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Voters on May 7 can usher in “necessary” change and make Wales a nation “we can all be proud of”, according to Peredur Owen Griffiths, Plaid Cymru’s lead candidate for the Casnewydd Islwyn constituency.

Recent opinion polls make good reading for Plaid supporters, who hope that under the new electoral system their party will win the most seats in an expanded Welsh Parliament.

Mr Owen Griffiths believes Plaid can put Wales “in a much better place to live, grow up and thrive”, focusing on forging stronger communities and a “healthier, more prosperous country”.

Branding child poverty levels a “national disgrace”, Mr Owen Griffiths said Plaid’s pledge to trial a new direct payment scheme, Cynnal, for children in low-income households would alleviate pressures on families – not least by helping offset childcare costs and allowing parents to return to work.

Meanwhile, he wants to see more homes built in Newport – Wales’ fastest-growing city – supported by investment in education and healthcare that will fix “deep-rooted and systemic issues” with NHS waiting lists.

“There’s a reason why Aneurin Bevan was the cabinet member for health and housing in the Attlee government in the 40s and 50s, and I think if you get housing right it will help with that preventative aspect of health as well,” he said.

Mr Owen Griffiths called Wales a “vibrant, positive place”, but said decision-makers had “lacked ambition” and defaulted to “managerialism” rather than trying to “move the country forward”.

Tory and Reform critics of Welsh Labour’s performance have accused Plaid of having “propped up” the last government, by lending their support to budgets or, notably, through the formal cooperation agreement signed in late 2021.

To those critics, this has made Plaid a willing accomplice in some of Labour’s more unpopular policies – so will those previous ties make it difficult for Plaid to prove it can offer something different?

“I don’t think that’s damaged us – I think it’s shown we’re ready to govern,” said Mr Owen Griffiths of the agreement, which ran until May 2024.

“It just proves to the Welsh people what we can achieve even when we’re not in government,” he said, pointing to the rollout of universal free school meals in primary schools.

“We’ve managed to achieve things when we were the third-largest party – imagine if we were the largest party leading the government with those ideas, with fresh thinking, with that ambition to move things forward.”

Entering into the cooperation agreement didn’t result in any cabinet positions for Plaid’s Senedd Members, who will find themselves in uncharted territory if they win power in May.

After 27 years of Welsh Labour making the decisions, Mr Owen Griffiths said “nobody is arguing that change is easy” but Plaid is prepared to hit the ground running, with a published plan for the first 100 days if it wins power.

On the doorstep, there is support for Plaid “in all wards” around the Casnewydd Islwyn constituency, he said, adding that his party will be boosted in Newport – where it failed to win any council seats in 2022 – by the new system of proportional representation.

If national opinion polls are accurate, Plaid’s main challengers in May will be Labour and Reform, and Mr Owen Griffiths said his party offered optimism to voters fed up with the former and wary of the latter.

Under Plaid, he said a “pro-Wales” government would stand up to Westminster and not be an “apologist” for UK policies, and would demand “fair funding” for Wales akin to the SNP in Scotland.

“Because they are taken seriously, the pressure that the SNP has been able to put on both colours of governments in Westminster has brought huge dividends – whereas in Wales we’ve sort of tugged our forelock,” he said.

Plaid’s manifesto describes Wales as being “on a journey to independence”, but Mr Owen Griffiths said a referendum wouldn’t be on the table “until at least after the next Senedd election” in four years’ time.

“Then it’s for us to make the case for the people of Wales to say ‘we’d like Wales to be an independent nation – do you want to join us on that journey?’” he said. “Nothing will be done without the say-so of the Welsh public.”

Peredur Owen Griffith’s pitch to the voters

“If you’re interested in a country that’s ambitious, with an economy that works, an NHS that you can be treated quickly, efficiently and makes sure you’re healthier – and you want to give children in our communities the best start possible in life – and at the base of that fairness, equality, and social justice, then you need to be voting for Plaid Cymru.”

The full list of candidates for Casnewydd Islwyn

Welsh Conservatives (six candidates)

• 1. Natasha Asghar
• 2. Toby Jones
• 3. Jake Enea
• 4. Georgie Webb
• 5. Adam Morris
• 6. Rebecca Mamhende

Green Party (six candidates)

• 1. Lauren James
• 2. Philip Davies
• 3. Zaynab Greengrass
• 4. Kerry Vosper
• 5. David Mayer
• 6. Andrew Were

Heritage Party (one candidate)

• 1. Mike Ford

Open Party (two candidates)

• 1. Justna Muhith
• 2. John Horan

Plaid Cymru (six candidates)

• 1. Peredur Owen Griffiths
• 2. Lyn Ackerman
• 3. Rhys Mills
• 4. Joshua Rawcliffe
• 5. Jonathan Clark
• 6. Sarah Henton

Reform UK (six candidates)

• 1. Dan Thomas
• 2. Art Wright
• 3. Marie-Claire Lea
• 4. Nick Jones
• 5. Rebecca Senior
• 6. Tomos Llewelyn

Welsh Labour (seven candidates)

• 1. Jayne Bryant
• 2. Rhianon Passmore
• 3. Chris Carter
• 4. Rhian Howells
• 5. Julie Sangani
• 6. Stephen Marshall
• 7. David Chinnick

Welsh Liberal Democrats (six candidates)

• 1. Mike Hamilton
• 2. John Miller
• 3. Nurul Islam
• 4. Harun Rashid
• 5. Mary Lloyd
• 6. Jeff Evans

Individual candidates (one)

• Taran Clayton