A candidate’s view: Twelve weeks to shape Wales’ future

Sarah Rees, Plaid Cymru Candidate 

Over the next twelve weeks, I’ll be sharing a candidate’s perspective on what is shaping up to be a seismic 2026 Senedd election. Not campaign slogans, but honest reflections from the doorstep: what I’m hearing, what’s at stake, and what kind of Wales we are choosing to build.

The path that brought me here

I decided to stand to win, not simply to take part. Being second on the list offers no guarantees and the margins will be tight. Coming from a working class background, you do not assume rooms like this were built for you. Insecurity teaches you to play safe, to measure every risk. But if you are asking people to trust you with their vote, you have to believe, even when it feels uncomfortable, that you are ready to serve and capable of making a difference. Otherwise, you should not be asking.

Poverty shapes how you see the world, and as a woman the risk feels sharper still. Every word can be twisted into online rage bait; ambition in women is still treated as provocation. Standing anyway is a refusal to accept that power belongs to someone else. It is learning to feel the fear and do it anyway!

A crossroads for Cymru

After twenty five years of devolution, too many people feel the pace of change has not matched the scale of the challenges we face. The Senedd was meant to bring decisions closer to home and improve everyday life, yet for many that promise feels broken.

The result in Caerphilly signalled something important; a sense that politics in Wales needs fresh energy and sharper focus. At the same time, public debate has grown more polarised, driven by online outrage and easy answers to complex problems.

The seventh of May feels like a bigger decision than previous elections. If those of us who believe Cymru should work for ordinary people do not come together behind a serious alternative, others will fill the space, and not for the better.

The far right is well funded and well organised, quick to point the finger at migrants rather than answer hard questions about inequality or offer credible solutions. Cymru deserves better than politics built on blame. Real change is possible, but only if we stand together and back policies that put people first.

That new leadership must include women. The backslapping about once being the world’s first gender-equal parliament feels like a distant memory when so many all-male panels still dominate our media debate.

Too many people are switching off from politics altogether, frustrated by institutions that seem disconnected from their lives. The loudest voices are not always the wisest, and when reactionary politics gains ground, amplified by billionaire-owned social media platforms, women’s rights are often among the first to come under threat. We cannot afford to sit this one out.

The case for change

I am standing because our future as a nation is at stake. I have spent much of my career turning anger into action. But campaigning from the sidelines is no longer enough. When tackling poverty begins to feel like pushing against a locked door, it is time to pick up the keys.

I will never forget a school staff member telling me about a child pretending to eat from an empty lunchbox because they had no food. At the same time, the Welsh Labour Government’s promise to end child poverty by 2020 had quietly stalled.

The cost of living ‘crisis’ is now a harsh reality for far too many. It was Plaid Cymru that kept pushing to expand free school meals. Hearing Labour politicans rally against this was the moment I knew frustration alone would not cut it. If real progress was going to happen, more of us needed to step up and lead it.

I think too of Jade, a mum who gathered over 10,000 signatures calling for fairer childcare and came to the Senedd full of hope. After the debate, she turned and said, “Well that changed nothing, did it?” That sense of not being heard is corrosive. People do not expect miracles. They expect effort, honesty and delivery.

Many people have asked me why I chose Plaid Cymru. For me, it comes down to values. I believe Cymru is capable of more than managing the status quo or settling for glacial pace of change. I grew up in poverty and know first-hand the stigma that can come with it.

It shouldn’t be radical to say that everyone deserves to have their basic needs met, and more! I want a politics that treats poverty as unacceptable, not inevitable; that believes our leaders should speak clearly on issues of justice; and are is prepared to push for practical solutions, not just polite letters to Westminster.

The final furlong

Over the next twelve weeks, I’ll be sharing what I’m hearing across Pen-y-Bont Bro Morgannwg—the frustrations, the hopes, and the questions people are asking on their doorsteps. I’ll write about the struggles families face, the anger at politics that seems out of touch, and the kind of government that actually delivers for people, not just talk. I’ll also share what it’s like to stand as a woman in an election shaped by online hostility and rising misogyny, and why turning that anger into action matters for all of us.

Wales deserves leadership that listens, acts, and refuses to settle for the status quo. I hope this column sparks conversation, challenges assumptions, and shows what’s possible when ordinary people step forward together. I want to hear your thoughts, your questions, and your ideas, because shaping our future isn’t something that happens to us; it’s something we do together.

Sarah Rees is the 2nd candidate on the list for Plaid Cymru in Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg in the Senedd election.