Rhun ap Iorwerth (Image: PA Images / Alamy)
Last Updated: 4 minutes ago
Rhun ap Iorwerth has fired a broadside at both Reform UK and Welsh Labour as he set out his vision for government at his party’s conference in Newport.
The Plaid Cymru leader told a packed hall at the International Convention Centre that the Senedd election on 7 May represents a stark choice for voters across Wales.
“Tolerance or division. Progress or decay. Defiance or deference. Culture or ignorance. Humanity or indifference. Plaid Cymru or Reform,” he said.
Ap Iorwerth took direct aim at Nigel Farage’s party, warning that a Reform-led Welsh government would set Wales back by “decades”. He accused them of planning to use the Senedd as an “electoral springboard” with “no accountability, no seriousness” and “no policies”.
He also claimed Reform’s commitment to devolution was fragile at best, saying: “They accept devolution, for now. But they’d turn against it on a whim. We all know they have zero loyalty to Wales and our nationhood.”
Asked on BBC Radio Wales whether his “ignorance” remark was aimed at Reform voters, ap Iorwerth said the accusation was directed at Nigel Farage himself, pointing to the party leader’s decision not to let Welsh members choose their own leader in Wales.
“I think people in Wales expect more than that,” he said.
Labour also came under fire, with ap Iorwerth declaring it was “over” for the party after 27 years in charge of Wales, accusing them of having run out of ideas.
Despite opinion polls suggesting Plaid is neck and neck with Reform for first place, ap Iorwerth struck a cautious tone, acknowledging that the “enormity” of the task ahead can “all feel daunting at times”.
“We’re not looking to do the impossible,” he said. “We’ll focus our efforts on a clear set of priorities – on doing the basics better, so that we can really improve people’s lives in ways that matter.”
He promised a health and care service that works, an education system focused on essential life skills, childcare to ease pressure on family budgets, and pledged that a Plaid government “would be unequivocally and unapologetically pro-business and pro-prosperity”.
The party is set to unveil its plan for the first 100 days of government on Saturday, which ap Iorwerth insisted was not a sign of complacency but of readiness to govern.
Since taking the leadership in 2023, the Ynys Môn MS has shifted the party’s focus away from independence as a central issue and ditched a 2021 pledge to hold a referendum. He recently also abandoned a policy for net zero carbon emissions by 2035.
Plaid is hoping to win enough seats to form a minority government under the Senedd’s new proportional voting system, which will see 96 politicians elected across large constituencies of six members each – up from the current 60.
