Plaid have ‘grounds to be confident’ about election chances, party leader says

Plaid Cymru “have every grounds to be confident” about their chances in the General Election, the party leader has said.

Rhun ap Iorwerth visited four seats ahead of polling day in a final appeal to voters.

His party hopes to take the seats – Ynys Mon, Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Ceredigion Preseli and Caerfyrddin – most of which have seen major changes since the 2019 election, following boundary shake-ups.

Polling has suggested the party has a good chance to take the constituencies, but with Ynys Mon being a tight race.

Speaking to the PA news agency on Wednesday during his stop in Ammanford, in the Caerfyrddin seat, Mr ap Iorwerth said he did not think his party “could have done anything else in this campaign”.

He said: “We have every grounds to be confident going into tomorrow. This is an election, I trust the democratic process.

“I’ve said throughout this campaign that it’s been a difficult election for us, boundary changes haven’t been kind to us.

“(People say) it’s a polarising election, all about blue versus red, but it’s not.

“What we’ve been trying to do in this election – I think we’ve done it pretty successfully – is saying ‘no, there is an alternative to 14 years of Tory pain but also to that Labour indifference towards Wales’.”

Despite battling heavy rain, he said his team would be out canvassing because they take the election “very seriously” and want to earn people’s trust in every part of Wales.

He said the message on the doorstep has been consistent throughout the campaign, with people “fed up” of the Conservative government but also “people aren’t getting excited about what Labour has to offer”.

Mr ap Iorwerth insisted his party would “stand up for Welsh interests”.

He said: “The number of MPs from Wales has been cut from 40 to 32 – that is a significant, 20% cut in the number of MPs speaking up for Welsh constituencies.

“So, in that case, we need more and more people to take part in that democratic process to say, ‘no, we won’t be ignored as a country’.”

He also said the Conservatives are “desperate” for attacking Sir Keir Starmer for wanting to spend Friday evenings with his children.

Sir Keir said earlier this week that Friday night dinner is important to his family and that he tries to “not do a work-related thing after 6pm” on Fridays.

This led to senior Conservatives criticising the Labour leader, accusing him of being a “part-time prime minister”.

The attack on Sir Keir has been criticised by members of the Jewish community, with some pointing out that Sir Keir’s wife, Victoria, is Jewish and the family observe traditional Shabbat dinners on Friday nights.

Mr ap Iorwerth said: “I think that the Conservatives are pretty desperate if they’re coming down to that kind of level of personal attack.

“People attack me personally all the time and I tend to try to ignore it.

“What we need to focus on is what’s really at stake in this election.

“Conservatives are going – high time – Labour will form the next government, but we can hold them to account.”

Asked what Mr ap Iorwerth does to wind down after long days working, he said he liked to play the guitar “and strum a bit”, and to run, which he said was good for “mental wellbeing as well”.