The unfinished revolution: Why I am standing in 2026

Adam Price MS

Some moments arrive like a whisper, others like a thunderclap. The 2026 Senedd election will be neither – it will be the culmination of a long, patient struggle for Welsh self-determination that began generations before most of us were born.

Today, as I announce my candidacy to lead Plaid Cymru’s Sir Gaerfyrddin list, I’m acutely aware that we stand at the convergence of history, opportunity, and necessity.

This election isn’t just about who governs Wales—it’s about whether Wales will finally govern itself in more than name only. It is the threshold of a new chapter in our national story.

I still remember the exact moment I understood what politics really means. It wasn’t in a classroom or from a book. It was watching my father, a miner, return home during the 1984-85 strike – exhausted, angry, and betrayed by a Labour Party that had once been the backbone of our communities.

In that moment, I realised that power concentrated elsewhere would never truly serve Wales. Some lessons burn themselves into your very being. That one has guided everything since.

Half-light

For too long, Wales has lived in the half-light of almost-autonomy – granted just enough self-government to manage our own decline but never enough to chart a genuinely different course. Twenty-six years of unbroken Labour rule hasn’t delivered the transformation that devolution promised. Instead, we’ve become resigned to the politics of mitigation rather than the politics of possibility. We’ve learned to ask for too little, to expect even less.

Meanwhile, the machinery of extraction continues – our resources, our talent, our wealth flowing outward while poverty calcifies in our communities.

This isn’t just political failure; it’s a form of collective harm that we’ve normalised over decades.

Delivering for Carmarthenshire

The reformed electoral system – which I fought to secure through months of painstaking negotiation – has finally cracked open the door to something genuinely different. For the first time since the Senedd’s creation, the mathematical possibility of a Plaid Cymru government with Rhun ap Iorwerth as First Minister is real. Recent polling doesn’t just suggest change; it practically demands it.

This isn’t abstract for me. After representing Carmarthen East and Dinefwr in Westminster for two terms on the Opposition benches, I deliberately stepped away from frontline politics to prepare for government. At Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, I didn’t just study policy – I immersed myself in understanding how small nations thrive in a world built for the powerful. I wanted to know not just why Welsh independence makes sense, but how to make it work from day one.

Elected to the Senedd but regrettably still in Opposition, I’ve channelled my energy into winning victories, locally and nationally: securing the Llandeilo Bypass despite Labour opposition, or getting them to U-turn on universal free school meals. I took Arfor from a concept first outlined in a Glyndŵr Lecture in Caernarfon in 2012 to a fully-fledged government programme in just five years – proving that ideas born in opposition can become reality with persistence and strategic thinking.

Second homes

When second homes threatened our communities’ cohesion and affordability, I persuaded a reluctant Labour Government to implement the most radical control measures in the history of these islands. Most recently, I worked with the Leader of the Liberal Democrats to include support for the Brynaman Lido in her budget agreement – demonstrating that effective representation means fighting for every community asset that enriches local life.

These weren’t accidents or lucky breaks. They were the result of knowing exactly how power works, how to leverage every available tool to shift it, and how to find common ground when it serves Welsh interests.  Where others might have accepted defeat, I’ve consistently found pathways through seemingly immovable obstacles  – precisely the skills that we will need in Government come 2026.

The coming election is about more than just changing the party in power – it’s about changing what power means in Wales. As lead candidate, I would bring not just my electoral record but a depth of experience and expertise developed and honed precisely for this moment. My ability to articulate complex ideas in accessible language – whether in the Senedd chamber or around kitchen tables across Carmarthenshire – ensures our message resonates beyond our traditional support base. My work on the economic success of small nations wasn’t academic theory – it was practical preparation for the transformative governance Wales desperately needs.

For Carmarthenshire specifically, I’m not offering vague aspirations but a concrete plan: a new hospital in Carmarthen and a restored Minor Injuries Unit in Llanelli; reopened railway stations at St. Clears and along the Amman Valley line; power lines buried underground rather than scarring our landscape. Placing me as lead candidate will give me the mandate to negotiate these concessions, whether in party manifesto or programme for government.

Transforming Wales

These local victories point to a larger truth: when we refuse to accept artificial limitations, Wales can chart its own course.

I see the despair settling into our communities, the quiet resignation that things cannot fundamentally change. This despair isn’t just politically dangerous – driving voters toward the empty promises of populism – it’s existentially harmful to the Welsh spirit. Hope cannot be for us just a campaign slogan; it must become the real driving force of Welsh national renewal.

As a four-term elected representative who has never lost an election in Carmarthenshire, I know I can win the battle for hope over despair. The dynamism I bring to every campaign – the relentless pursuit of new ideas and connections – has consistently translated into electoral success over Labour in Carmarthenshire.  As lead candidate I will be able to use that experience in the battle to secure the crucial third seat.

Some will say this is just another election, just another internal selection. They’re wrong. This is the moment when Welsh political history could finally break free from its circular path – when we could stop having the same conversations about the same problems and start building the Wales we’ve always known was possible.

We live in the shadow of all that has been, the light of all that might be. In 2026, we have the chance to step fully into that light – a Wales governed according to its own values, for its own people. With the support, first of Plaid Cymru members and then the people of Carmarthenshire, I’m ready to help lead that transformation with the same determination and vigour that has defined my public service from Westminster to the Senedd.

The door is ajar. All we need is the courage to walk through it together.

Adam Price is the Member of the Senedd for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr and former leader of Plaid Cymru