Wales has been held back by ‘poverty of ambition,’ Plaid leader says

Rhun ap Iorwerth, leader of Plaid Cymru, has used his annual conference speech to say his party could be the biggest in Wales at the next election.

Leader of Plaid Cymru Rhun ap Iorwerth speaks during the party’s annual conference at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff (Ben Birchall/PA) (PA Wire)

Wales is being held back by a “poverty of ambition”, the leader of Plaid Cymru has said.

Rhun ap Iorwerth has said his party could be the biggest in Wales at the next Senedd election in 2026, but it must give the country a fresh start and “build trust”.

Speaking at the party’s annual conference in Cardiff on Friday, he said: “More than ever, poverty of ambition and paucity of ideas are holding Wales back.

“We can continue as we are, or we can change course – and in 2026 the question facing the people of Wales is this: accept second best and give Labour a second chance, or take that first step towards becoming the nation we know we can be by electing Plaid Cymru into government to lead Wales.”

No more sticking plaster, no more blaming the individual, no more passing the buck. This is grown-up government – taking responsibility, empowering people and protecting the NHS

Rhun ap Iorwerth

The party won four seats in the recent general election, its best result ever.

While Plaid has never won a Senedd election, the party has worked with Labour, most recently as part of a co-operation agreement which Mr ap Iorwerth brought to an abrupt end in May.

He used his conference speech to pledge to tackle issues in the NHS in Wales, with the country currently suffering the longest waiting lists on record.

Mr ap Iorwerth vowed to invest in preventative health measures, to stop people from needing to use the NHS in the first place.

He said: “For too long, Labour’s priority has been managing people’s pain but I want to keep people healthy.

“I can announce that in the first 100 days of a Plaid Cymru government we will bring forward a new budget, based on the principles of a healthier, wealthier Wales, with a promise that spending on preventative health measures will increase every year.

“No more sticking plaster, no more blaming the individual, no more passing the buck.

“This is grown-up government – taking responsibility, empowering people and protecting the NHS.”

While he stressed his party could not fix Wales’s issues overnight, he insisted they could do better than the current leadership.

He also pledged to introduce a new minister for public health and committed to clearing the emergency maintenance backlogs at Welsh hospitals before 2030.

This follows a critical incident having been declared at Bridgend’s Princess of Wales Hospital earlier this week, after damage was found to its roof.

He said: “Whilst this Government lurches from one sticking-plaster solution to the next, we look at the big picture and that need to change for the long term, working across all of Government to achieve it.

“We know that deprivation is hugely consequential for health – so our anger at Labour dropping child poverty targets when the NHS needs all the help it can get is no surprise.”

Speaking to the PA news agency, Mr ap Iorwerth said a public health minister would differentiate itself from the health minister by focusing on preventative issues, which he said was needed to build a sustainable NHS.

Asked where the money was coming from, he argued the Welsh government needs to work with health boards to make the NHS run more effectively, insisting that investment in preventative measures could save money down the line.