Plaid Cymru Does Not Want Voters Who Are “Giving Up On Politics”

The leader of Plaid Cymru has said his party is not for people who are “giving up on politics”, as the Welsh nationalist party seeks to increase their number of seats at the General Election.

Rhun ap Iorwerth was elected unopposed as leader of Plaid Cymru last year, after his predecessor Adam Price stepped down in the wake of a report which detailed failings by the party to prevent sexual harassment and bullying.

Ap Iorwerth told PoliticsHome he has since been trying to shape Plaid Cymru into a more “positive” party – both in terms of tackling a “toxic” internal culture and creating a “new feeling of trust”, but also in terms of its wider offer to Wales.

“I think positively about the future of my country,” he said, when asked what motivated him to pursue a career in politics.

“I'm frustrated about where we are, but confident about where we could be. I want us to be bold enough to be willing to take those levers of change into our own hands.”

He argued that his party is therefore “not interested in selling Plaid Cymru as a vote for people who are fed up of everybody” but instead wants to “sell a positive vision of a party that wants to do things in a different way”.

In ap Iorwerth’s view, Reform UK will be hoping to take advantage of considerable voter apathy in Wales. The right-wing party, which is fielding candidates in every Welsh seat, hopes to target areas along the border with England and across the south Wales valleys – where UKIP and the Brexit Party have previously won considerable support. 

“There is a proportion of the Welsh population that find right-wing votes to be appealing as a plague on all of politics in a way,” ap Iorwerth said. But he said that was “not a pool we’re fishing in”. 

“Giving up on politics doesn't