‘A choice between Eluned Morgan or Nigel Farage’: Jo Stevens on Labour’s struggles in Wales | Wales

It’s still too early for many people other than dog walkers to be enjoying Roath Park in leafy north Cardiff, but it’s the first stop of three for Keir Starmer’s secretary of state for Wales, Jo Stevens.

After coffee with the Guardian on Thursday, Port Talbot beckons for a meeting of the government-funded transition board that is supposed to help the traditionally steelmaking town navigate the closure of Tata Steel’s blast furnaces – still a raw wound for many Welsh voters – and then it’s on to Llandudno for the Welsh Labour conference.

The summit is being watched more closely than usual. A year into government in Westminster, Labour is on tricky ground. In Wales, where the party has led every government since devolution in 1999, polling suggests it will win its lowest ever…