Labour-Plaid Cymru Co-operation Agreement
Policy deal between the Welsh Labour government and Plaid Cymru, December 2021 to May 2024.
Plaid Cymru's government under Rhun ap Iorwerth set out six priorities on 22 September 2026 without naming a Senedd partner, a contrast with the 2021 Co-operation Agreement, under which Plaid itself backed a Labour minority on 46 policy areas.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
Timeline for Labour-Plaid Cymru Co-operation Agreement
Mentioned in: Rhun ap Iorwerth sets six goals for Wales
UK Local Elections 2026Background
The Co-operation Agreement was a policy pact between Mark Drakeford's Welsh Labour government and Plaid Cymru, signed on 1 December 2021 after Labour won 30 of the Senedd's 60 seats. It covered 46 policy areas, among them free school meals for every primary pupil and measures on second homes, while Plaid remained in opposition.
Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth ended it in May 2024, seven months before its scheduled end, citing First Minister Vaughan Gething's campaign donation and his dismissal of minister Hannah Blythyn.
It remains the model of a minority Welsh Government securing support without a formal Coalition, and the precedent any later minority in the Senedd has to weigh.
The template now has no taker
The 2021 agreement is the model for how a minority Welsh Government secures votes. Signed on 1 December 2021, it committed Plaid, still sitting in opposition, to 46 shared policies with Mark Drakeford's Labour government.
By 2026 the roles had reversed. ap Iorwerth, WHO ended the deal early in May 2024, leads a Plaid government in office since May 2026, and its programme for 2026 to 2030, published on 22 September, named no partner party. No arrangement of the 2021 kind had been announced by that date, leaving the agreement as the last working example of a Senedd minority securing outside support on a written list of policies.