Leadership Quote by Ron Davies

The stammering dash-work here is the point as much as the promise. Ron Davies sounds like a man talking in real time, trying to outrun the suspicion that comes with power: that devolution might be a stepping stone to something pushier, more punitive, more self-righteous. By repeating "I have - I have", he frames himself as over-occupied already, a public servant swamped by the "interesting task" of guiding Wales into "our new democracy". It’s a deliberate downshifting of ambition: I’ve got enough on my plate, don’t worry, I’m not coming for yours.

The phrase "piloting Wales" is also telling. It casts devolution not as revolution, but as navigation: technical, careful, accountable to conditions, not ideology. That metaphor reassures skeptical audiences who feared a slippery slope from a Welsh Assembly to a grab-bag of constitutional chaos. He’s implicitly arguing for competence over fervor.

Then comes the defensive core: "without wanting to exercise draconian powers on behalf of anybody else". That’s a preemptive rebuttal to the charge that devolved government would become a proxy enforcer - either for London, for party bosses, or for interest groups hungry for a local strongman. "Draconian" is a hot word: it evokes authoritarian overreach while flattering the listener as someone rightly wary of it. The closing "I can assure [you] of that" tries to convert anxiety into trust, but the very need to insist on it reveals the era’s tension: devolution sold as empowerment, haunted by the fear it could just reorganize control.