‘Unprecedented’ international interest in Senedd election

Luke James, Brussels

The governments of countries from across the world are showing an “unprecedented” level of interest in the upcoming Senedd elections, Nation.Cymru can reveal.

With polls forecasting that Labour will lose power for the first time since devolution began, politicians and experts have been inundated with requests for meetings with diplomats keen to know what direction Wales will take after May 7.

“There has been completely unprecedented levels of interest in the 2026 election from international missions and other groups,” said one Welsh politics observer who has been helping to meet the demand coming primarily from the London embassies of European countries, but also from those further afield.

“There’s a great deal of interest in the factors that might be leading the Welsh electorate to consider parties other than Labour, what the new electoral system means for the campaign, and what we can expect in terms of government formation after the election.”

Much of the international interest is fixed on understanding what Plaid Cymru will do if, as polls suggest, they are the biggest party in the next Senedd.

The party’s recent spring conference in Newport was attended by representatives from the UK embassies of the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland and Ireland.

Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth also recently travelled to Brussels to meet with members of the European Parliament and said he was conscious of the “growing interest” in Welsh politics.

“Our team in Westminster keeps pretty close ties with various embassies,” he told Nation.Cymru. “European embassies, obviously, being the most prominent among them.”

“But yes, we are very aware of the growing interest in what building relationships with Wales could look like, especially building relations with a Wales that is internationally minded.”

International issues have played a prominent role in the election campaign.

Ap Iorwerth says a Plaid Cymru would take the Welsh Government’s international work to a “new level” and the party’s manifesto includes a dedicated European strategy and a ‘Diaspora Task Force.’

The Green party, who could win ten seats according to the latest YouGov poll, have also pledged to “strengthen Wales’s international engagement” and promise to commission an independent assessment of Brexit’s impact on Wales.

International aid

However, Reform UK, which polls suggest is Plaid’s closest rival, has vowed to “scrap all international aid spending in devolved budgets.” In particular they criticised the £270,000-a-year spent on planting trees in Uganda through the Size of Wales charity as part of efforts to tackle climate change.

The Welsh Conservatives say they would save £4.7 million a year by closing the Welsh government’s 20 international offices, which they described in their manifesto as “Labour’s overseas mini-embassy network.”

Under Labour, the Welsh Government has won praise in Europe for its international policies, including the Taith youth mobility scheme introduced when the UK pulled out of Erasmus.

The Welsh Labour manifesto makes no mention of international issues, but its leader, Eluned Morgan, told the BBC she is an “absolute Euro-enthusiast” and wants the “closest possible relationship” with the EU.