and still sitting today) and Jocelyn Davies (Plaid Cymru AM 1999–2016) document the leading roles of each when forming governing coalitions, the Labour-Liberal Democrat government of 2000–2003 and the One Wales coalition agreement between Labour and Plaid Cymru, 2007–2011, respectively. The comprehensive range of voices within the book, from backbenchers and party leaders to government ministers, makes for a rounded understanding of the structure of the Assembly / Senedd, ensuring that it doesn’t conflate the institution and devolution itself with the Welsh Government, as so often happens. This is a hugely significant collection and is vital to our understanding of devolution in Wales, filling in the gaps that remain all too often present in the coverage of those first years. It offers a candid peek behind the curtain at a vital time in Wales, with often surprising, sometimes funny, always fascinating anecdotes. In the foreword, Catrin Stevens notes that only four female Members of Parliament had represented Wales between 1918֪–1997. This month, 21 years after the Assembly first achieved gender parity, Wales has its first female First Minister. In the next Senedd election in 2026, the number of MSs elected is on course to grow from 60 to 96, with an opportunity to expand the diversity and inclusivity of those representing us. As those changes play out, I hope that this is the first in an effort to capture women’s voices in Welsh politics and put on record a fully rounded narrative of Welsh democracy.