Plaid ready to replace Welsh Labour, says Rhun ap Iorwerth

Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth will later say Plaid Cymru is ready to replace Welsh Labor at the next Senedd election.

At its annual conferences, the party leader will promise to form “a new government with new energy and new ideas”.

Labor has led Wales since devolution began in 1999 and has dominated Welsh politics for a century. The next election will be held in May.

“Change now looks inevitable,” he will say, calling on voters to back his party if they want to stop Nigel Farage’s Reform UK from winning the election.

Plaid Cymru played an important role throughout devolution, as an occasional supporter of Labor governments.

It has failed to beat Labor in an election but recent opinion polls suggest Plaid, like Reform, is vying with the party to win.

Rhun ap Iorwerth is now trying to position his party as the government-in-waiting.

Even if Plaid came first, they would have to work with Labor or other parties in some way, as no party has won a majority in the Senedd.

The party leader will tell his conference: “Today, with a historic nation-building opportunity before us, I will lay out the choice facing Wales – two very different futures but only one credible option.

“Let’s be clear. We are not here to act as the conscience of the Labor Party. We are not here to repair the Labor Party. We are here to replace them.

“We promise a new government with new energy and new ideas that will prove what everyone who believes in Wales already knows: things don’t have to be this way.”

With some exceptions, Plaid Cymru has traditionally had greater support in the Welsh-speaking parts of north and west Wales.

Ap Iorwerth said his government would stand with “Welsh speakers, young and old, urban and rural, north and south” [and] non-Welsh speaker”.

“It is now time to stop the Reformation and elect a government that is more radical, more ambitious, more impatient than previous governments to create positive change,” he will say.

Plaid Cymru is trying to position itself as the leading anti-Reform party in the next Senedd elections; Rhun ap Iorwerth will be Wales’ next first minister.

He sees Nigel Farage’s party rather than Labor as his main rival, reflecting how the political climate in the UK has changed since the last general election.

Despite being pro-independence, in their view the 2026 election will not be an independence election and the issue is unlikely to be front and centre, trying to reach beyond its usual base.

It has so far not promised wholesale scrapping and rebuilding of the way Wales operates – which they consider risky in the current financial climate – but the party insists it will still deliver “radical” policies.

The party suggests an example of this is a promise to pay for tackling child poverty.

Plaid faces a challenge in how to persuade voters on the left to switch to them. new voting system It was designed to give people more choices.

The Greens and Welsh Liberal Democrats, like Labor, will be among those hoping to motivate voters who want to block Reform.

It will also be competing with a Reform party that has a lot of money and extensive media coverage; These are two things Plaid has always struggled with.

Open Radio Wales BreakfastThe Plaid leader said his party must show “we will be careful and responsible in moving Wales forward after many years of stagnation”.

“There is an absolute need to build faith and show people that we will be responsible in government

“But I would withdraw the accusation that there is no radicalism there.”

He added: “We need to show that we will be vigilant and responsible in moving Wales forward after many years of stagnation.”

Ap Iorwerth said the 2026 elections will not be about Plaid’s independence.

“There will be no referendum in the next few years,” he said.

But he said Plaid would set up a permanent commission on Wales’ constitutional future, “taking forward the discussions” of the independent commission determining independence on the issue. as an option for the future of the country.