The political winds in Wales are swirling with fresh intensity as Plaid Cymru, under the leadership of Rhun ap Iorwerth, sets its sights on an unprecedented goal: to claim the top spot in the Senedd and potentially install the first non-Labour First Minister in Welsh history. With the May 2026 Senedd election looming and the legislative body poised to expand from 60 to 96 members, Plaid Cymru is making its most ambitious pitch yet to voters who are weary of the status quo and wary of the emerging Reform party.
At the heart of Plaid’s campaign, as reported by BBC News and echoed across the Welsh political landscape, are bold promises aimed at transforming both education and family life in Wales. The party’s annual conference in Swansea on October 10, 2025, became the stage for unveiling policies that, if enacted, would represent a seismic shift in public investment and social support.
In his keynote address, Rhun ap Iorwerth set the tone by declaring, “We know what we strive towards. No community left behind and no person, family, or child unworthy of a decent life.” He announced a groundbreaking universal childcare program that would provide all children aged nine months to four years with up to 20 hours of free care per week, 48 weeks a year. “This is the most generous Welsh childcare offer ever, worth more than £30,000 to families in the first four years of their son or daughter’s life—a game-changing intervention with a multi-generational impact,” ap Iorwerth said, according to BBC News.
Plaid’s proposal goes further than any current government-funded childcare program in the UK. The plan maintains the existing 30-hour offer for children aged three and four whose parents are in work, education, or training, but crucially, it makes the new offer universal. This approach, ap Iorwerth argued, would eliminate the “perverse prospect of the gap between entitlements for disadvantaged children and those with working parents being wider than ever, as charities have recently warned.”
The party’s spokesperson on Social Justice and Early Years, Sioned Williams MS, underscored the economic rationale behind the pledge. “Investing in childcare and early years education delivers one of the strongest returns of any public investment. In the medium to long term, it more than pays for itself, with global evidence showing returns on investment of around 13%—through better outcomes for children, higher rates of employment for parents, and a stronger, healthier economy.” Williams also pointed out that “current childcare costs in Wales are the highest anywhere in the UK, with many families spending more on childcare than on housing. This locks many families out of accessing childcare at all.” Plaid’s offer, she said, is designed to put money back in families’ pockets, combat child poverty, and provide the best start in life for every child in Wales.
Education, too, sits at the core of Plaid Cymru’s platform. Cefin Campbell, the party’s education spokesman, announced at the Swansea conference a plan to offer up to £30,000 in payments to trainee teachers to encourage them to stay in Wales. The incentives focus on Welsh-medium teaching and subjects where recruitment is most challenging, such as maths and science. “What we have is a crisis in recruitment. We just haven’t got enough teachers coming into the system, particularly in some subject areas,” Campbell told Radio Wales Breakfast. “It’s not fair that we are seeing young people leave Wales to go into the English system, and we lose those young people.”
The party aims to match English incentives by 2030, potentially doubling the Welsh government’s current grants of up to £15,000 for priority subjects. Payments would be made in installments during initial teacher training, with the stipulation that recipients work in Wales for five years after passing probation. Campbell spelled out a wider vision to “raise standards” through a literacy and numeracy scheme to set national benchmarks and the establishment of a library in every primary school. “The uncomfortable truth is this, because of the Welsh government’s failure to get even the basics right in literacy and numeracy, our pupils are not fulfilling their potential,” he told conference attendees.
Plaid Cymru’s strategy is as much about tone as it is about policy. Since taking over the party leadership in 2023, Rhun ap Iorwerth has steered Plaid towards a more pragmatic stance on Welsh independence. Unlike the 2021 Senedd election, when the party promised a referendum within five years, ap Iorwerth now insists, “This is not an independence election.” This shift reflects an acknowledgment that many in Wales remain unconvinced, especially in light of warnings about potential short- to medium-term shortfalls in tax receipts if Wales were to become independent.
Yet, the party’s ambition is clear. Plaid is targeting voters who are disillusioned with Labour’s long-standing dominance and those concerned about the rise of the Reform party. Ap Iorwerth was candid about the challenge, telling the conference that Plaid is “ready to replace Labour.” He also acknowledged the likelihood of a hung parliament, with no party expected to win a majority in the expanded Senedd. “Other parties would look at ways of influencing Plaid if they were the biggest party,” he said, hinting at the possibility of Plaid governing alone if it secures a significant number of seats, though stopping short of ruling out cooperation entirely.
Opponents have been quick to point out that Plaid Cymru is not an entirely untested alternative. The party has served as a junior coalition partner in government before and has signed formal deals with Labour in the past. The difference this time, Plaid argues, is the scale and universality of their proposals—especially on childcare and education—which they say would mark a decisive break from the incrementalism of previous administrations.
The mood at the Swansea conference was one of cautious optimism. As BBC News observed, while it’s easy to overread the enthusiasm of party faithful, the business end of politics is fast approaching. The grand setting of Brangwyn Hall, with its maze of corridors and palpable sense of busyness, mirrored the complexity and stakes of the months ahead. For Plaid Cymru—and for all Welsh parties—the coming election is shaping up to be a defining contest, with the prospect of real change in the air.
As Wales edges closer to the 2026 Senedd election, Plaid Cymru’s promises of transformative childcare, robust educational investment, and a pragmatic approach to independence are set to test the appetite for change among voters. Whether these pledges can translate into electoral success—and perhaps even the first non-Labour First Minister—remains the question on everyone’s lips.
