The First Minister has poked fun at a Conservative Senedd Member who is trying to become the Tory candidate in the race to be Mayor of London. Natasha Asghar, who represents South Wales East, made the announcement on Monday afternoon. In an email to fellow Tory Senedd Members, seen by WalesOnline, she said she would not be resigning in order to campaign.
Speaking during Plenary in the Welsh Parliament today, Miss Asghar asked Mark Drakeford about plans to make school uniform more affordable in Wales and accused the Welsh Government of "kicking the can down the road". In response to this, the First Minister said: "I don't think it can, for a moment, be an accurate accusation to suggest that the can is being kicked down the road, because that guidance has already been issued.... [and] it is a great deal stronger than any guidance to be found across the border or, indeed, in London, to take a random example...."
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This was greeted with hoots and laughter from the Labour side with several Tory MSs also laughing. The Welsh Tory leader Andrew RT Davies remained stony silent and frosty through the exchange.
WalesOnline approached Natasha Asghar to ask why she hadn't resigned and how she would be able to represent people in Wales if she was running a campaign as well as her Senedd job.
She told WalesOnline: "I am not resigning as all I have done is simply submit an application form. You wouldn't expect someone to resign from their current role if they had just applied for another job in any other area of society - and this is no different. I will continue to serve the people of South East Wales to the best of my ability and it's very much businesses as usual."
She added: "My colleagues in the Welsh Parliament have been extremely supportive and I want to thank them for being there for me. Of course some of them will have legitimate questions, which I will be more than happy to answer. I lived in London for nearly two decades so have a real understanding of what the big issues are that Londoners face. I've worked in London for years in a variety of roles including media and banking.
"This was by no means an easy decision to make. I spent the last few weeks mulling the decision over before deciding to submit my application. London is a fantastic place to live, work and visit, but sadly Sadiq Khan has neglected our city for far too long and that's got to change. Bringing about that meaningful change is what motivated me to seek the candidacy. For the last two years I have been holding the Welsh Government to account in an array of areas but transport in particular as Labour ministers rolled out backwards policies left, right and centre. I will be bringing my political experience and knowledge to the table as well as a whole lot of passion and determination."
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