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David Deans

@deansofcardiff.bsky.social
4.7K followers 1.8K following 691 posts

BBC Wales online political reporter. Email: david.deans@bbc.co.uk

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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 08/07/2026
Reform Wales' Dan Thomas has told the BBC he would consider a donation from a criminal if it was his only option to pay for security - prompting scorn from some of his political rivals
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Scott Bryan @scottygb.bsky.social · 26/06/2026
Radio 4 Long Wave ends tomorrow www.bbc.com/mediacentre/...
bbc.com
Radio 4 broadcasts on Long Wave to end on 27 June 2026
Long Wave infrastructure owned and operated by a third party is coming to the end of its life as a technology
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 11/06/2026
Welsh Labour to find new leader by November But we've learned of a split at the top of the party and an argument over when that timetable should take place www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Welsh Labour to have new leader by November but party split
BBC Wales is told the party's ruling body argued over how quickly the contest should take place.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
MP Steve Witherden has been accused by a constituent of stealing an idea to have unused ventilators released from a Welsh hospital. The constituent says he asked the MP for help for them to go to Ukraine, but found out the MP later asked if they could go to Cuba.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
At the end of last night's BBC debate the contours of a potential alliance that could keep Reform out of government were apparent It's been obvious to Welsh political anoraks but maybe not the public - four parties ruled out working with reform, but not each other
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
Live Welsh political debate tonight on BBC 1 Wales - tune in! www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cg...
bbc.co.uk
Senedd election TV debate: Welsh Parliament parties face off in Wrexham
Politicians fighting for seats in the next Welsh Parliament are answering questions from an audience in Wrexham.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
The Senedd has passed legislation paving the way for a ban on lying in Welsh Parliament election campaigns (50 votes for, 1 against), and for a ban on greyhound racing. (39 for, 2 abstentions and 10 against)
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 17/03/2026
On 18 February 2025 a Welsh government minister announced that his administration would ban greyhound racing. It came a day after officials, in a note signed off by the chief vet Richard Irvine, told him they hadn't gathered enough evidence to justify it
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 22/02/2026
Mr Nobody Against Putin, which has won a Bafta tonight, is on iPlayer. Profound doc self shot by a Russian school teacher who filmed as his school was forced to inject propaganda into its classrooms www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m002kx2d
bbc.co.uk
Storyville - Mr Nobody Against Putin
A Storyville documentary that follows a Russian schoolteacher as he risks everything to expose rising militarism in his classroom.
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Kriszta Satori @fulelo.bsky.social · 12/02/2026
#BBCNews - Lyse Doucet: In Tehran, rallies for Iran's revolution overshadowed by discontent and defiance www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Lyse Doucet: In Tehran, rallies for Iran's revolution overshadowed by discontent and defiance
The BBC visits the Iranian capital for the first time since authorities used unprecedented force to put down protests last month.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 11/02/2026
Plaid have gained a seat on Pembrokeshire council via a council by-election in Fishguard North East. It had been won by Labour at the election in 2022
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 10/02/2026
Focus in the Senedd & Welsh politics today will be on FMQs, where if the opposition doesn't challenge the FM on her stance on the UK Labour leadership I'd be very surprised. Starts at 1330.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 04/02/2026
Former Tory MS James Evans, in Senedd debate on NHS where Tories are calling for a health emergency to be declared, says he didn't know what that meant in the 12 months he was a health spokesman.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 03/02/2026
Get off Netflix and go to the pub if want to save them, Eluned Morgan told FMQs in the Senedd today, as she came under fire over business rates www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Stop watching Netflix to save pubs, Welsh first minister Eluned Morgan says
Eluned Morgan said her government can't be expected
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
Labour MS Alun Davies says there is no perfect time for the Senedd to vote on assisted dying, telling BBC Radio Wales that it might be too late to wait until the next term. He says the consequences of voting (like how assisted dying would happen in Wales) are still not known
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 29/01/2026
Tories promising grandparents £4.8k to help with childcare in an election pledge announced today www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Welsh Conservatives pledge grandparents £4,800 for childcare
Grandparents in Wales could get £4,800 a year to look after grandchildren if party wins Senedd election.
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Ian Hamilton @ianhamiltonbbc.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
What would you do if your home was destroyed? For many Ukrainians in Scotland, that's the situation they find themselves in. Amid peace deal talks, will they have a choice about staying or returning? Our latest story across BBC Scotland www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Can Scotland's Ukrainian refugees ever go home?
With no progress in peace talks and Russia continuing to bomb Ukraine, refugees in Scotland look to the future.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
On national radio the first minister Eluned Morgan repeatedly refused to offer support to the prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, telling voters the May election is not a time for a protest vote against his government www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Wales' first minister Eluned Morgan refuses to support Sir Keir Starmer
Eluned Morgan repeatedly refused to say if the prime minister is good at his job in a BBC interview.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 28/01/2026
"I'm sure people are waiting with baited breath to read all parties manifestos - I particularly encourage that if you struggle with insomnia" - Sam Rowlands, who is the Welsh Tory policy director, on Radio Wales
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 27/01/2026
Eluned Morgan took flack from all sides in the Senedd today over her speech calling for more devolution to stop pro-indy parties taking control of the Senedd
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 26/01/2026
It was on Thursday that the first minister called again for policing to be devolved and on Monday that the home secretary rejected it
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 21/01/2026
BBC: Leicestershire and Rutland's police and crime commissioner (PCC) is facing a complaint that he asked a police officer to help him organise an election campaign photo with a horse in reference to Vladimir Putin's famous topless photoshoot. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Hearing for PCC over 'Putin-style' horse photo request
Rupert Matthews has been accused of asking a police officer to set up a photoshoot with a horse.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
The only thing Reform have said about James Evans all day: Farage denying a tweet claiming he spoke to the now ex Tory MS tonight about joining the party. Begs the question what exactly is going on
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 20/01/2026
On Monday, Conservative MS James Evans did something a bit odd. Eagle eyed viewers of his Facebook page noticed that, at 1.16pm, he removed the words "Welsh Conservatives" from a post attacking Labour and Plaid Cymru.
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Gareth Joy @lookoutwales2.bsky.social · 19/01/2026
This is good fun. Choose your ABC (Australia) clock, tweak the interference, ghosting etc. You can even choose when to have the pips. @dirtyfeed.org @matt.cymru @aldupres.bsky.social mubd.net.au/tv-history/a...
mubd.net.au
ABC TV Clock
Interactive recreation of the ABC TV clock (1974, 1975, 1982).
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Shayan Sardarizadeh @shayan86.bsky.social · 17/01/2026
During a speech in Tehran today, Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said that "several thousand people were killed" during the recent protests by those he described as "seditionists", confirming for the first time that the death toll from the protests is in the thousands.
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Scott Duffield @scottduffield.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
Robert Jenrick joins Reform UK More on BBC News ⬇️ www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cr...
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Henry Zeffman @hzeffman.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
BREAKING Kemi Badenoch has sacked Robert Jenrick from the shadow cabinet, removed the whip and suspended his party membership. She says she was "presented with clear, irrefutable evidence that he was plotting in secret to defect" to Reform
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 15/01/2026
We headed to the Bargoed elections office on a wet and windy morning this week to see how the parties spent their money in the Caerphilly by-election campaign Labour spent double the victors Plaid, at roughly £27 per eventual vote. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Labour outspent rivals on failed Caerphilly Senedd by-election bid
Labour came third in the Caerphilly by-election, its first parliamentary defeat in the seat for 100 years.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
ITV Wales/YouGov/Cardiff University polling is suggesting a rewiring of Welsh politics in its latest poll. Labour have won every domestic parliamentary election in Wales since the 1920s. This has them in fourth, level pegging with the Tories. Plaid first, Reform second, Greens third
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 13/01/2026
The Welsh government's attempt to stop lying in politics has gone down extremely badly with some Senedd committees, including some Labour MSs, who have issued withering warnings about bad law and unintended consequences. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Lying ban for politicians in Welsh elections prompts free speech fears
A report says the proposed bill, which passed its first hurdle on Tuesday, would be
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 09/12/2025
Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru reach Welsh government budget deal, say sources to me and Emilia Belli
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 02/12/2025
WLGA didn't push back on this from the Auditor General, warning that up to two councils could go bust in Wales www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
One or two Welsh councils near bankruptcy, says watchdog
Some Welsh councils could be close to going bust, public spending watchdog says.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
Excuse the the Disney reference (let it go etc)... WGC bods here saying freezing the thresholds will leave the Welsh budget with more money than expected
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
The Greyhound racing industry is getting a chance to challenge the ban in Wales in the courts www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Greyhound racing ban in Wales faces legal challenge in court
An industry body has accused ministers of not following the correct process when announcing the ban.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 27/11/2025
The opposition to Welsh Labour in the Senedd has won a vote for the first time since the Caerphilly by-election www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Welsh government loses Senedd vote over Rachel Reeves' budget
Conservatives and Plaid Cymru accuse Sir Keir Starmer's government of failing to deliver for Wales.
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Steve Rosenberg @bbcstever.bsky.social · 23/11/2025
45 years ago I made a pitch for the Director-General job. Didn’t get it – mind you, I was only 13. But I did get a reply from Ian Trethowan, who was DG at the time. All these years later I’m proud to work for the BBC.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Didn't you just switch it off
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Lindsay Whittle MS, being sworn in by the Clerk of the Senedd and chief executive, Manon Antoniazzi (📸: Senedd Cymru)
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 24/10/2025
Plaid's Caerphilly by-election campaign always felt a question of whether it could pull off the victory you could see available in the numbers. PC had a block of about 8,000 voters, and local knowledge from its council base - could they get Labour voters to switch over?
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 15/10/2025
Bernard Gentry is out as Welsh Tory chair after a year. Asked if he was forced out by senior party figures, he told me: "Some people might say that. You won't hear me saying that."
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 14/10/2025
The Welsh government started talking about the budget on Monday in apocalyptic terms, raising the spectre of mass redundancies because of statutory cuts if it cannot get a deal. It has ended Tuesday with both big Senedd opposition parties ready to talk
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 26/09/2025
Nathan Gill was at the forefront of the Brexit push in Wales in the mid 2010s. He's now admitted that he spent part of the tail end of his career taking bribes from a pro Russian politician in Ukraine to say things for him in the European parliament, and elsewhere www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
Reform UK's ex-Wales leader Nathan Gill admits pro-Russia bribery
Nathan Gill admits eight charges of bribery while being a Member of the European Parliament.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 25/09/2025
There's a major Welsh by-election happening in Caerphilly next month. The prime minister is unsure if he will campaign in it www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Keir Starmer unsure if he'll campaign in Caerphilly by-election
Labour is facing a fight to retain the seat in a Senedd by-election next month.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 08/09/2025
The campaign has begun Labour's Eluned Morgan says her party would find it 'tricky' to pass a budget if it lost the Caerphilly election, warning of cuts as a result www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...
bbc.co.uk
Labour warns of cuts if it loses Caerphilly Senedd by-election
The first minister says her party will find it harder to pass a budget if she loses the by-election.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 04/09/2025
A pallbearer for Hefin David's funeral was among those in Caerphilly constituency who received a mail out from Reform on the day of the service
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 03/09/2025
Senedd by-election on October 23 in Caerphilly, Senedd presiding officer announces
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 13/08/2025
A big part of the ambitious 2016 Senedd intake, Hefin David was keen to make an impact. The Caerphilly MS was an independent voice in the Labour group who banged the drum for the causes he most cared about, autism among them.
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Steve Rosenberg @bbcstever.bsky.social · 09/08/2025
The speculation was: UAE, Saudi, Qatar, Turkey, Switzerland, or the Vatican The reality is: USA Wasn't expecting that. Trump-Putin summit in Alaska next Friday.
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David Deans @deansofcardiff.bsky.social · 08/08/2025
A source gets in touch with the Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg Labour shortlist Bearing in mind Sarah Murphy is the incumbent Others: Helen Mary Payne Camilla Beaven Huw John David OBE Jonathan Simon Cox OBE Neelo Farr William Rhys Goode Carys Stallard
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