Jane Dodds: The leader who saved the Welsh Budget – imagine what more Lib Dems could achieve
Franck Banza
Wales was on the brink of an economic and political crisis. With £5bn in funding at risk, public services facing collapse, and political infighting paralysing the Senedd, it was Jane Dodds and the Welsh Liberal Democrats who stepped up to prevent disaster.
This budget deal isn’t just a victory for common sense—it’s proof that the Liberal Democrats deliver real results when others fail.
While other parties played political games, Jane Dodds secured a transformative £100m package of investment for childcare, social care, transport, environmental protection, and local councils.
The choice was clear: let Wales descend into chaos or negotiate a deal that delivers for everyone. With just one Liberal Democrat MS, Jane Dodds has achieved more for Wales than Reform, Plaid Cymru, and the Conservatives combined.
Delivering for Wales: A pragmatic, grown-up approach
This budget deal shows what Liberal Democrats in government can achieve:
- £30m for childcare, ensuring all two-year-olds can access funded early education—giving every child the best start in life.
- £30m for social care, reducing hospital delays and providing vital support for vulnerable people.
- £15m for young people’s transport, capping single bus fares at just £1—making travel affordable for students and workers.
- £5m to clean up Wales’ rivers and seas, tackling pollution and protecting our natural environment.
- £120m to fix roads and pavements, finally addressing the potholes and crumbling infrastructure that frustrate communities.
- Increased funding for councils, guaranteeing better local services for families across Wales.
This is what mature, solution-driven politics looks like. While other parties bicker and grandstand, the Liberal Democrats get things done.
A party that delivers – even with one MS
Jane Dodds has proven that politics is about results, not rhetoric. This budget deal wasn’t about ideology—it was about delivering real improvements for people across Wales.
While other parties refused to engage, the Liberal Democrats stepped up to negotiate in good faith.
Compare this to Reform, a party that thrives on division, fear, and empty promises. They claim to be the alternative but have yet to present a single policy to improve Wales. Their politics of anger might win headlines, but it does nothing to fix the issues communities face every day.
Plaid Cymru’s protest politics and the Conservatives’ disarray have left Wales in limbo. But the Liberal Democrats are about solutions, not slogans.
Imagine what more Lib Dems could achieve
The next Senedd election is a critical moment for Wales. Voters have a choice:
- A serious party that gets things done—or political chaos.
- Pragmatic leadership that delivers funding—or reckless ideology.
- A Wales built on fairness, opportunity, and prosperity—or division and decline.
If the Welsh Liberal Democrats can deliver this much with just one Senedd member, imagine what could be achieved with a larger, stronger team in 2026.
Every extra Liberal Democrat MS elected means more investment, more progress, and more accountability in government.
The choice is clear
The Welsh Liberal Democrats have shown they can deliver for Wales. This budget deal is just the beginning. With more support, they can do even more to build a fairer, more prosperous Wales.
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Was this intentionally a promotional piece? I am not an expert about the politics of Wales, but I am an interested North American. The tone of this article was notably different from other nation.cymru articles.
Not the first ‘promotional piece’ which I’ve read on Nation.Cymru, but usually there’s an editorial note at the bottom of the piece which indicates who the writer is, and what his or her political allegiance is. But not in this case.
The new Kilroy !…solitaire without the spare hole goes nowhere…
The Dems should’ve held out for STV.
They wouldn’t have got it from Labour which is wedded to the bloc party vote system they’ve dragged in – but which will come back to bite them in the part where it hurts
The budget vote is a de facto vote of confidence in any government. Without the Dems support it’d eventually trigger an early election. Would they choose that over a fairer voting system that many in the red team also want?
I’ll tell you what more Lib Dems would achieve . Exactly the same as ONE Lib Dem achieves. All Labour need, cynically, is ONE vote and they won’t pay more for 5,10 or 20 AMs. 2026 will see a much more compkex situation with at least 3 substantial parties trying to negotiatr settlements
There will probably be a change in the number of Lib Dem’s – one less. Under the new gerrymandered voting system, they are about 5% short in the polls of what any party needs to get representation.
Jane Dodds has a short memory. The Lib Dems have already shown what they are capable of. I remember when they propped up the Conservatives in 2010 using New Labour’s benefit agency ATOS to great effect where over 1000 committed suicide after being sanctioned by the DWP. Below contempt. No wonder they were in the political wilderness for years, especially in Wales. They don’t deserve or merit one MS in our Senedd the damage and mental anguish they’ve caused. These sycophants and once critics of Conservatives at Westminster became their footstool and adopted Tory clothes for the term in power.… Read more »
Ah the Liberal Democrats! So democratic that they tried to overturn the Brexit referendum, and so liberal that they want to control what gets said on university campuses. They ought to be prosecuted for mis-selling.
How can another vote be undemocratic? What a weird idea.
Do you advocate repeating every election and referendum? Or only the ones that generates a result you don’t like?
We repeat elections every four or five years, and 2016 was a repeat of 1975 when a supermajority overwhelmingly voted to remain in the common market.
Perfect demonstration of the Liberal Democrat approach: the answer to any problem is to spend more money on it. Regardless of the fact that public spending is at an all-time high, they can’t seem to come up with an answer that is anything other than to throw more money at the problem. Have Jane Dodds and Franck Banza identified cuts elsewhere to balance this additional spending? Are they raising taxes to pay for it? They don’t mention either in the article, so I can only conclude they are very generously funding this additional spending with their own money. In which… Read more »