Prime Minister Boris Johnson has responded to criticism that he did not maintain a dialogue with Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford during the pandemic by saying: "I love the guy".
In an interview with ITV Wales’ Political Editor Adrian Masters, the Prime Minister was put on the spot about Mr Drakeford's repeated criticisms over the last 18 months that there was no regular contact between the leaders of the devolved nations and the man in charge in No.10 Downing Street.
"He keeps saying by the way that I never I never call him, well he never calls me - I mean come on - it takes two to tango," said Mr Johnson.
"I love the guy but he's not on the phone to me all the time [and] I keep reading in the papers: ‘ Mark Drakeford denounces Boris Johnson for failing to ring him up’ - well come on, you know he can always - If he really wants to have a conversation then he can ring me up."
In September 2020, the first ministers of Wales and Scotland both said Mr Johnson was failing to talk to them directly.
At one point, Mr Drakeford accused the Prime Minister of "disrespecting the people of Wales" after the Prime Minister ignored a letter requesting he stop people travelling to Wales from areas of England with high coronavirus infection rates.
TheY clashed over approaches to the pandemic, and projects such as the M4 relief road, which Mr Drakeford cancelled but Mr Johnson has continued to say he will pursue despite it being a matter for the devolved government.
Mr Drakeford said there was a "vacancy" at the heart of UK Government. In March 2021, he said his relationship with Mr Johnson was "remote" revealing he had only had one proper meeting with the prime minister.
The behind-the-scenes S4C documentary Prif Weinidog mewn Pandemig (First Minister in a Pandemic) caught Mr Drakeford calling Mr Johnson "really, really awful".
Mr Drakeford has upped his criticism of the Prime Minister in recent weeks. He used his conference speech in Brighton to call his government "incompetent to the core " and said his handling of the fuel shortage was "arrogant". He has also criticised "short sighted" cuts to Universal Credit. You can read that here.
The Conservative Party is currently holding its annual conference in Manchester.
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