Greens pledge to make next Welsh Government ‘bolder’ and deliver real change

The leader of the Wales Green Party, Anthony Slaughter, will tell party members this weekend that electing Greens to the Senedd would make the next Welsh Government “bolder” and more determined to challenge vested interests.

In his keynote speech to the party conference on Saturday, Mr Slaughter will say that Wales faces a “once in a generation” opportunity to transform its politics and deliver meaningful action on housing, energy, and climate change.

“We’ve been waiting for this opportunity for many years,” he is expected to say. “We can finally replace this tired, clapped-out, complacent Welsh Government with one that’s buzzing with excitement about making Wales better. But we also need to be bold – to make sure we don’t replace one cautious, timid government with one that still won’t stand up to vested interests. Caution is the last thing we need right now.”

Drawing comparisons with Scotland, where the Greens have been part of government since 2021, He will point to a series of reforms delivered there as evidence of what Greens can achieve in Wales.

“A few weeks ago, I was in Scotland listening to how our colleagues there won rent controls. How they cut child poverty. How they scrapped peak rail fares, made buses free for young people, and won record funding for climate and nature,” he will say. “Scotland shows it takes Greens – it takes bold politics – to deliver the best deal possible for people.”

Mr Slaughter will outline several policy priorities for potential Green Senedd members, including introducing a wealth tax to replace council tax, which he argues would ensure “wealthy property owners pay more” while restoring funding to local services.

The Green Party will also push for a large-scale council house building programme, the nationalisation of water companies to “cut bills and clean up our rivers,” and the creation of thousands of new jobs in clean energy and home insulation.

“We will make your life better,” Slaughter will say. “We can build tens of thousands of new council homes. We can nationalise water, so we can cut bills and clean up our rivers. We can create good jobs across Wales in clean energy and insulating our cold and damp homes.”