Senedd election will be ‘referendum on Labour mismanagement of health’ – Rhun ap Iorwerth
Plaid Cymru leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth, says that the 2026 Senedd election will be a “referendum” on Labour’s failing management of the NHS in Wales.
He also suggested that that only his party has the vision to “fix it”, while accusing Nigel Farage and Reform UK of being a threat to “its very existence”.
Mr ap Iorwerth said: “The people of Wales are waking up to the reality that only Plaid Cymru can end decades of Labour mismanagement and defend our NHS from Farage’s reckless agenda.
“While Labour lets our health service crumble and Reform UK threatens to sell it off, Plaid Cymru has a clear and credible plan to fix it. The 2026 election will be a referendum on the future of the NHS, and only Plaid has the solutions to safeguard it.
“The results of the general election, combined with polling ahead of the 2026 Senedd election, prove that the momentum is with us. We are ready to deliver new leadership for Wales.
“With growing discontent towards Labour and a resurgent Plaid Cymru, the 2026 Senedd election is shaping up to be a fresh start for Wales.”
Bullishness
The Plaid Cymru’s leader’s bullishness reflects positive recent polling for his party.
The latest Senedd voting intention poll, published in December, put his party in the lead for the first time since 2010, with Welsh Labour tying for second place with Reform UK.
The Barn Cymru poll carried out by YouGov for ITV Cymru Wales and Cardiff University’s Wales Governance Centre, predicted that Plaid Cymru would be ahead by one point with 24% of the vote, with Welsh Labour and Reform UK both on 23%.
The Conservatives slipped to fourth place in the poll with 19% – with many of their voters looking at switching their vote to Reform UK in a Welsh election.
With around 18 months until the Senedd election in May 2026, the poll shows Reform UK equalling the Brexit Party’s highest ever place in the polls and Labour’s support dropping four points.
In last summer’s general election, Plaid Cymru achieved its best-ever Westminster result, increasing its number of MPs despite a reduction in constituencies.
General election vote share
The party also recorded its highest-ever general election vote share at 14.8%, with an increased share in all 32 constituencies.
Despite Labour winning a landslide in terms of seats under the first-past-the-post system, its support in Wales fell by 3.9 percentage points.
Reform UK’s leader Nigel Farage has repeatedly floated the idea of a French-style insurance model for healthcare in the UK, effectively dismantling the NHS as we know it.
Speaking on LBC, Mr Farage admitted he was “open to anything” regarding NHS funding, raising alarm over potential privatisation.
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There is speculation that Reform are going to calibrate their policies on the Welsh NHS to the left in an attempt to outflank Labour as a populist gambit. Is it just a coincidence that both Plaid Cymru and Reform are using the same opinion polling company Survation?
How about Reform calibrating their policies on the Welsh NHS in anticipation of a Labour-Reform coalition? I’m sure Streeting would welcome their help to sell off bits, and sell us down the river.
The Tories are a busted flush and may never rise again.
Labour has so much in common with Reform – authoritarian leaders, support for austerity, tax policies which suit the already wealthy, strong defence, privatising wealth, little interest in anything cultural, anti-intellectual, anti-green, growth mania, infrastructure fetishists, indifference to quality of life except for the elite, diplomatic dunderheads, mendacity…
Hmmmm. Deep think time, Cymru.
So which bit don’t you like,
where will Rhun find his special forces, the back-room brains trust in Plaid are going to have to blossom in the next five seasons. That is a tall order I hope Rhun has the money, logistics and personnel to fight the battle let alone win it…if one thinks back to 1904, a revivalist progress throughout the land would help to spread the word…