‘Something fundamental has happened within the political scene’

Peredur Owen Griffiths, who represents Plaid Cymru, is one of four regional Senedd Members serving the South Wales East region.

The dust is finally settling on a by-election that was momentous in the history of Welsh politics. The result – which saw Plaid Cymru’s Lindsay Whittle elected to the Senedd after decades of trying to capture a seat in the constituency – sent shockwaves that reverberated far and wide outside of Caerphilly.

It has now set the tone for next May’s Senedd elections which looks like a two-horse race between Plaid Cymru and Reform.

The fact that Labour and the Tories – the two traditionally ‘big’ political parties of UK politics for generations – together picked up just 13% of the vote proves that something fundamental has happened within the political scene and indeed within our communities.

There was perhaps an element of people lending their vote to Plaid Cymru to thwart the threat posed by Reform in the final week or so but it was clear from the outset of the campaign that the Labour vote in the constituency had evaporated.

“Never again will I vote Labour” and “The Labour Party has left me” were the kind of things said to me repeatedly during the early part of the campaign. As we got nearer to polling it became apparent – despite what the Labour campaign erroneously claimed – that only Plaid Cymru could stop Reform and that played a factor in pushing the mandate closer to 50% for Lindsay.

Long before that, once-loyal Labour voters had already ditched the party in their droves due to a wide range of factors such as Gaza, taking winter fuel allowance off pensioners and the broken promises made to 1950s-born women over their state pensions. Combine that with an unpopular Labour-run local authority, turmoil within the local party machinery and a Labour-led Welsh Government lacking in drive, determination and ambition, and you have the perfect storm for the party that had not tasted defeat in Caerphilly for over a century.

I know that Lindsay, as well as Delyth and I as Senedd Members for the region that covers the Caerphilly constituency, will be working flat out to show new Plaid Cymru voters that we are worth sticking with.

Between now and the Senedd elections, there will be many positive policy announcements about how we will transform our communities if Plaid Cymru is given the chance to govern by the people. There will also be a lot of shoe leather worn out as we take our ideas and conversations to the towns and villages we represent.

We do not have the resources of political parties such as Reform and Labour who can spend tens of thousands of pounds just on direct mail or social media campaigning. This is great as we are not in the pockets of any organisation or any super-rich donors but it also means we have to go out and speak to people on the doorsteps – something we genuinely relish.

Thankfully, this method of campaigning – as well as being free – is highly effective, especially when you have a positive vision to outline.  

The election also taught us that Reform can be stopped in their tracks and beaten handily. In by-election after by-election across England, they had swept all before them. Reform may have thrown the kitchen sink at it and spent a huge amount of cash during the campaign but they fell short in Caerphilly.

They had assumed victory was theirs – the ticketed ‘victory’ event planned in the election aftermath proved that – but they did not count on a great, grassroots campaign from Plaid Cymru and the people of Caerphilly rejecting the politics of division. Many people turned to them as an alternative to the Labour status quo but Plaid Cymru’s victory shows that we are a viable option because if we can win in Caerphilly, then we can take on Labour in just about any part of Wales.

I want to finally commend everyone at Caerphilly Observer for their excellent coverage of the by-election. The reporting was comprehensive, fearless and fair, which is all you can ask for from any local media organisation worth its salt. In an age when social media disinformation is increasing, you really cannot put a price on a decent local media source which sifts through the nonsense and the downright lies to bring you the facts from an impartial perspective. Caerphilly Observer amply qualifies as a ‘decent local media source’ and we are lucky to have it serving our communities.