Plaid Cymru rising star announces intention to stand in upcoming Senedd election

Emily Price

Plaid Cymru’s Cardiff West candidate in the last general election has announced her intention to stand in the upcoming Senedd election for the newly formed Cardiff North-west seat.

26-year-old Kiera Marshall is seen a rising star in Welsh politics after securing the second largest vote share increase for Plaid Cymru in the recent general election and achieving the party’s best ever result in a general election in Cardiff.

Now, she is setting her sights on challenging the Labour stronghold in the Welsh capital at the Senedd’s 2026 election.

Announcing her intention to stand on International Women’s Day, Ms Marshal said: “For too long, Labour has taken Cardiff for granted. Labour assumes it can rely on the city’s support without question, while offering little in return.

“I’m standing to prove that people want real representation, not just the same old Westminster-controlled politics.”

Re-selection

All four current Members of the Senedd representing Cardiff are set to stand down in 2026.

Cardiff South and Penarth MS Vaughan Gething announced he will not stand again after he stepped down as First Minister last year following several weeks of controversies relating to donations and the sacking of one of his ministers.

Cardiff Central MS Jenny Rathbone has also said she will seek re-selection next year.

The Cardiff West seat is currently held by Wales’ Finance minister and former First Minister, Mark Drakeford.

His Labour colleague – Julie Morgan – holds the seat in Cardiff North.

Both politicians have announced they will not stand at the next Senedd election.

Senedd Reform plans will see their two constituencies become Cardiff North-west – or Gogledd-orllewin Caerdydd – at the next election.

The larger seats are needed because the Welsh Parliament will have a new voting system in 2026 to elect 36 more politicians than there are at present.

Challenge

Ms Marshall’s challenge follows Labour’s controversial selection of Alex Barros-Curtis as Cardiff West’s general election candidate – who had no link to the area and resides in London.

The Plaid election hopeful says Labour councillors and party activists have already begun positioning themselves “for what they see as a guaranteed Senedd seat”.

Ms Marshall currently works as the lead researcher for the Plaid Cymru Senedd group on Economy policy.

Having not been provided with a proper Welsh language education in school and coming from a non-Welsh-speaking family, she has spent the past four years learning to speak Welsh.

She says that having grown up on a council estate, faced the trauma of stalking, and now an expecting her first child, she is determined to represent those who “often feel unheard in politics”.

Background

She said: “My background gives me the understanding and determination to fight for all communities in Cardiff West and North. I want to ensure that politics is about people – not party interests.

“I want my experiences as a young woman and a soon-to-be first-time mother to show that politics should be for everyone, not just for men from middle-class backgrounds.

“It is time for a government that reflects the people it represents and understands the struggles of the people it serves, and I am ready to be that voice for change.

“The 2024 General Election proved that people in Cardiff are ready for change. Nearly 10,000 residents of Cardiff West placed their trust in me and Plaid Cymru because they recognise that Labour does not have the best interests of Wales or Cardiff at heart.”

She added: “I look at the billions that the Welsh taxpayer is still having to pay towards HS2 without a single inch of track being laid in Wales, Labour’s betrayal of women seeking pension justice, a refusal to devolve the Crown Estate to Wales – meaning millions bypass Welsh communities and go straight to the London Treasury and the Crown, and the decision to retain the two-child cap, and I am angered.

“These are all decisions that could make a tangible difference to the lives of people in Cardiff, yet Labour has chosen not to act since coming into government.

“But real change is possible. A Plaid Cymru Government in 2026 can deliver real change and give Wales the fresh start we desperately need. From Cardiff to Caergybi, from Llanishen to Llandaff, Plaid Cymru has a plan to build a fairer, stronger nation.”

“We have had Labour for decades in Cardiff. They have taken us for granted for too long. It’s time for a Plaid Cymru Government to step up and put the people of Wales first.”