Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

I grew up in the care system in South Wales before being adopted.

I am honoured to serve the country where my story began.

Being elected as your MS for Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg is the honour of my life.

I'm here to listen. I'm here to serve. @RUKWales

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

£50 billion in inward investment — that’s what’s possible when you get it right...

I’ve seen it first hand, working with Lord Grimstone at the UK’s Office for Investment.

I pressed the Welsh Government on its new agency. The ambition is there — now it has to be matched by delivery.

I’ll keep pushing to get this right for Wales.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

@jason_oco @RUKWales @Art93229Art @BenHodgeMckenna Thank you so much. That’s very kind.

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

@love_caravans I think removing the obstacles to people starting businesses is something we can all agree on!

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

£50 billion in inward investment — that’s what’s possible when you get it right...

I’ve seen it first hand, working with Lord Grimstone at the UK’s Office for Investment.

I pressed the Welsh Government on its new agency. The ambition is there — now it has to be matched by delivery.

I’ll keep pushing to get this right for Wales.🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

@love_caravans That is part of it but any successful modern nation also needs to attract inward investment. That’s been seen whether you look at the UK or further afield such as countries like Singapore.

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

@Free_Wales_2024 I look forward to being on a committee whichever one it is!

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

Meanwhile, the UK had an investment summit to compete against France…

The UK Global Investment Summit held in October 202- spearheaded by Minister for Investment Lord Grimstone- secured £9.7 billion in new foreign investment.

I helped to organise the UK one. Clearly the Welsh one did not have the same success!

[Jase Jenkins @1swancelona]

I love how they frame it with factories producing products. Which is fair because it's easy to understand. But the problem is with people working from home doing absolutely nothing of worth in a public sector job that isn't necessary.

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

When I worked with Gerry what struck me was how few projects were based in Wales. A lot of the money and investment was being directed to the North East. Go up there, whether to the Port of Tyne, Tees Valley or to Nissan, and it’s staggering how investment has absolutely transformed the area. Metro Mayors have had a huge role to play in that transformation.

Wales definitely has lessons to learn from that.

That is a good distinction, and I think you’re right that vision and strategy have to be coherent — a strategy without a guiding vision drifts, but a vision that the strategy can’t actually deliver is just as much of a problem.

I’d put it slightly differently, though. The tension isn’t simply ideological. It’s that two good aims can pull against each other — retaining value in the Welsh economy (supporting local firms, reducing leakage) is a legitimate goal, and so is attracting serious external investment. The mistake is treating them as either/or. A strategy built only around protecting and growing what’s already here, without an equally serious offer to global investors, will leave Wales smaller than it needs to be. But one that chases inward investment while neglecting local supply chains leaves the value flowing straight back out.

The real task — and the thing I’d want any Welsh economic strategy to get right — is holding both: an open, ambitious, credible offer to inward investors, and the local capability to capture and keep the value when it lands. Get the balance wrong in either direction and Wales loses.

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

@Free_Wales_2024 Thank you very much. Doing all I can to scrutinise and push their policies to be better, when there is areas of mutual interest!

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

The value for money question on Cardiff Airport is absolutely right- significant public money has gone in for a modest return. And you're right Wales should be more ambitious about using its infrastructure and freight capacity. These are very good points. Wales should be making far better use of its M4 corridor.

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

Infrastructure is exactly the right place to start — you can’t attract investment without the road, rail and port links to support it. The airport question is a significant one with a lot to weigh, but your central point is sound: Wales has been starved of capital for too long, and that has to change.

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

Thank you so much.

What struck me most about the Office for Investment wasn’t a single clever strategy — it was a way of operating. A few principles stood out, and I think they translate directly to Wales.

First, focus and prioritisation. It didn’t try to chase everything. It concentrated effort on the sectors and opportunities where the UK had genuine comparative advantage, and went after them deliberately rather than reactively. Wales needs the same discipline — identifying where we can genuinely win such as in advanced manufacturing and concentrating effort there, rather than spreading ourselves thin.

Second, a single, credible front door. Investors don’t want to navigate layers of government. The OfI worked because it gave serious investors one authoritative point of contact who could actually convene people and unblock things. Wales currently lacks that clear front door — and that’s exactly the gap any new agency has to fill.

Third, commercial expertise and the authority to act at pace. The people doing the work understood deals, understood what investors need, and could move quickly. That’s the hardest thing for a standard government structure to replicate — and it’s the thing a Welsh agency would absolutely have to get right.

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

@Ziggy_Zwela I want to ensure that they get this right! And my role is to scrutinise them, and I try to do it in a constructive helpful way.

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

My view is, if the government really wants to do this, the only way it will work, is if it is done on the basis of real commercial expertise. and with the right governance. The Office for Investment was slightly different as it was integrated within an existing Department. But the point is still the same.

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

@slater457 £50bn is what was achieved in the UK under Lord Grimstone! That’s the scale of ambition that can be achieved, if it’s done properly! This means good governance, an investment council underpinning the institution and experts from business.

[Nick Tyrone @NicholasTyrone]

Sort of strikes me that if the Labour Party is in the process of losing public sector union workers to Reform, then perhaps Labour truly is finished.

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

@RhydianLFrancis It is beautiful. I was admiring the architecture during the service!

[Sarah Cooper-Lesadd MS @SarahReform]

So much of modern life is fleeting and transient.

Civic ceremonies are a quiet stand against that- people deciding that their own place, its history and its future are worth the effort.

They’re how a community holds onto what matters and passes it on.

Good to be at St Tathan’s Church this morning, as St Athan Community Council welcomed its new Chair.