When Tony Blair incorporated the Additional Member System (AMS) in 1997 into the electoral system for Wales and Scotland, it was designed to stop nationalists from gaining power. Sadly, his anticipation AMS would save both countries from nationalism failed. Scotland has had a Scottish National Party (SNP) administration with an overall majority since 2011 and Plaid Cymru have recently formed a coalition with Welsh Labour.
"They should vote Conservative in 2021"
Some would argue both countries need electoral reform, but Scotland confounded everyone's expectations.
Once considered a Labour heartland, political commentators were dumbfounded when the SNP formed a minority administration in 2007. And since last year, the Scottish Conservatives have overtaken Scottish Labour as the official opposition party, something many people did not expect to witness in their lifetime. Scotland may be different to Wales, but the former proves anything is still possible in the latter as long as both nations still use AMS. That is why Wales should vote for something different. They deserve better. They should vote Conservative in 2021.
Welsh Labour's record there has been appalling. A fifth of the Welsh Government's annual budget is spent on tackling poverty at a cost of £3.6 billion a year.
The Joseph Rowntree Foundation raised these concerns last year. An average of 700,000 people were in poverty in three years leading up to 2014-15: that is 23 per cent of the population. 17 per cent of people in 2016 could not get full-time jobs.
A report called Prosperity without Poverty laid out ideas on how to generate wealth in the country, and many of these ideas were natural Conservative ones.
They included new enterprise zones that would provide tax breaks to new businesses, investing money in education, developing apprenticeships and allowing people to switch energy providers.
"Welsh Labour's record on education has been atrocious"
Welsh Labour's record on education in particular has been atrocious. The Economist labelled Morriston Comprehensive in Wales as one of the worst schools in the country.
In 2001, Labour scrapped league tables, which added an unnecessary burden to schools, according to one head teacher, and scrapped national tests in 2004. This cost the average pupil two GCSE grades. The rest of the UK, Latvia and the Czech Republic have performed better since. This is why Wales needs to adopt freedom of choice in education, much like England has, which has witnessed significant improvements since the introduction of academies and free schools. 3.6 per cent more pupils in England improved their GCSE results after their schools were converted to academies. Only the Conservatives can deliver this in Wales.
It is time for the Welsh Conservatives to breathe new life into Wales. They would easily adopt ideas from the Prosperity without Poverty report and improve the Welsh education system with freedom of choice. Labour has been in power for 18 years. It is, to coin Cameron's old phrase, time for change.