Last weekend, Plaid Cymru members gathered in Llandudno for their Spring Conference as they begin to set their sights on the 2026 Senedd election. As part of the event, ERS Cymru Director, Jess Blair, hosted a conversation with Plaid Cymru leader, Rhun Ap Iorwerth MS, to discuss the state of democracy – both in Wales and globally – the upcoming electoral changes, and Plaid Cymru’s vision for Welsh democracy.
The conversation began with a discussion on the growing threats to democracy worldwide, from social media disinformation to AI and the erosion of democratic norms. Rhun expressed concern over the rapid pace of these changes, warning that Wales is not immune to these threats despite some of them coming from overseas, saying:
“[Elon Musk] won’t know that there’s an election in Wales, but his algorithms will” – a stark statement that brings these threats into sharp focus.
Bringing the discussion closer to home, Jess highlighted Wales’ consistently lower voter turnout compared to the UK average. Rhun said this was deeply troubling – especially for a nation with such a rich democratic history, such as the Chartist movement in the 1800s.
He suggested that a major driver of this apathy could be the uncompetitive nature of Welsh elections. “It’s not normal for one party to win every election,” he said, arguing that real democracy thrives on competition and accountability. For him, a government – whether led by Plaid Cymru or any other political party – should expect to be challenged at the ballot box.
The 2026 elections and the closed-list system
With the 2026 Senedd election bringing significant electoral reforms, the discussion turned to what this means for Welsh voters. Jess pointed out that explaining these changes will be crucial, as confusion could further disengage voters.
Rhun acknowledged this and emphasized that the shift is a step toward a fairer system. The removal of what he called Labour’s ‘in-built bias’ could, he argued, help restore faith in Welsh democracy.
Whilst acknowledging the proportionality of the new system, he did concede that the new closed-list system was not Plaid Cymru’s first choice, but a compromise was needed. That said, he thinks that the post-election review system – where the effectiveness of the election will come under scrutiny – could be used as a mechanism to instigate further change, saying:
“There is going to be a review. The review is built into the legislation that enacted this change in the first place, and we want to use that review.”
As part of the justification of choosing this closed-list system, gender quotas were proposed so that parties would be forced to have 50% of their list candidates as women. However, this plan was dropped by the Welsh Government in September last year, instead being replaced by voluntary guidance.
When asked about Plaid Cymru’s stance on this, Rhun praised Welsh Labour’s early efforts but stressed that all parties now have a responsibility to act. “It’s absolutely up to us to reflect Wales in the best way possible,” he said, calling on parties to embrace the new guidance and ensure the Senedd is truly representative of society.
“There is always a cost to democracy”
In 2026 the Senedd will increase in size to 96 members. The debate around this expansion often circles back to cost, and, in the conversation, Rhun ap Iorwerth tackled this head-on. While acknowledging that increasing the number of politicians is rarely popular, he argued that Wales was ‘democratically being shortchanged’ compared to Scotland and Northern Ireland, arguing that there is always a ‘cost to democracy’.
To put this into perspective, he pointed out that refurbishing the Houses of Parliament in Westminster will cost around £20 billion which could pay for Wales’ democracy for over 1000 years.
While these numbers may seem big, he said, referring back to the cost of an enlarged Senedd, “This is the price we must pay to properly look after the people of Wales through our democracy.”
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