Welsh politics’ toxic heart


The story of Carl Sargeant had a major impact on Welsh politics and on Martin Shipton


I


can pinpoint with some accuracy the moment that covering Welsh politics changed irrevocably for me. It was around 11am on 7 November last year. My phone rang and a distraught friend


said through tears: “Carl has taken his own life”. He was referring to Carl Sargeant (pictured right), who four


days before had been removed from the Welsh Government’s cabinet by first minister Carwyn Jones following unspecified allegations of sexual harassment. I let out an involuntary “What?” that mingled astonishment and anguish, and was heard across the newsroom. It was an appalling and unexpected sequel to the shocking


news of his dismissal the previous Friday. I have been a journalist for more than 40 years and have been aware of a number of politicians over the years who have been notorious for their inappropriate behaviour towards women. On one occasion, when I was a witness to blatantly gross


behaviour, I reported the individual to his party. I was later assured that he had been given a warning, but months later he was promoted to a ministerial role. Carl Sargeant was never on my list of sleazeballs. On no occasion did I observe him behaving in a lewd or suggestive way towards women. He was a champion of women’s rights and a crusader against domestic abuse who piloted legislation to tackle it. Women who knew him as well as men were shocked that no details of his alleged transgressions were given to him before he was sacked from his role in the cabinet and humiliated publicly by being suspended from the Labour Party in a way that was clearly inconsistent with the party’s own sexual harassment policy. No written statements from complainants were taken and, instead of referring Sargeant for investigation by a specialist civil servant, under the ministerial code (as Damian Green was by Theresa May), a special adviser was tasked with conducting a cursory ad hoc inquiry, the results of which did not stay in the government but were passed to the Labour Party.


10 | theJournalist For many sympathetic to Sargeant, natural justice appeared


to have taken leave of absence. At his funeral, mourners were urged to wear white ribbons in solidarity with domestic abuse victims – and as the sign of a pledge to do what they could to end violence against women.


Something did not add up. Over the months since Sargeant’s death, there has been endless speculation about what happened in the days before he was sacked. Some evidence has emerged of collusion between individuals within government and others outside it in advance of Sargeant’s sacking, but much remains unknown, leading to an atmosphere of suspicion and distrust in Welsh political life. He was first elected in 2003, four years after the Welsh Assembly came into being. At the time of his death, I described him as an authentic working class politician – one of an increasingly rare breed. I socialised with him and on occasions a group of us – all


involved in politics in a number of guises – would go for a curry.


He became chief whip of the Labour group and then a minister, but he remained down to earth and unfailingly kind.


When I met him in his local Labour club in north Wales for the first time during one election campaign, he asked one of his team to walk me to the station so I would not get lost and could catch the last train to Cardiff. Convivial as he was, I became aware of his vulnerability


three years before he died when he told me during dinner at a friend’s flat how he was being bullied by a senior government official. Implausible as it sounded, he convinced me that it was indeed possible for an official to bully a minister. Unfortunately, neither Sargeant nor anyone else wanted to go on the record at the time, and he got cold feet when I produced a draft story about the alleged bullying. I felt able to write and publish a piece about it after his


death, as part of an effort to establish the truth. Carl Sargeant’s death and the circumstances that surround


it continue to dominate Welsh politics. Even when a story has no bearing on the late minister, the


events of last November often conspire to impinge on it. Former ministers and advisers have spoken of a toxic


culture at the heart of Welsh politics. Personal relations between people who have been friends for years have been


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