Rhun ap Iorwerth (Image: PA Images / Alamy)
Last Updated: 1 hour ago
Rhun ap Iorwerth has set out his party’s ambition to end nearly three decades of Labour-led government in Wales, launching Plaid Cymru’s Senedd election campaign at Bedwas Workmen’s Hall & Institute in Caerphilly.
The Plaid leader framed the 7 May vote as a defining moment for Welsh democracy, telling supporters it represented “a historic opportunity to change Wales for the better.”
“Labour’s time is up – they are now out of the picture,” he said. “This campaign is a straight choice between Plaid Cymru and Reform, between hope and division, between credibility and chaos.”
Policy pledges
Mr ap Iorwerth, a former BBC journalist, used the launch to outline Plaid’s core election commitments. They include cutting NHS waiting lists and speeding up treatment times, a universal childcare offer worth £30,000 per family, raising educational standards, and tackling child poverty.
“Plaid Cymru is the only party with an ambitious and deliverable plan to bring down those waiting times, to raise education standards, to support families with that universal childcare offer, to support businesses and the Welsh high streets, giving them the backing that they deserve,” he said.
“Reform are making it up as they go along. They will never make it their priority to do the right thing for Wales and for its communities.”
The Caerphilly factor
The choice of Caerphilly was no accident. It was here that Lindsay Whittle won a landmark Senedd by-election for Plaid against Labour in October last year – a result Mr ap Iorwerth described as a potential “blueprint for success in all parts of Wales”.
“We return here for the launch of our election campaign to the constituency of Caerphilly where history was made five months ago,” he said. “Five weeks from now Wales can make history again and that spirit of Caerphilly 2025 can be the spirit that drives us forward to the formation of the first ever Plaid Cymru government for Wales on May 7.”
He added: “This is a national mission – this is a mission to transform Wales. The people of Caerphilly embraced that in that momentous by-election of last year.
“Our challenge now is to bring all of Wales with us. And the bar we set ourselves throughout this venture will be high because the people of Wales deserve nothing less.”
“Westminster is the enemy”
Mr Whittle struck a more combative tone, telling party members that Westminster was the “enemy” and pointing to the closure of Bedwas Navigation Colliery after the 1984-85 miners’ strike as evidence that governments in London had long disregarded Welsh communities.
“A mine that had more reserve of coal than any other single mine in the whole of Wales, and it was closed on the whim of a government,” he said. “That’s why I do not trust Westminster government. They are our enemy – they care not a jot about what happens here in Wales.”
Looking ahead
Mr ap Iorwerth closed with a direct appeal to voters across Wales.
“Plaid Cymru’s message for the next five weeks to the people of Wales is this: Choose hope. Twenty-seven years of Labour leadership in Wales has held Wales back,” he said.
“I have no doubt that our nation has so much untapped potential, and if we have the honour of leading Welsh Government for the next four years, we are determined in Plaid Cymru to unleash it.
“We in no doubt, this is the most important election in the history of devolution.
“I am urging the people of Wales to unite behind Plaid Cymru for the chance of a Government that stands up for Wales in a way we have never seen before.
“May 7 is an opportunity to choose new beginnings for Wales, new ideas, a new energy, a higher level of ambition than ever before.”
An MRP poll published last week, conducted by YouGov for ITV Cymru Wales, suggested Plaid Cymru remains on course to be the largest party in the Senedd after the election, with Reform in second and Labour third.
“We will stand up for Wales to get a fair deal from Westminster,” Mr ap Iorwerth said.
