Labour has given up election fight in Wales, says Plaid Cymru

The leader of Plaid Cymru has said Labour has given up its election fight in Wales, as the governing party slides further down the polls.

Rhun ap Iorwerth said the “evidence is all around” that Welsh Labour do not believe they can win the Welsh Parliament election in May.

Labour has led Wales since the Senedd was first established as the National Assembly for Wales in 1999.

But recent polling by YouGov for ITV Cymru Wales has forecast the lowest popularity for the party in Wales since devolution began, falling behind Plaid, Reform and the Greens.

The same poll suggests Plaid Cymru could become the biggest party in the Senedd.

Mr ap Iorwerth said: “Labour has clearly taken Wales for granted for many, many decades, they have never thought that they have to show a responsibility towards the people of Wales.

“I think it must be becoming clear to them that the landscape is changing.

“Everywhere I look, I see a Labour Party in Wales that has given up the fight.

“Of course, they will say that they haven’t, but I think evidence is all around us that signifies the change of political era in Wales.

“The sheer number of Labour group members that are standing down in this election, the lack of energy that I feel among Labour activists and elected members.

“But more than that, it’s what I see on doorsteps, the length and breadth of Wales, where community after community, household after household, tell me before I need to tell them that they feel the time has come for a refresh of the way we do things in Wales.”

Mr ap Iorwerth said that his party was “taking nothing for granted” but that confidence had been bolstered by its victory in the hotly contested Caerphilly by-election in October.

“The old guard is struggling so much, not just here in Wales, but globally,” he said.

“That changing landscape has opened people’s eyes to what the other possibilities are now.”

Mr ap Iorwerth said Plaid Cymru replacing Labour as the party of government in Wales would raise “significant questions” about Sir Keir Starmer’s leadership but that he wanted to build a “constructive relationship” with the Prime Minister.

He said: “I think it’s quite obvious that if the election in May were to be anything like what the polls are currently suggesting… There would be significant questions being asked within the Labour Party about Keir Starmer and how his leadership has contributed to getting us to where we are.

“My focus is on Wales and I will take my arguments to Downing Street, whoever the incumbent is.

“I think the big difference with having a Labour first minister for Wales is that I would be very, very transparent about the state of our negotiations,” he said.

“It’s about holding the UK Government to account on behalf of the people of Wales.

“I’m confident that we can do it in a very different way to the way Labour is able to manage things internally currently.”

A Welsh Labour spokesman said: “Plaid Cymru profess a story of change without showing how they will turn that into government.

“They can talk about the future, but we are building it.

“Just last week, Rhun ap lorwerth said their plans are ‘the route to independence’ when calling for further devolved powers, even though he knows it does not add up.

“While they are shouting from the sidelines and making promises without power, Welsh Labour is building a fair future for Wales.”