7OCT

Rhun ap Iorwerth sets six goals for Wales

4 min read

13:09UTC

The Plaid Cymru government's programme names six priorities, with no targets for waiting times or child poverty and no partner party, as Reform's MSs narrowly chose Helen Jenner to lead Reform UK in Wales.

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PoliticsAssessed

Key takeaway

The Welsh programme sets no numeric target for waiting times or child poverty, two of its six priorities.

The Welsh Government of First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru presented its Programme for Government 2026-2030 to the Senedd, the Welsh Parliament, on Tuesday 22 September⁠¹. It lists six priorities: bring down National Health Service (NHS) waiting lists, help families with the cost of living, create good well-paid jobs, raise school standards, tackle child poverty and "stand up for Wales". They are a different six from the constitutional demands, on policing, the Crown Estate and funding among others, that ap Iorwerth set out in May. It sets some numbers, such as at least 20,000 social homes by 2030, but no target for waiting times or child poverty, though ap Iorwerth told the Senedd his government would now be measured on "the outcomes it delivers".

The programme names no partner party either, promising only to "work constructively across the Senedd" where there is common ground. Plaid won 43 of the 96 seats in May, and the two Wales Green MSs agreed then to provide confidence and supply; together that is still short of a majority, so each budget and bill will need its remaining votes found one at a time.

The main opposition party had changed leader in the days before. Dan Thomas resigned as leader of Reform UK in Wales, and so as Leader of the Opposition, on 15 September after Gwent Police arrested him⁠². He was released on bail and has not been charged. He says he has "done nothing wrong" and remains the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Casnewydd Islwyn. On 21 September Nigel Farage unveiled Helen Jenner, the party's deputy leader in Wales and MS for Bangor Conwy Môn, as leader⁠³. Reform's 33 MSs had elected her that morning by 17 votes to 15 over Jason O'Connell, IBTimes UK reported; members had no vote.

Reform's Senedd seats have not yet turned into council strength. Former Conservative MS Joel James won Llantwit Fardre on Rhondda Cynon Taf Council on 3 September with 57.5%, with Reform third on 13.3% and Labour, which runs the council, fourth⁠⁴.

Deep Analysis

In plain English

Wales has its own Parliament, the Senedd, and its own government, which runs the NHS, schools and councils in Wales. Since May that government has been led by Plaid Cymru, the Welsh nationalist party, under First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth. Plaid does not have a majority, so it needs other parties' votes to pass laws and budgets. Its new plan lists six goals and sets a few numbers, such as 20,000 new social homes, but no target for waiting times. Reform UK is the biggest opposition party in the Senedd. Its Welsh leader, Dan Thomas, resigned after Gwent Police arrested him. He was released on bail and has not been charged, and denies wrongdoing. Reform's Senedd members then narrowly elected Helen Jenner to replace him.

Deep Analysis

Root Causes

The Senedd's 96 members were elected in May under a closed-list proportional system, which makes single-party majorities rare. A government on Plaid's numbers must assemble a majority vote by vote.

A programme with few numerical targets gives that government room to trade detail with other parties after publication. Senedd committees, in return, get nothing fixed to measure the government against.

This time Reform's MSs chose the Welsh leader, not party members. Jenner narrowly beat Jason O'Connell, so she leads a group that came close to choosing someone else.

What could happen next?

Consequence
The Welsh Government will need a fresh deal for its next budget, giving the Wales Green Party members, and possibly Welsh Labour, leverage over spending choices.
Short term · Assessed
Risk
Senedd committees may find it harder to score the government's record without numbers, shifting scrutiny towards outside bodies and official statistics.
Medium term · Suggested
Meaning
An appointed Reform leader in Cardiff ties the party's Welsh opposition strategy to decisions made by its UK leadership.
Medium term · Suggested

Source Landscape

This story draws on neutral-leaning sources

Primary parallel: Welsh Labour won 30 of 60 seats in 2021 and governed alone at first, then signed a Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru later that year. A minority government in Cardiff found a formal partner within months once budgets had to pass.

Counter-parallel: The SNP ran Scotland as a minority government from 2007 to 2011 with no formal partner. It passed each budget through a separate deal with a different party, completing a full term without a standing agreement.

Immediate: two of the six priorities, cost-of-living support for families and tackling child poverty, call on the same devolved budget as cutting NHS waiting lists. Without targets for waiting times or child poverty, the programme does not say how money will be split between them.

Structural: most of the Welsh Government's budget comes as a block grant set by Treasury spending decisions in London. Priorities without costed targets leave the government room to adjust to the next UK spending review, at the price of weaker scrutiny.

Consensus view: ap Iorwerth told the Senedd that Welsh governments had been 'measured on the number of actions' and would now be judged on outcomes. His Plaid Cymru government took office in May backed by two Wales Green Party members without a written confidence-and-supply deal, so a programme with no waiting-time or child poverty targets keeps every vote negotiable.

Counter-view: Reform UK, the largest opposition group with 33 MSs, narrowly chose Helen Jenner, and Nigel Farage called her 'someone that I trust'. Party members in Wales had no ballot.

Key tension: Whether a programme with no waiting-time targets can be held to account by an opposition whose leader narrowly won.

First Reported In

Update #18 · Legal advice halts England's council mergers

Welsh Government· 7 Oct 2026

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Different Perspectives

Rhun ap Iorwerth / Welsh Government (Plaid Cymru)

Ap Iorwerth presented six priorities to the Senedd on 22 September without numeric targets or a named partner party, promising to work across the chamber where there is common ground. He says his government will be judged on results.

Michael Marra / Scottish Labour

Marra won the leadership on 19 September, and three days later his 17 MSPs backed Swinney's right-to-decide motion once their child-poverty amendment was written in. He says Scottish Labour's task is to tell voters what it stands for.

Andy Burnham / Labour Party

Burnham told conference in Liverpool on 29 September that Labour's next manifesto will commit to changing the electoral system, and invited every party into a National Commission on Electoral Reform. He has not named a replacement system, and no chair or remit has been published.

Conservative Party (frontbench peers and Kemi Badenoch)

Conservative frontbench peers argued against retrospective rules at the Lords Second Reading on 14 September, a position that protects gifts made before any cap. Kemi Badenoch rejected Burnham's electoral reform commission on 2 October, accusing him of using it to entrench the left.

Reform UK

Reform denied wrongdoing after the Channel 4 News programme, called the sting a hoax by climate activists and said it would cooperate with the Metropolitan Police. In the same month it announced £36m gifts from Ben Delo and Christopher Harborne.

Steff Aquarone / Liberal Democrats (North Norfolk)

Aquarone told Rayner in the Commons on 7 September that North Norfolk District Council had spent money preparing for a reorganisation the Government has now withdrawn. He puts the cost of the cancelled merger on districts in the four areas.