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First Minister Eluned Morgan is set to launch Welsh Labour’s Senedd election campaign in Newport on Monday, putting mental health and everyday concerns at the heart of her pitch to voters.
The party has pledged to transform mental health care across Wales by rolling out same-day support services, with trials planned across all seven health boards. The commitment builds on the existing Wales-wide 111 “press two” mental health urgent support line, which has been in development within Welsh Government for some time.
Beyond mental health, Morgan will also set out plans to improve hospital transport access, hit fly-tippers with bigger fines, and introduce a “lifelong retraining guarantee” to help people stay in or return to work. Labour has already committed to a £2 bus fare cap and year-round pay for all school support staff.
What Morgan will say
In her speech, the Welsh Labour leader will strike a tone of urgency, saying: “Fairness today cannot mean permanent patience. It cannot mean ‘bear with us’.
“Fairness today must mean progress you can see, progress you can measure, progress you can feel.”
She will add: “We will focus on the things that make the biggest difference to daily life, and we will deliver them with the seriousness that government demands.”
In what is being described as a direct message to political rivals, Morgan will argue that real policy challenges demand more than online posturing.
She will say: “You cannot fix waiting times with a hashtag. You cannot grow wages on TikTok. You cannot build a hospital with a committee. You need a plan.”
The political landscape
Labour has governed Wales since the Senedd’s predecessor, the National Assembly for Wales, opened 27 years ago – but opinion polls suggest the party could slip to third place behind Plaid Cymru and Reform at this election.
Monday’s campaign launch follows recent party conferences held by the Welsh Conservatives in Llandudno, Conwy, and Plaid Cymru in Newport during February. Welsh Labour has opted not to hold a spring conference this year, with BBC Wales told it would take place later instead. While the party held conferences ahead of both the 2016 and 2021 Senedd elections, sources insist one was never planned for this spring.
One party source explained the thinking: “If you’re Labour right now you want all your activists out on the doors at every weekend. There is a cost/risk opportunity taking all your activists for a weekend in Llandudno.”
