Neil Kinnock says welfare decisions turned Welsh disillusionment into 'active dislike' of Labour

Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock has said UK government welfare policies turned disillusionment with Labour in Wales into "active dislike", contributing to the party's defeat in May's Senedd election. Lord Kinnock said decisions on benefits and winter fuel payments had driven Welsh voters away from the Welsh arm of the party ahead of the parliamentary elections. He made the comments as part of a Newyddion S4C YouTube special examining Andy Burnham's first 100 days as Prime Minister. Governing "at both ends of the M4" before Wales' parliamentary elections had presented an extra challenge for the party, he said. "If there is any opposition or resentment to the government on either end of the M4, the other lot are going to pay as well." Kinnock said there was "no doubt" in his mind that "alienation... had been creeping up". "It could be a mixture of boredom. It could be a mixture of dislike," he said. He said what turned that into "active dislike" had been measures "like the withdrawal of the winter fuel allowance, the threats to the welfare system" and not scrapping a cap on two-child benefits quickly enough. In June last year, the Labour UK government reversed its controversial decision to means-test winter fuel payments for pensioners in England and Wales, after payments fell by 9.3 million before the U-turn. Almost a year later, Labour lost power in Wales in what was described as a seismic election in May, returning just nine Senedd members after running the Welsh government for 27 years. Lord Kinnock, whose son Stephen Kinnock is Welsh Secretary, also expressed reservations about devolving justice to Wales, a key demand of the Plaid Cymru Welsh government. Plaid ministers argue devolution would allow a more effective system tailored to Welsh communities and better integrated with health, housing and education. Kinnock said there would not be "much of an argument" against the idea if it meant "Wales was better protected, that the streets were safer" and "that the justice system was more efficient". "But those guarantees are absent at the moment," he said. "Until they exist, until they're in place, the upheaval of creating what would have to be effectively a new system with new management... with an introverted view of the justice system - there would be more downsides than upsides," he said. "Now that picture might change, but as I can see it now in October 2026, that's where we are, there are more disadvantages than advantages."