Mark Drakeford

Mark Drakeford (born 19 September 1954) is a Welsh Labour Party politician who has been the First Minister of Wales and Leader of Welsh Labour since 2018. He previously served in the Welsh Government as Cabinet Secretary for Finance from 2016 to 2018 and Minister for Health and Social Services from 2013 to 2016. Drakeford was first elected as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Cardiff West in 2011.

2019

 * If the House of Commons remains deadlocked, then going back to the people will have to be the way forward. A prosperous future for Wales is secured by continuing membership of the EU.
 * Rees-Mogg says reformed Brexit deal could win over critics BBC News (23 January 2019)


 * This must be done quickly - we cannot afford the economic damage being done every single day as a result of Brexit uncertainty.
 * Brexit: Force new EU poll on next PM, says Mark Drakeford BBC News (26 June 2019)


 * We stand on the brink of a new Conservatives prime minister who appears, on both candidates' part, to be dedicated to the idea that you could leave the EU without a deal. That's absolutely catastrophic from the Welsh perspective.
 * Brexit: Force new EU poll on next PM, says Mark Drakeford BBC News (26 June 2019)

2022

 * Aneurin Bevan used to say that he’d never met a Tory until he was 21. Conference, we have a responsibility to offer young people in Wales today that same opportunity.
 * The key things we learnt from Mark Drakeford's speech to Welsh Labour conference Wales Online (12 March 2022)
 * It is shocking, it is absolutely shocking to me that you think that you can turn up here this afternoon, with the mess that your party has made, to the budgets of this country, to the reputation of this country around the world, that you promise those people (NHS workers) that there will be more to come, and you think that you turn up here this afternoon and claim some sort of moral highground. What sort of world do you belong in?
 * What sort of world do you belong in? Mark Drakeford loses temper with Tories in Senedd, response in the Senedd to a Conservative Party claim that the Welsh health service had become like a 'third-world country' under Labour administration. The Guardian (18 October 2022)