Covid: Has pandemic emboldened Wales’ devolution calls?

2 years. Around 200 press conferences. But is it all finally over?

Covid’s legacy will affect almost every area of ​​our lives for years to come.

But it cannot be overemphasized what a remarkable period it was in the history of devolution.

These regular press conferences, combined with the scope of the decisions taken by ministers, gave the Welsh Government and the First Minister a platform like never before.

The number of people acknowledging Mark Drakeford and the status of decentralization has been catapulted to unprecedented levels.

But as the public health crisis recedes, does that focus and attention on Senedd’s politics wane as well?

On March 23, 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson had a message on television screens across the country that we will never forget: “From tonight I have a very simple directive to give the British people – you must stay at home.”

It was a message to all of Britain.

But technical, legal decisions made in Westminster right at the start of the pandemic about which law to apply turned what could have been a nationwide Covid response into one led by each of the four nations.

It sounds technical and dry. But that initial decision had huge political implications.

Speaking to BBC Politics Wales after the last Covid press conference, First Minister Mark Drakeford reflected on this initial decision: “I thought at the very beginning that the UK Government would rather rely on legislation dealing with emergency legislation, which is UK-wide .

“Whether they foresaw the extent to which that would mean that decisions that were out of their hands and in the hands of elected legislators are elsewhere, well I think that’s probably an open question.”

The First Minister is a committed trade unionist who believes Wales’ future is best secured in the UK.

But he would like to see a different kind of relationship, one in which the four British nations have more direct control.

It’s not too dissimilar to the kind of facility we’ve seen during the pandemic.

Some decisions, mainly financial, were taken at the UK level, while Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland had autonomy over public health decisions.

In a recent Times Radio interview, the Welsh man at the UK Government’s cabinet table said he wished Covid could have been treated “as one United Kingdom”.

Welsh Minister Simon Hart MP had said: “Looking back on it, I think it was a shame that at times it almost became a political contest. I found that a bit unsavory.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re my kind of unionist or his [Mark Drakeford’s] Kind of unionist, of course it’s an evolving picture.

“In fact, I thought one of the best illustrations of the strength of the union was the vaccination program.

“Where I differ a bit from Mark Drakeford’s view of the union is the relationship he’s built … between him and [Plaid Cymru leader] I think Adam Price is very insightful because Adam Price describes the deal he made with Mark Drakeford as the first step… towards an independent Wales.

One seat before a majority in the Senedd, Welsh Labor have reached an agreement with Plaid Cymru to work together on certain policies over the next three years.

Both parties want further changes in decentralization with a clear majority.

But how likely does WalesOnline’s political editor, Ruth Mosalski, think that?

She said: “People have seen that Wales can do things on their own… will this lead to more talks about further devolved powers?

“We hear there has been a lot of talk here [in the Senedd]that people want a decentralized criminal justice system, for example.

“Will that happen? Well, the UK government doesn’t want it to happen, so probably not, no.

“And there’s going to be this really interesting tension over the next few months and years that Mark Drakeford will keep emphasizing: ‘We should be getting more delegated powers, we’ve done the right thing, we’ve shown what we can do’.

“But if the UK government doesn’t want it, it’s not going to happen anytime soon.

“How do you build on that without a consensus between the two governments?”

Plaid Cymru offered a Welsh independence referendum until 2026 at last year’s Senedd election.

But with Plaid coming third, the party leader now says independence will “take longer than we would hope”.

Adam Price told Politics Wales: “Most of us, across the political spectrum, in Wales seem to have changed during this pandemic in terms of our attitude towards Welsh democracy.

“You know, boy, we were glad in Wales that we had our own government making decisions that resonated with the people here more than the sad state of politics in Westminster.”

He added: “I think something deep and fundamental has changed in the political psyche of Wales.”

If that is the case, the First Minister’s media exposure has played a large part in this shift.

Research suggests UK coverage of decentralization has increased as a result of Covid-19, with “approximately 40% of the news agenda” potentially relevant to decentralization.

But will this level of coverage and focus on decentralization remain?

Prof Stephen Cushion, Director of Postgraduate Research at Cardiff University’s School of Journalism, said: “Covid was particularly newsworthy at the time and there were mixed decisions… across the UK.

“They had to put that in context and explain the differences.

“Perhaps the interviews I conducted with editors showed a greater awareness of the differences from decentralization than they did a few years ago.

“But the extent to which you can actually examine it in depth because of its newsworthiness might be reduced in that sense.”

It was truly unprecedented from a media coverage perspective as Welsh ministers at times reached global audiences.

Mark Drakeford believes that the fact that “the pandemic has changed the way people see how the UK works will mean there will be an ongoing interest”.

In any case, whether or not this continues to be the case, there are political ramifications.

Assessing the historical relevance of political events in real time can be difficult.

Will historians look back on the pandemic as a fork in the road, a time when Welsh politics shifted elsewhere?

Or do we forget the trauma of the last two years and carry on as before?