Eluned Morgan say she ‘won’t stay silent’ as she looks to Senedd vote next year

Eluned Morgan will insist that she “will not stay silent” if UK Labour makes “decisions that we think will harm Welsh communities”, as she marks one year to the 2026 Senedd elections.

The First Minister will say that she “will not hesitate to challenge from within” when she delivers a major speech in Cardiff on Tuesday.

She will also say that “the future of Wales is at stake”, as the party looks to the challenge from Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, one year out from the vote.

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Downturn

Polling by Survation in April suggested that voters are split three ways when it comes to the Senedd elections, with Labour on 27%, and Reform and Plaid Cymru both on 24%.

Such numbers would mark a significant downturn in the Labour vote, after the party managed to secure 39.9% in the last elections in 2021.

In the same contest, Plaid Cymru got 20.3% of the vote, while Reform got 1.6%.

Speaking in Cardiff on Tuesday, she is expected to say when it comes to working with the UK Government: “Where we disagree we’ll say it, where we see unfairness we’ll stand up to it.

“And when Westminster makes decisions that we think will harm Welsh communities, we will not stay silent.”

She will also say: “I will not hesitate to challenge from within, even when it means shaking things up and disrupting the comfortable.”

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'Weight of responsibility'

The Senedd elections next spring will be Baroness Morgan’s first as party leader, having assumed the role last summer.

She will say that she knew the “weight of responsibility” when she took on that role, and that “change was not only coming, it was needed”.

“A new voting system. A new era. A government that’s already delivered for 27 years. Now, with the rise of Reform and the risks of a divided left vote, the future of Wales is at stake,” she will add.

She is also expected to say that “our politics isn’t about putting people down, it’s about quiet determination. It’s about care, compassion, graft. It is about solidarity not spite”.

Reform won control of 10 local authorities in England last week, after they won more than 600 seats across the local elections.

Mr Farage has the Welsh and Scottish parliaments in his sights, as he said on Friday that “next year we will go for the Welsh and Scottish parliamentary elections, and I believe we can and we will win that next general election”.

Sir Keir Starmer faced push back in the wake of the English results, with policies such as changes to the winter fuel allowance and welfare reforms among those criticised by Labour figures.

He was also warned that right-wing parties would make gains at their expense if they do not offer the change that voters want.