A candidate’s view: Politics of substance, not circus

Sarah Rees

I’ve rewritten this more times than I care to admit.

The irony is I wanted to get this out today, April 1st, so I could get on with everything else a campaign throws at you. But every time I sat down to finish it, something changed. And not in a good way.

We started the week with our Plaid Cymru campaign launch in Bedwas.

There’s always a moment when you feel the shift. We’ve been living and breathing this campaign for over a year now – the planning, the conversations, the groundwork – and now it’s the final push. You’re not preparing anymore, you’re out there getting on with it.

As Rhun ap Iorwerth said, this campaign already feels different.

Not because of the slogans, but because of what people are telling us. Across Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan, the same issues come up time and again. The cost of living. Families stretched. People working hard and still worrying about how they’re going to get through the month.

That’s the reality this election sits in, people have had enough of the status quo.

The campaign launch itself felt like a proper community effort. One lovely local, Gemma turned up with a batch of homemade Welsh cakes, which didn’t last long. It might seem like a small thing, but it stayed with me. That instinct to bring something, to share what you have, to look out for each other, that’s what community looks like. It’s in the values that sit at the heart of Plaid Cymru: fairness, solidarity, and looking out for one another.

This is what campaigning actually looks like too.

It’s the school holidays, and like so many parents I’m trying to balance being out on the doors with being at home. You don’t always get that balance right. There’s a bit of guilt that comes with it. But the conversations I’m having every day remind me why it matters.

And you learn quickly not to get ahead of yourself. In a campaign like this, you earn it conversation by conversation, street by street.

What makes that possible is the team. And yes, I’m biased, but they’re brilliant.

Across the constituency, people are giving up evenings and weekends, fitting campaigning around work and family life, because they believe we can do better. That keeps you going. It keeps things grounded.

But while we’re doing all of that, something else is unfolding.

I’m writing this on April Fool’s Day, and I can promise you this isn’t one. I’ve already rewritten this piece three times because of the revolving door of Reform UK candidates in our area, and if the rumours are right, there may be another one gone before this is even published. In Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg alone, we’ve seen three candidates come and go in quick succession.

It would be easy to laugh it off. But it’s not funny.

Because it says something about the kind of politics that’s creeping in. Not rooted in service. Not grounded in communities. Just noise, instability, and people who don’t seem to take the role seriously.

I saw that first-hand at Bridgend College, where one of those candidates, Corey, has already stepped down following the image of a supposed Nazi salute, and yet, just days earlier, told a room full of students he wouldn’t be the Reform candidate because he didn’t want to take a pay cut.

These were young people asking real questions about their futures, jobs, opportunities, what comes next.

That told its own story.

I was angry, and I didn’t hide it. Afterwards, a few of the learners came up to me and said I was the only “normal” person on the panel. I’m not sure about that, but I do know we’ve got to raise the standard.

Because being a Member of the Senedd Cymru isn’t something you do if it suits you. It’s a responsibility.

Focus on what matters

On the doorstep, people aren’t talking about political theatre. They’re talking about bills going up, wages not stretching far enough, and an NHS struggling to deliver the care people need despite the dedication of its staff. They’re talking about doing everything right and still feeling like they’re swimming against the tide, and about families who feel stuck and unheard.

Raising the standard

We should expect more from our politics, not just better decisions, but people who take the job seriously and are there to do the work for the public good. What we’re seeing from Reform isn’t just messy; it’s a warning. When politics drifts into spectacle and instability, it’s people’s lives that pay the price.

There’s also a wider challenge here for those of us who believe in progressive politics. We’ve seen others try to claim the mantle of being the “only left-wing party in Wales,” but that simply doesn’t stack up. Plaid Cymru has a century of policy on fairness, communities, and building an economy that works for people. And Plaid has been doing the work, consistently and seriously, and is ready to take that into government.

Why this matters

This election comes down to a simple choice. We can allow politics to be dragged further into noise, division and a revolving-door circus, or we can focus on what actually matters: people’s lives, their livelihoods, and the kind of future we’re building.

For me, this campaign is about raising the standard and keeping our focus where it belongs; on delivery, on community, and on the real pressures people are facing every day. It’s about showing that politics can still be rooted in seriousness and service, and that government should feel like it is working with people, not happening above them.

That’s the choice in this election, and it’s one I’m thinking about every time I knock a door.