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The leaders of Welsh Labour, Plaid Cymru, and the Welsh Conservatives engaged in spirited debate within the Senedd on Tuesday, effectively launching the unofficial campaign for the 2026 election.
Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru, whose party polls suggest is competing with Reform for the lead in May’s election, asserted that his party represents hope, while Labour First Minister Eluned Morgan accused Plaid of dealing in idealistic notions of independence.
Meanwhile, Conservative Darren Millar called for the abolishment of stamp duty in Wales.
The Senedd is scheduled for 10 sitting weeks before its dissolution in April ahead of the election.
Opinion polls indicate that Labour’s long-held dominance is under threat, as they have secured victory in every domestic parliamentary election in Wales since 1922.
In lively exchanges within the Cardiff Bay debating chamber, both ap Iorwerth and Morgan outlined their respective election campaign strategies.
Ap Iorwerth began by referencing a leaked Labour election strategy document, reportedly stating that “Reform define the anger and Plaid define the hope.”
“Is that not a highly accurate summary of the current situation?”, he questioned.
“I am proud to lead a party offering hope when others seek to stoke anger and sow division.”
He accused Labour of talking itself into “irrelevance” and failing to seize opportunities to challenge Westminster.
Morgan responded, stating, “I’m interested in hope. I’m not interested in fantasy, which is what we get from Plaid Cymru.”
She highlighted her party’s “very significant announcement” during the Christmas break regarding a £2 cap on bus fares in Wales.
She referred to earlier comments from ap Iorwerth, indicating that his manifesto would “spell out how we will want to use our time in government to make the case for how we could do things differently in Wales… by taking more levers of power into our hands.”
“You can call that independence, you can call it the road to independence, whatever,” he stated.
Ap Iorwerth has stated he would rule out holding a referendum during at least the first term of a Plaid government.
Morgan said Labour was “the only party in Wales who believe in strong devolution within a United Kingdom context”.
Accusing Plaid of “fantasy economics,” she added: “If you want independence, you need to demonstrate how on earth you’re going to pay for it.”
Ap Iorwerth went on to accuse Morgan of accepting a “paltry sum” for rail investment in Wales, referencing the £445m earmarked in the comprehensive spending review.
He also accused the UK government of “trampling all over the devolution settlement by seeking to control how some funding is spent in Wales“.
“I am more than happy to talk about rail,” Morgan retorted.
“Do I want more rail funding from the UK government? Damn right I do.
“Have I been silent about that? No, I have not.”
During his contribution to First Minister’s Questions, Tory Senedd leader Millar demanded the removal of stamp duty for main home purchases.
The levy, controlled by the Welsh government in Wales, is known as land transaction tax.
Millar stated that the tax is “robbing a generation of young people of the dream of holding the keys to their own front door,” accusing Labour of failing “to build enough new homes.”
Morgan responded that her government is “on course to deliver by the end of this Senedd term 20,000 new social homes.”
She accused the Tories of having taken a “sledgehammer to our economy” and talking Wales down. “Tory austerity caused the problems,” she said.
Millar cited economists who have described stamp duty as one of the “most economically damaging taxes that we have.”
However, Morgan replied that most people do not pay stamp duty, accusing the Tory leader of “focusing on the richest parts of our community.”
Reform does not participate in First Minister’s Questions, as the party is represented by only one MS, Laura Anne Jones.
On Radio Wales Breakfast earlier on Tuesday, Jones stated that her party had gained popularity without having “really” articulated what the party will do for Wales.
She described the country as being in a “dire state,” adding, “We’ve got massive waiting lists. Our roads are in disrepair.”
Reform, she stated, would be “centred around family, community, country and we’d get Wales back on its feet.”
She said it would be a party that listens to farmers and promised to centre the sustainable farming scheme of payments for farmers around food production, and stop planting trees in Uganda.
When asked who the party’s candidate was for First Minister, Jones replied that it would be “announced very shortly.”
“Just think how popular we are at the moment. We haven’t given you anything, really, in terms of what we’re going to do for Wales yet, and think how popular we already are.”
Pressed on whether she would lead the party, she said: “Whatever job I’m given, I’m going to do it 100%.”
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