Tory MS raises concerns over ‘impartial’ media coverage of Senedd election

Emily Price

A Welsh Conservative Senedd Member has raised strong concerns about a lack of “fair, balanced and impartial” media coverage in the run up to the most significant election since the dawn of devolution.

Brecon and Radnorshire MS James Evans took to social media on Tuesday (January 13) to accuse journalists of disproportionate “political cheerleading” for Plaid Cymru as Wales prepares to head to the polls on May 7.

In a post to X, Evans wrote: “It’s alarming to see large parts of the Welsh media cosying up to Plaid Cymru ahead of the Senedd election.

“It exposes how deeply entrenched separatist, left wing sympathisers are within our media, pushing a one sided narrative.

“People deserve fair, balanced, and impartial coverage not political cheerleading.”

We asked Evans if he was talking about any news outlets in particular.

We also pointed out that Nation.Cymru had made several offers in recent months for the Welsh Conservatives to have space on our news site to publish any opinion columns they wished to write ahead of the Senedd election.

Evans told us he felt journalists in Wales were giving Plaid’s leader Rhun ap Iorwerth “disproportionate airtime” with “little challenge”.

He said: “To be clear, my post was making a general point rather than singling out specific programmes or individuals.

“It increasingly feels that balanced reporting has fallen away, with Welsh media giving Plaid Cymru and particularly Rhun ap Iorwerth, disproportionate airtime and relatively little challenge.

“That perception is reinforced by how interconnected Welsh media is, with many senior figures in Plaid having worked for the BBC or within the same media circle, and with supporters or former staff now in senior positions or commentators in Welsh media.

“With a Senedd election approaching, people deserve fair, balanced and impartial coverage, not political cheerleading for any one party.”

Poll

A new Senedd voting intention poll carried out by ITV Cymru Wales has predicted that Plaid Cymru will be the largest party in Cardiff Bay after the election this year.

Rhun ap Iorwerth’s party increased its vote share from 30% to 37% since ITV’s last poll in September 2025, with Reform UK dropping from 29% to 23%.

For the first time ever, the Green Party has flown into third place at 13%, with Labour in fourth at 10% alongside the Senedd’s current opposition party, the Welsh Conservatives.

‘Left-wing’

Evans’ comments about coverage of the key election comes after Reform UK leader Nigel Farage accused the BBC of left-wing bias because the organisation’s interim director of nations, Rhuanedd Richards, previously worked for Plaid Cymru.

In a video message posted on X, Farage said: “Rhuanedd Richards was the chief executive of Plaid.

“She worked, during the Labour-Plaid coalition, for the government of Wales.

“She’s now a director of BBC Wales, on just over £190,000 a year.

“There is living proof that, right the way through to the top, the BBC is infected with left-wing bias.”

‘Committed’

Richards started her career as a journalist with BBC Wales and later moved into politics, becoming Plaid’s chief executive between 2011 and 2016.

She retuned to the BBC in 2018 and has been director of BBC Wales since 2021, taking up her current £190,000 a year role as interim director of nations in June 2025.

The BBC says Richards has always been “open about her career history” and is “wholly committed to upholding the impartiality of the BBC.”

Following Farage’s comments, the National Union of Journalists in Wales “unequivocally condemned” Reform’s attacks on the Welsh media.

Co-chairs of the NUJ’s Welsh Executive Council, Dr Rachel Howells and David Nicholson, said Farage has “no evidence” to back up his claims that the BBC Wales was based, adding that Reform’s leader had sought to smear Richards.