Over the course of six hours we saw every side of the First Minister.

There was the good. The desire to show his workings on why he made decisions he did, the attention to detail where he clearly was across his brief. And in some ways his performance was an order of magnitude above other Welsh Government ministers who have appeared in the same seat. There was also his clear compassion, where he evidently gives genuine thought to the impact his decisions will have on the people he governs. Not to mention his ability to appear real and unpolished such as when he becomes choked up talking about his mother in a care home.

But then there was the bad. The prickliness that can come out when challenged. The seemingly relentless desire to claim credit for what Wales did well while putting the blame for failings at the feet of the UK Government. The slippery ability to act above political manoeuvring while simultaneously shifting responsibility on to advisers, rivals or even the system itself. Perhaps most frustrating is the apparent inability to say: “I got that wrong”.

Will Hayward pulls no punches when it comes to scrutinising the decision making of politicians in Wales. You can sign up to his newsletter here to find out what is really going on in Wales.

In the space of one appearance Mr Drakeford showed both why at one point he was so popular, and also why his polling plummeted. The inquiry appearance itself really was 50 Shades of Dray.

A continuous itch that the inquiry looked to scratch was around the idea that the Welsh Government, who let’s not forget have been responsible for health in Wales for over 20 years, were slow to respond to Covid in the early months of 2020 before we locked down.

Here the First Minister, like Vaughan Gething, was asked about the decision not to cancel the Wales v Scotland Six Nations and instead leave it to the WRU. In what will become a theme, Mr Drakeford attempted to continuously juxtapose himself with the Boris Johnson-led UK Government.

On a Cobr meeting on March 12 the attendees were told cases in the UK were increasing, there were 5,000 to 10,000 cases within the UK and that we were four weeks behind Italy. They were discussing if mass gatherings should go ahead, particularly outdoor ones. The previous day the First Minister had been told cancelling mass gatherings could reduce infection related deaths by 2%.

Mr Drakeford says he argued at the Cobr meeting that mass gatherings should not go ahead. Mr Drakeford has previously said in his statement that mass gatherings were "an unwelcome distraction" and that it was "confusing" to say people should stay at home but it was okay to "attend the Cheltenham Festival or a concert".

Mr Drakeford told the inquiry that Mr Johnson took views of those around the table. "I was arguing for a four nation agreement, that mass gatherings would not go ahead, not on clinical grounds. I can't do that because all the clinical advice I have is that is not a supported course of action but I am arguing for it on the grounds of messaging".

The Prime Minister overruled it and did not ban mass gatherings. Mr Drakeford said he remembered this meeting because the Prime Minister ended it by saying: "Dom says no." The First Minister went to on say: "I did not know who Dom was at this point, this was the final thing that the Prime Minister said", referencing Mr Johnson's adviser, who went to Specsavers via Barnard Castle and some bluebells.

But this is where Mr Drakeford’s lack of leadership in the early days of the pandemic becomes apparent. He was asked why, given that........

© Wales Online