Radical but feasible – my vision for Carmarthenshire

Cefin Campbell MS

Next week, the process of selecting Plaid Cymru’s list of candidates for the 2026 Senedd election in the new seat of Sir Gaerfyrddin will come to an end. After Wednesday night, eligible members across the county will cast their votes.

It has been an honour to participate in this process of internal party democracy. Questions have been thought-provoking, engaging and, yes, at times, challenging! They have been a window into what motivates us all as members of Plaid Cymru – the party I am more proud than ever to call my political home.

Because one thing, above all, is clear – the energy and the will to deliver a Plaid Cymru-led Government is palpable, and is driving us all towards that ultimate goal.

Real solutions

Where Labour has so clearly run out of red Welsh road, and Reform offers nothing but dog whistles and snake oil, Plaid Cymru is offering real solutions to the challenges facing Wales. We have both the vision and ambition to lead the nation on the next steps in our historic journey, which – as recent polling shows – more and more people are alive to

Over the course of the last few weeks, I have sought to stress two things above all.

The first is that in me, Plaid Cymru in Sir Gaerfyrddin have a candidate who will never shy away from the kind of hard work we need to do next – a champion both willing and able to take our message of ambition and fairness for Wales to every single doorstep in the county.

As the regional Member for Mid and West Wales, I am proud of the reputation I have built over the past four years for putting in the hard yards to ensure that Plaid Cymru’s support for our communities is visible and tangible. .

Week in, week out, I am out there, visiting community groups, businesses and individuals and having those vital conversations about what really matters to people where they live or work. My commitment to knocking doors and working at the grassroots doesn’t begin or end with the six weeks before an election – it is fundamental to how I do politics.

The second is that I believe in showing rather than telling, and demonstrating how politics is the art of the possible.

Talk is not enough – we need to do the real work that’s needed to actually make that change happen, through building constructive relationships, including across political boundaries, looking for the common ground, holding firm when needed, and focussing, always, on delivery.

Proud

And here, again, I am proud of my record. As a member of Carmarthenshire County Council’s Cabinet, I delivered Wales’ first ever local authority Rural Development Strategy, and a 10 Towns Initiative which has brought real benefits and breathed new life into market towns across the county. Free School Meals, changes to the Sustainable Farming Scheme, Welsh history as a part of the curriculum and establishing Arfor in West Wales as a language and economic development body – as a Designated Member under the Co-operation Agreement I delivered these projects and more.

My vision for Sir Gâr is rooted in the belief that what matters is what we can deliver.

Big ideas are important, but not for their own sake, and not without a realistic plan and sufficient finances to see them implemented. I am clear that my priorities are as achievable as they are ambitious. And I have succeeded in ensuring that many of them already form part of the policy platform that we in Plaid Cymru have been developing as we map our way to 2026 and beyond.

Fair play

Our county deserves fair play – a fair funding settlement that reflects its needs as both a largely rural part of Wales and given the specific challenges facing its urban communities.

However, as it stands we are being short changed. In the 2025/26 Welsh Budget, Cardiff Council received an uplift in its funding of 5.3%, while our settlement in Carmarthenshire increased by only 4.2%. The three local authorities that have seen the biggest increases in their budgets this year – Newport, Cardiff and Merthyr Tydfil – are all predominately urban.

As part of my broader strategy for economic development and to tackle poverty in this part of Wales, I have proposed that we need to put rural proofing of all Welsh Government funding mechanisms and programme delivery on a statutory footing, to ensure that these better recognize the specific needs of places like Carmarthenshire.

I have made sure that this will be part of our manifesto and then of our programme for government, including by successfully steering a motion through last year’s annual conference.

My campaigns on growing community-owned businesses and to lower business taxes on retail, leisure and hospitality in our town centres are reflected in commitments in Plaid Cymru’s new economic plan – launched last month in Ammanford by Economy Spokesperson, Luke Fletcher. As senior economists both in and beyond Wales have noted, this plan is both radical and realistic – deliverable from day one of a new Plaid Cymru-led government.

School standards

As Plaid Cymru’s Education Spokesperson, I have led on developing plans to raise standards in our schools, provide wrap-around services to deal with poor behaviour, mental health and additional learning needs so that our teachers are able to get on with teaching, and to put our universities on a more sustainable footing.

And in leading Plaid Cymru’s approach on the Welsh Language and Education Bill, I have been able to deliver changes to the Bill that will give a Plaid Cymru-led Government a firm foundation on which to build as we look to give every child in Wales the opportunity to become a confident Welsh speaker. This has meant long hours of often challenging negotiations with Labour Welsh Government Ministers, both during and since the Co-operation Agreement.

This is the precisely the kind of hard work that makes meaningful change happen – and in 2026 the Plaid Cymru team in an expanded Senedd will need people with my mix of experience, knowledge and pragmatism.

As I said at the outset of this selection process, Sir Gaerfyrddin is written on my heart.

And as local members make their final decision over the coming days, I hope they will give me the privilege of leading Plaid Cymru’s list in this historic election, by giving me their first preference.

And whatever happens – whatever comes next – they can be assured that I will be out there with them, day in, day out, working to deliver the Plaid Cymru-led government we need and deserve. I will be taking Plaid Cymru’s message – our belief in what Wales can and should be – to every corner of this county, with all of my energy and determination.