Key takeaways from Rhun ap Iorwerth’s Plaid conference speech

Emily Price

Rhun ap Iorwerth has used his annual conference speech to outline his ideas for a Plaid Cymru government in Wales.

During the party leader’s 45 minute speech in Cardiff on Friday (October 11), he promised an immediate impact and a long-term change for Wales if he were to come to power in the Senedd.

Here’s some key takeaways from his speech…

General Election

Plaid achieved the party’s best election results ever during the recent General Election – doubling its number of MPs and securing its largest share of the vote in its history.

Mr ap Iorwerth used his speech to hit out at Sir Keir Starmer saying that during the July 4 election Labour had thrown “tropes and tired arguments” at Plaid.

He said: “A vote for Plaid is a vote to let the Tories in, they said. On election eve, Keir Starmer stepped off the big red bus in Caerfyrddin – a Labour juggernaut sent in to stop us in our tracks.

“But the people of Wales won’t be fooled by tired lines and token visits. Treat Llinos Medi and Ann Davies as political pushovers at your peril.”

Plaid’s leader said the party’s positive election result was proof that “hearts and minds” had been won in all parts of Wales.

But he said, “you’re only as good as your last game”, adding that Plaid was confident in its message but “certainly not complacent about the task ahead”.

Speaking about the 2026 Senedd election, Mr ap Iorwerth said the question facing the people of Wales would be whether to “give Labour a second chance” or “elect Plaid Cymru”.

HS2 funding

He used his conference speech to rip into Labour and the Conservatives over fair funding for Wales.

The Welsh Government has faced further questions this week over whether Wales will ever get the money it is owed from the HS2 project.

The rail link was classified as an England and Wales project by the previous Conservative government even though it does not cross the border.

The classification meant no extra funding was released to Wales by the Treasury – unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Mr ap Iorwerth said: “The Tories want to electrify the north Wales railway now. Where on earth have they been? They’ve just had 14 years in power to do something.

“The Tories also now want HS2 consequentials to come to Wales, despite saying ‘absolutely not’ when they were holding the levers of power and could actually do something about it.”

Barnett formula

Plaid’s leader hit out at Labour over the Barnett Formula which is used by the UK Treasury to calculate the annual block grants for devolved administrations.

The formula is widely recognised as being controversial because it takes no account of different needs or costs in different areas.

He said: “In 2017, Carwyn Jones promised to consign the Barnett Formula to the history books – it couldn’t be defended he said, as Plaid Cymru had long argued.

“Yet in a recent letter to me the current First Minister said it’s all good, she’ll just push for a fair approach to the application of the Barnett formula – a fair way of implementing something that’s fundamentally unfair.”

Mr ap Iorwerth promised the conference a “gear change” after 25 years of Labour-led Governments.

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.”

NHS waiting lists

Describing the NHS as “born on Labour’s watch” Mr ap Iowerth promised a “rebirth” under a Plaid Cymru government.

He pledged an increase for spending on preventative health measures and announced that a Plaid Cabinet would include a Minister for Public Health.

Plaid’s leader also pledged a “target focused cancer contract” for every patient and reform to the governance of the NHS, “bringing standards back” and waiting lists down.

Education

Mr ap Iorwerth told the audience Wales needs to “go back to basics” in education.

He touched on Northern Ireland’s, Count:Read:Succeed strategy which he said had “a clear focus, underpinned by a number of key pillars.”

He said: “Embedded within the strategy were targets and milestones – imagine that. An alien concept when it comes to current Welsh Government thinking.”

In the latest International Reading Literacy Study, pupils in Northern Ireland were ranked 5th in the world for reading.

Mr ap Iorwerth said a Plaid Cymru government would take inspiration from the same approach to “ensure that children are taught to read in a way that works”.

Housing and the Economy 

On housing, Plaid’s leader explained that his party would “enshrine in law” a right to an adequate home.

He said: “We’ll launch an ambitious retrofitting programme so that energy efficiency is at the heart of our housing policy, and embed a new approach to building affordable homes that makes economic and environmental sense.

Mr ap Iorwerth said that one of the “first acts” of a Plaid Cymru Government would be to reinstate “meaningful targets” for reducing child poverty.

On the Welsh economy, which performs the worst out of the UK nations, Plaid’s leader said his party would be ambitious.

He said: “With our economic weather remaining at the mercy of Westminster winds, one thing has always been missing: whilst we were busy building the world, we forgot to build Wales.

“Our extractive economy, now exhausted and depleted, has left a chasm – not only of opportunity but of optimism too. But I do remain optimistic. I have no doubt we can rebuild.”

Ending his speech to a standing ovation, Mr ap Iorwerth said: “We are the only party that absolutely rejects the notion that Wales is somehow inferior and incapable
of taking its place among the independent economies of the world. We can and we will.”