Mark Drakeford (born 19 September 1954) is a Welsh politician who has served as
Cabinet Secretary for Finance since September 2024, having previously held the position from 2016 to 2018. He previously served as
First Minister of Wales and
Leader of Welsh Labour from 2018 to 2024, and as
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care from 2013 to 2016, and on an interim basis in 2024. He was first elected as the
Member of the Senedd (MS) for
Cardiff West in
2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
and is considered to be on the
soft left of Labour.
Drakeford was born in
Carmarthen
Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...
in
West Wales. He studied
Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
at the
University of Kent
The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...
and the
University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...
. He was a lecturer at the
University College of Swansea from 1991 to 1995 and at
Cardiff University
Cardiff University () is a public research university in Cardiff, Wales. It was established in 1883 as the University College of South Wales and Monmouthshire and became a founding college of the University of Wales in 1893. It was renamed Unive ...
from 1995 to 1999. He was a Professor of Social Policy and Applied Social Sciences at Cardiff University from 2003 to 2013. Drakeford was elected at the
2011 National Assembly for Wales election for
Cardiff West. In 2013,
First Minister Carwyn Jones appointed Drakeford to the
Welsh Government
The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...
as
Minister for Health and Social Services. He served as Cabinet Secretary for Finance from 2016 to 2018 and as Minister for Brexit from 2017 to 2018. In 2018, he was
elected to succeed Jones as
Welsh Labour Leader and First Minister.
He led the
Welsh Government
The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...
’s response to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
. In the
2021 Senedd election, Drakeford led Welsh Labour to win 30 seats, a
working majority, and was reappointed as First Minister. Drakeford resigned as Welsh Labour Leader and First Minister in March 2024 and was succeeded by his Health Minister
Vaughan Gething. Drakeford spent the duration of
Gething's premiership on the backbenches before making a return to government as Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care under First Minister
Eluned Morgan in August 2024.
Early life and education
Mark Drakeford was born on 19 September 1954 in
Carmarthenshire
Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...
,
West Wales, where he was brought up. He was educated at
Queen Elizabeth Grammar School, then an all-boys
grammar school
A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...
in
Carmarthen
Carmarthen (, ; , 'Merlin's fort' or possibly 'Sea-town fort') is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community (Wales), community in Wales, lying on the River Towy north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. At the 2021 United Kingdom cen ...
.
He studied Latin at the
University of Kent
The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...
,
gained a
B.Phil. from the
University of Exeter
The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of ...
and returned to Wales as a PhD student.
After university, he trained both as a teacher and as a social worker. He moved to
Cardiff
Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
in 1979 and subsequently worked as a probation officer and a youth justice worker, including as a
Barnardo's project leader in the
Ely and
Caerau communities.
Academic career
From 1991 to 1995, Drakeford was a lecturer in applied social studies at the
University College of Swansea (now Swansea University).
He then moved to the
University of Wales, Cardiff, renamed as Cardiff University in 1999, as a lecturer in its School of Social and Administrative Studies.
He was promoted to
senior lecturer in 1999 and appointed as
Professor
Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...
of Social Policy and Applied Social Sciences in 2003.
Drakeford continued in his academic posts until his appointment as a Welsh Government minister in 2013. He has published books and journal articles on various aspects of social policy.
Political career
Drakeford has always been interested in politics, which he says was part of the fabric of life in 1960s Carmarthenshire.
He has also stated that he was "always Labour", believing that a person's ties to the economy are the great determining factor in their life chances. In addition to his membership of the Labour Party, he is a member of
Unite the Union
Unite the Union, commonly known as Unite, is a trade union in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, Ireland, formed on 1 May 2007 by the merger of Amicus (trade union), Amicus and the Transport and General Workers' Union. A general union ...
and
UNISON
Unison (stylised as UNISON) is a Great Britain, British trade union. Along with Unite the Union, Unite, Unison is one of the two largest trade unions in the United Kingdom, with over 1.2 million members who work predominantly in public servic ...
, and a solidarity member of
LGBT+ Labour. He is a staunch opponent of Britain's
Trident nuclear programme and has called for its decommissioning. Drakeford is considered to be part of the
left wing of the Labour Party, and is supported by some members of Welsh Labour Grassroots and
Momentum
In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (: momenta or momentums; more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. ...
. His views were described as
soft left in 2018, in line with the views of former Labour leader
Michael Foot.
From 1985 to 1993, Drakeford represented the
Pontcanna ward on South Glamorgan County Council, with fellow future Welsh Assembly members
Jane Hutt and
Jane Davidson as his ward colleagues. He served as Chair of the Education Committee and took a particular interest in Welsh-medium education.
Having been part of the successful
Yes for Wales campaign in the
1997 Welsh devolution referendum, he was selected as the Labour candidate for
Cardiff Central at the first
Welsh Assembly election, as part of Labour's 'twinned seats' policy. The seat was won by the
Liberal Democrats'
Jenny Randerson.
Following
Rhodri Morgan’s appointment as First Minister in 2000, Drakeford became the Welsh Government’s special adviser on health and social policy, and later served as the head of Morgan’s political office. He had been close with Morgan for a number of years, having been Morgan's
election agent when he was elected to the UK Parliament. In his role as a special advisor, Drakeford was one of the principal architects of the
Clear Red Water philosophy, which made a distinction between Labour Party policy under Morgan in Wales and under
Tony Blair
Sir Anthony Charles Lynton Blair (born 6 May 1953) is a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007 and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1994 to 2007. He was Leader ...
in
Westminster
Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...
.
Drakeford succeeded Morgan as the Assembly Member for Cardiff West when the latter retired at the
2011 election. Soon after, he became Chair of the Assembly's Health and Social Care Committee and of the All-Wales Programme Monitoring Committee for European Funds.
In 2013, he was invited by First Minister
Carwyn Jones to join the Government, replacing
Lesley Griffiths as Minister for Health and Social Services. His appointment was welcomed by the
British Medical Association and the
Royal College of Nursing
The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) is a registered trade union and professional body in the United Kingdom for those in the profession of nursing. It was founded in 1916 as the College of Nursing, receiving its royal charter in 1928. Queen Eliz ...
. As Health Minister, he guided both the
Human Transplantation Act and the Nurse Staffing Levels Act through the
Senedd.
In a reshuffle after the
2016 election, he became Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Local Government. His portfolio was later changed, as he assumed responsibility for the Welsh Government’s
Brexit
Brexit (, a portmanteau of "Britain" and "Exit") was the Withdrawal from the European Union, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU).
Brexit officially took place at 23:00 GMT on 31 January 2020 (00:00 1 February ...
preparations and responsibility for local government was transferred to
Alun Davies.
He was the only sitting Cabinet member in any part of the UK to support
Jeremy Corbyn
Jeremy Bernard Corbyn (; born 26 May 1949) is a British politician who has been Member of Parliament (United Kingdom), Member of Parliament (MP) for Islington North (UK Parliament constituency), Islington North since 1983. Now an Independent ...
in his
bid for the
national leadership of the Labour Party in 2015, while he was
Minister for Health and Social Services.
At the UK Labour Party's conference in September 2022, Drakeford used his speech at conference to in part hail the benefits of
electoral reform
Electoral reform is a change in electoral systems that alters how public desires, usually expressed by cast votes, produce election results.
Description
Reforms can include changes to:
* Voting systems, such as adoption of proportional represen ...
. He has been a long term advocate for using
proportional representation
Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
at general elections.
Welsh Labour leadership
Immediately following Carwyn Jones' resignation as party leader and First Minister on 21 April 2018, Drakeford told
BBC Wales
BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcasting, public broadcaster in Wales.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, ...
he was giving a leadership bid "serious consideration". Two days later, he Declared himself a candidate in the ensuing leadership contest. He immediately secured the public support of seven other Labour AMs, taking him beyond the threshold of nominations needed to get onto the ballot. Prior to Jones giving written notice of his resignation on 26 September, a further nine Labour AMs nominated Drakeford, meaning a majority of the Labour Group in the Senedd would be supporting his candidacy. He later received support from 10 MPs, eight trade unions and 24 Constituency Labour Parties.
At a special conference on 15 September 2018, it was decided that the voting system for
Welsh Labour
Welsh Labour (), formerly known as the Labour Party in Wales (), is an autonomous section of the United Kingdom Labour Party (UK), Labour Party in Wales and the largest party in modern Welsh politics. Welsh Labour and its forebears have won a p ...
leadership elections would be changed to a variation of one member, one vote--a change for which Drakeford had been campaigning for over 20 years.
Early policy proposals from Drakeford's leadership campaign included a pilot for universal baby bundles and a push for the devolution of the Probation Service. At the north Wales launch of his campaign, he set out plans for a Social Partnership Act to protect employment rights, and plans to establish a Community Bank for Wales. During an interview, Drakeford said that he was a
republican, and had been since the age of 14. According to
ITV Wales, were he elected, Drakeford would have a "working relationship with the Royal Family", but did not feel that his views would be "an issue".
On 6 December 2018, Drakeford emerged as leader of the Welsh Labour Party in succession to
Carwyn Jones. He received 46.9% of the vote in the first round of the contest, and 53.9% in the second round compared to 41.4% for
Vaughan Gething.
On 13 December 2023, he stated his intention to resign as Leader of the Welsh Labour Party, although he would remain as First Minister until his successor was chosen.
On 16 March 2024 Vaughan Gething won the
Welsh Labour leadership election against
Jeremy Miles with 51.7% of the vote.
First Minister
Mark Drakeford was nominated by AMs as First Minister designate on 12 December 2018 and his nomination was approved by
Queen Elizabeth II. He named his government the following day. He was appointed as a
Privy Counsellor on 10 January 2019.
COVID-19 pandemic
As First Minister, Drakeford responded to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Wales. Many aspects of handling COVID-19 were the responsibility of the Welsh Government, including the setting of restrictions on everyday life designed to curtail the virus.
On 23 March 2020, UK Prime Minister
Boris Johnson, having the agreement of all devolved governments, issued a lockdown of the United Kingdom, with only essential services remaining open. First Minister Drakeford announced that the measures would also cover Wales and would come into effect from that evening. The measures put in place restricted people from leaving their home for non-essential travel, with outside exercise limited to once a day. The measures that controlled exercise outside the home differed from those in England, where the measures in place did not stipulate a once-a-day restriction, whereas the Welsh version specifically limited exercise outside the home to once a day, with the maximum fine being £120, compared to £960 in England.
On 20 May, the Welsh Government increased the maximum fine to £1,920.
On 25 March the
Coronavirus Act 2020 was given Royal Assent, after passing through both Houses in the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, and may also legislate for the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace ...
. The following day the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (Wales) Regulations 2020 were approved by the
Senedd, giving the
Welsh Government
The Welsh Government ( ) is the Executive (government), executive arm of the Welsh devolution, devolved government of Wales. The government consists of Cabinet secretary, cabinet secretaries and Minister of State, ministers. It is led by the F ...
emergency powers to deal with various aspects of managing the pandemic.
Though Drakeford was supportive of a cooperative approach between the various governments of the UK,
his government also at times took significantly different decisions such as introducing a two-week "firebreak" lockdown in Wales during October 2020 at a point when the UK government was still operating a system of localised restrictions in England. A social study conducted by
University College London
University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
praised Drakeford's clear communication of anti-COVID measures.
2021 Senedd election
In the
2021 Senedd election, Labour ran on a manifesto which included various schemes to improve
health
Health has a variety of definitions, which have been used for different purposes over time. In general, it refers to physical and emotional well-being, especially that associated with normal functioning of the human body, absent of disease, p ...
and
social care provision such as investing in
mental health
Mental health is often mistakenly equated with the absence of mental illness. However, mental health refers to a person's overall emotional, psychological, and social well-being. It influences how individuals think, feel, and behave, and how t ...
services, a new medical school in
North Wales
North Wales ( ) is a Regions of Wales, region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdon ...
and an eventual move towards free-at-point-of-use social care ideally as part of a
UK-wide reform. In
education
Education is the transmission of knowledge and skills and the development of character traits. Formal education occurs within a structured institutional framework, such as public schools, following a curriculum. Non-formal education als ...
, promised policies included tutoring staff to help pupils catch up after the pandemic, funding to improve school facilities, increasing eligibility for free school meals to an unspecified number of children, expanding access to
Welsh-medium education and potential reform to the school routine. Other plans included more
reforestation, more
social housing
Public housing, also known as social housing, refers to Subsidized housing, subsidized or affordable housing provided in buildings that are usually owned and managed by local government, central government, nonprofit organizations or a ...
and possible electoral reform for
Senedd elections.

Labour equalled its best ever result, falling one seat short of an overall majority, which has never been achieved in the institution.
The BBC reporter Adrian Browne credited the outcome to Mark Drakeford and approval of his handling of the
COVID-19 pandemic in Wales. Pollster Ben Walker wrote in a piece for the
New Statesman
''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...
that one of the factors which had contributed to Labour's success at the election was that Drakeford had developed a greater profile among the public in Wales during the COVID-19 pandemic and was perceived as competent and the best potential First Minister.
Various commentators suggested that Welsh Labour's success at the election was part of a wider trend in the round of elections which took place across Britain at the same time of incumbents being rewarded and that there were also more long-term factors which placed Labour in a better position to succeed in Wales than elsewhere.
2021 term
In November 2021, Drakeford and
Plaid Cymru leader
Adam Price reached a
co-operation agreement on policy in a wide range of areas. Ideas they planned to implement included free-at-the-point-of-use social care, expanding services for children, and restrictions on second homes. The deal was the third time Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru had agreed to work together in the era of devolution.
Free school meals were introduced for the youngest children in September 2022 with the intention of being expanded to all primary pupils by 2024. In February 2023 all new road projects in Wales were cancelled as they had failed an environmental test. In April a number of new powers were granted to local authorities intended to disincentivise second home ownership. The introduction of a
20mph speed limit on many more roads in September 2023 divided opinion. Towards the end of Drakeford's time in office the Welsh government received criticism of its performance in healthcare and education. A poll conducted in early December found that 56% of Welsh voters viewed Drakeford unfavourably.
On 13 December 2023 Drakeford resigned, intending to step down after his replacement had been selected in a
leadership contest.
Post-leadership
Drakeford served on the backbenches between March and August 2024 during
Vaughan Gething 's premiership. During this time, he gave a key note speech for
Wales Humanists on his approach to good government, equal societies, and human rights. In August, Drakeford was appointed
Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care on an interim basis under new First Minister
Eluned Morgan. In September 2024, Morgan moved Drakeford to
Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Welsh Language.
Personal life
Drakeford was married to Clare Buckle from 1977 until her death in January 2023, at the age of 71. They have three children.
During the early stage of the Covid-19 pandemic, Drakeford had moved into a building in the couple's back garden to protect his wife and his wife's mother, who were both vulnerable.
Drakeford is said to have a passion for cricket and for growing vegetables on his allotment.
Selected works
*
*
*
*
Notes
References
External links
People of the Senedd – Member details
{{DEFAULTSORT:Drakeford, Mark
1954 births
Academics of Cardiff University
Academics of Swansea University
Alumni of the University of Exeter
Alumni of the University of Kent
Articles containing video clips
Councillors in Cardiff
Welsh Labour members of the Senedd
Living people
Members of South Glamorgan County Council
Ministers for finance of Wales
People educated at Queen Elizabeth High School, Carmarthen
People from Carmarthen
Politicians from Cardiff
Wales AMs 2011–2016
Wales MSs 2016–2021
Wales MSs 2021–2026
Welsh republicans
Welsh socialists
Welsh-speaking politicians