Walescast

Mar 07 2025 64 ep. 40 mins 335
Walescast Podcast artwork

Felicity Evans and James Williams present a one-stop shop of what's happening in the world of Welsh politics.

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Book Club with Simon Hart

Mar 07 2025 33 mins  
James talks to former Conservative MP, chief whip and secretary of state for Wales Simon Hart about his new book, Ungovernable. Hart said he wrote the book to ask the question "what went wrong?" between December 2019 and July 2024, when the Conservatives went from an 81-seat majority to a general election "drubbing". On his time as chief whip, Hart's book contains anonymised and sh

''Chopsy Women Change the World''

Mar 06 2025 38 mins  
James and guest presenter Gemma Dunstan discuss International Women's Day. Johanna Robinson, the Welsh Government's National Adviser on Violence against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence; Monumental Welsh Women's co-founder, Helen Molyneux; and, activist and former MP for Swansea East Sian James, come together to look at what things were like at the beginning of their caree

A Path to Net Zero and Brain Gain

Feb 27 2025 39 mins  
James and Fliss digest the UK Government's independent climate advisers report on how the 2050 Net Zero target can be met. They are joined by the Chief Economist for the Climate Change Committee, Dr James Richardson, to dig into the detail of some of the changes they are suggesting. They then speak to Dr Sarah Louisa Birchley in Tokyo about Global Welsh's 'Brain Drain to Brain Gain

The Politics of Lying

Feb 21 2025 45 mins  
James and guest presenter Bethan Rhys Roberts look into a Senedd report on politicians who deliberately deceive. Members of the Senedd who lie could lose their seats under the Committee's recommendations. Mick Antoniw MS, a member of the Standards of Conduct Committee and formerly the Welsh Government's Counsel General, talks through their proposals. Baroness Fox of Buckley joins t

Welsh Labour's Budget Gets a Helping Hand

Feb 20 2025 29 mins  
A Welsh Labour budget deal has been struck. James sits down with BBC Wales' Political Editor and our Education, Health and Business Correspondents to digest the details on today's bonus episode. With a little help from the Liberal Democrats the Budget is set to pass when its voted on by the Senedd in March. The deal, which was worth more than £100m, makes the Welsh Government's Bu

Is there a place for faith in Politics?

Feb 13 2025 35 mins  
Felicity Evans and guest presenter Elliw Gwawr discuss faith and it's role in politics with Canon Aled Edwards, Senedd Member and Patron of Humanists UK Julie Morgan MS and the FT's Whitehall Editor Lucy Fisher. Our Political Editor Gareth Lewis also joins the pod to discuss the quarter of Welsh Labour MS' who have announced they will stand down at the 2026 Senedd elections. That b

Tackling Knives in Schools

Feb 06 2025 32 mins  
Fliss and James are joined by Meleri Williams, BBC's Swansea Reporter to discuss the Ammanford school stabbings. She was one of the first reporters on location that day and has followed the events through to trial. They are also joined by Owen Evans, Chief Inspector at Estyn, who discusses what can be done to tackle behaviour issues in school and how to stop the most extreme incide

Universities Challenged

Jan 30 2025 41 mins  
James Williams explores the implications of potentially 400 academic job losses at Cardiff University for both the wider Welsh higher education sector and economy with BBC Wales education correspondent Bethan Lewis, Nick Hillman, director of the Higher Education Policy Institute and Professor Dylan Jones-Evans of the University of South Wales

Total Recall

Jan 23 2025 32 mins  
Felicity Evans and James Williams hear from the chair of the Senedd's standards committee Hannah Blythyn MS about its recommendations for a recall system that would allow voters to evict politicians who have misbehaved from the Welsh Parliament. Fliss and James also quiz her about the circumstances of her sacking from the Welsh Government last year - when the then-First Minister Va

Migration, Migration, Migration...

Jan 16 2025 42 mins  
Felicity Evans and James Williams discuss immigration and what the situation is in Wales. They are joined by Professor Sergei Shubin from Swansea University, Ben Brindle from the Centre for Migration and IPSOS' Gideon Skinner to dig into the numbers and details. Timothy Hornyak, a Journalist in Japan, also joins them to discuss how an ageing and declining Japanese population might