Leighton was right

So Leighton Andrews resigned yesterday. First Minister Carwyn Jones basically sacked him for breaking the Ministerial Code because he was campaigning against closing Pentre Primary School in his constituency. Thing is, Leighton has been the one telling councils all over Wales they need to close schools because there’s too many surplus places. Then when it came to his own backyard in the Rhondda, he stood there with a banner supporting keeping the school open.

Yeah it looks hypocritical. And I get why people are furious with him. If you’re a parent in Caerphilly or somewhere and your kid’s school got shut down because Leighton said it had to happen, and then you see him fighting to save one in his own area - you’ve got every right to be angry.

But I still think he did the right thing.

Schools aren’t just buildings. They’re where your parents went, where you take your kids, where everyone knows each other. That matters. Especially in the Valleys where everything else has gone - the pits closed, jobs disappeared, communities got written off. The schools are one of the few things left that connect people to what came before.

Parents should be able to send their kids to the same school they went to. That commonality is important. It’s about being part of something bigger than yourself, being connected to your community and your family’s history. And when you live somewhere that’s been through what the Valleys have been through, keeping those connections matters even more.

Leighton was trying to do his job as Education Minister and also represent his constituents. Turns out you can’t do both when they clash. He chose his constituents. He knew what picking up that banner would cost him and he did it anyway.

That’s what an AM is supposed to do - fight for the people who elected them. Even when it looks bad. Even when it costs them their job. I don’t know if Leighton handled it well, but when it came down to it, he picked the actual people he represents over abstract policy. There’s something decent in that.

People have every right to be angry about the hypocrisy. But they also have every right to expect their local school to stay open, to want their kids to have the same experience they had growing up. I don’t know what the right answer is. I just know Leighton paid the price for standing with his community, and I respect that.