Jul 27, 2025 06:55 PM
(This post was last modified: Jul 27, 2025 07:08 PM by C C.)
Labour no longer best placed to stop Reform winning in Wales, says Plaid Cymru leader
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/labour...er-3827915
Labour’s “ship has sailed” as the party best able to stop Reform UK from winning next year’s Welsh elections, the leader of Plaid Cymru has claimed. Rhun ap Iorwerth – whose party has led in some polling ahead of next May’s Senedd election – told The i Paper that Plaid was now the main anti-Reform force in Wales.
He also said that if Plaid won the election and showed it was a “good government” then it would give the people of Wales the “confidence” to consider holding a referendum on independence. The Senedd election on 7 May is expected to prove hugely significant for politics across the UK.
Labour has been Wales’ biggest party in every Westminster election since November 1922 and in all six Senedd elections since the dawn of devolution in 1999. However, that dominance could come to an end in May. While Labour has led in some polls since the start of the year, two have shown Nigel Farage’s Reform in the lead while one put Plaid in front.
If Labour were to lose in its historic heartland two years into Sir Keir Starmer’s Government it would likely plunge the Prime Minister into crisis. Wales’ First Minister, Eluned Morgan, has said Labour is the only party able to withstand the “wrecking ball” of Reform.
However, ap Iorwerth said the “depths” Labour had reached in some polls showed it was no longer the most effective bulwark against Farage’s party.
“The evidence suggests that that ship has sailed for Labour,” he said. “The people of Wales have cottoned on to the fact that they don’t need to keep on electing Labour just in order to keep out the right, they have seen that they can do that through Plaid Cymru.”
Ap Iorwerth accused Farage of wanting to use Wales as an “experiment” for policies he hoped to roll-out across the rest of the UK. “What we have is Reform eager to use Wales as a test bed and a springboard for [a general election in] 2029, that’s what they’re targeting,” he said. “I won’t let our Welsh parliament be used as a play thing and an experiment.”
[...] While Plaid Cymru supports Welsh independence, ap Iorwerth has pledged that he would not hold an independence referendum in the first term of a Plaid-led government.
But he said that Plaid winning next year’s election could still be a stepping-stone towards independence. He said: “We want to show that we will be a good government for Wales. And in doing that, I want to give the people of Wales the confidence in asking, ‘okay, where next?’
“I’d be happy for Wales to be independent tomorrow. But it’s not what I feel, it’s when Wales can feel confident enough to take that step.” (MORE - details)
https://inews.co.uk/news/politics/labour...er-3827915
Labour’s “ship has sailed” as the party best able to stop Reform UK from winning next year’s Welsh elections, the leader of Plaid Cymru has claimed. Rhun ap Iorwerth – whose party has led in some polling ahead of next May’s Senedd election – told The i Paper that Plaid was now the main anti-Reform force in Wales.
He also said that if Plaid won the election and showed it was a “good government” then it would give the people of Wales the “confidence” to consider holding a referendum on independence. The Senedd election on 7 May is expected to prove hugely significant for politics across the UK.
Labour has been Wales’ biggest party in every Westminster election since November 1922 and in all six Senedd elections since the dawn of devolution in 1999. However, that dominance could come to an end in May. While Labour has led in some polls since the start of the year, two have shown Nigel Farage’s Reform in the lead while one put Plaid in front.
If Labour were to lose in its historic heartland two years into Sir Keir Starmer’s Government it would likely plunge the Prime Minister into crisis. Wales’ First Minister, Eluned Morgan, has said Labour is the only party able to withstand the “wrecking ball” of Reform.
However, ap Iorwerth said the “depths” Labour had reached in some polls showed it was no longer the most effective bulwark against Farage’s party.
“The evidence suggests that that ship has sailed for Labour,” he said. “The people of Wales have cottoned on to the fact that they don’t need to keep on electing Labour just in order to keep out the right, they have seen that they can do that through Plaid Cymru.”
Ap Iorwerth accused Farage of wanting to use Wales as an “experiment” for policies he hoped to roll-out across the rest of the UK. “What we have is Reform eager to use Wales as a test bed and a springboard for [a general election in] 2029, that’s what they’re targeting,” he said. “I won’t let our Welsh parliament be used as a play thing and an experiment.”
[...] While Plaid Cymru supports Welsh independence, ap Iorwerth has pledged that he would not hold an independence referendum in the first term of a Plaid-led government.
But he said that Plaid winning next year’s election could still be a stepping-stone towards independence. He said: “We want to show that we will be a good government for Wales. And in doing that, I want to give the people of Wales the confidence in asking, ‘okay, where next?’
“I’d be happy for Wales to be independent tomorrow. But it’s not what I feel, it’s when Wales can feel confident enough to take that step.” (MORE - details)