Liz Saville Roberts sets out vision of inclusive Welsh nationalism in conference speech

Plaid Cymru Westminster leader Liz Saville Roberts MP has set out a vision of an inclusive Welsh nationalism rooted in compassion, belonging and community, in her closing speech at the party’s autumn conference in Swansea.

Speaking on Saturday (11 October), Ms Saville Roberts said Plaid Cymru wanted to build “a Wales confident enough in itself to show compassion towards others and offer others a place to belong.”

Her remarks come as the party positions itself as a government-in-waiting ahead of next May’s Senedd election.

Recent polling has suggested that Plaid Cymru is ahead of the Labour Party, which has dominated Welsh politics for more than a century, with Reform UK in second place.

Student

The Dwyfor Meirionnydd MP, who was born in south-east London and moved to Wales as a student, reflected on her own journey of identity.

“I am a proud south-east London girl. Born and raised on the other side of Offa’s Dyke – no Welsh family connection. But as a young woman, I came to Aberystwyth to study – and I found something extraordinary. I found a language that changed my life. I found a place I belong,” she said.

“Being Welsh isn’t about where you’re born or who your parents were. It’s about belonging. It’s about shared values – respect, solidarity, and community.”

She added that her election as an MP despite not being originally from the area showed that “anyone can be Welsh as long as they are committed to the place and the people around them.”

Far-right rhetoric

Ms Saville Roberts also warned of the rise of anti-migrant sentiment and far-right rhetoric.

“As dark forces rumble in our communities and on our smartphones, we have to defend Welshness that welcomes. A Wales confident enough in its own identity that it never needs to fear someone else’s. That’s what we in Plaid Cymru are building,” she said.

She described the 2026 Senedd election as “the most important Plaid Cymru has ever faced,” saying the party was within “touching distance” of leading a government in Wales that would “put people first, invest in children’s futures, and listen and act with compassion and determination.”

In his speech to the conference on Friday, party leader Rhun ap Iorwerth unveiled a “transformative” childcare pledge, promising a universal new offer for children from nine months to four years old.

He told the Swansea conference that the scheme would provide up to 20 hours of free childcare a week for 48 weeks of the year, worth more than £30,000 in savings to families during a child’s early years.

He described it as the “most generous Welsh childcare offer ever” and a “game-changing intervention with a multi-generational impact.”

Playground

Turning his sights to Reform UK, Mr ap Iorwerth told the conference: “The time is now to stop Reform and elect a government more radical, more ambitious, more impatient to bring about positive change than any which has gone before it.”

“For (Nigel Farage), politics is a zero-sum game – where Wales is a playground and our parliament a plaything for Reform to try to gain an electoral foothold at the expense of what’s actually in Wales’s interests,” he added.

“Of course, if it wasn’t Reform, it would be someone else – moulded in the image of the divisive right-wing politics which is now a global phenomenon.

“It’s a scourge seen throughout the world, and it’s important to recognise that we’re not immune from its dangers here in Wales.”