Special Advisors
News update - February 2010
Special Advisors perform a key role in supporting Ministers in their political work and are liaison points with parties, civil servants and the broader political world.
Within the Welsh Assembly Government there are a number of Special Advisors allocated to both Plaid Cymru and Labour. All of them work to the First Minister officially, but are then allocated specific roles and policy responsibilities. Thus when Rhodri Morgan resigned as First Minister, all of the Special Advisors in WAG went too. One of Carwyn Jones’ first acts as First Minister was to reappoint and appoint his Special Advisory team.
Jo Kiernan has moved, giving up her previous media role and instead taking on the role of health Special Advisor and also the new – and possibly critical – job of coalition manager between Labour and Plaid. Jo has agreed to continue with the regular schedule of meetings with the Welsh NHS Confederation and we will be meeting with her at the beginning of February.
One of the two Special Advisers who are departing the team is Mark Drakeford, the senior Advisor throughout Rhodri Morgan’s tenure. The Welsh NHS Confederation would like to place on record our thanks to Mark for all his help during his time as a Special Advisor. Without his help our job would have been a much more difficult one
A returning face is Andrew Bold who becomes the senior special adviser to WAG, making him effectively the head of the team. For a decade or so he has served both Paul Murphy and Peter Hain as special adviser to the Secretary of State for Wales as they alternated in the role. We are currently seeking a meeting with Andrew to try to establish a regular schedule of meetings.