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The topic of conversation on many people’s lips seems to be the state of the roads and the prevalence of potholes.

The rapid deterioration of road surfaces has become very noticeable this winter because of the more extreme weather we are experiencing due to the climate crisis. 

One of the best community pubs in my region – The White Cross in Groeswen – recently hit the news after its popular landlady Mair Arthur posed alongside a huge pothole that she said had been filled in as recently as January this year.

Such short term repairs by the Labour-run Caerphilly County Borough Council represent a false economy if they must be redone less than a couple of months later.

It would be remiss of me not to acknowledge the difficult position that local authorities across Wales find themselves in financially. More than a decade-and-a-half of austerity politics have cut council services and budgets to the bone and beyond.

We are now paying the price for a political ideology that was discredited by some of the world’s leading economists from the very beginning.

This is why we should always be weary of Tory/Reform promises (which are often misleading it has to be said) on tax cuts because they often come at a high price when it comes to essential services and things like the state of our roads. 

The state of local government finances was a chief driver in Plaid Cymru allowing the Welsh Government budget to go through on the condition that extra money was provided for councils, as well as the NHS. Without Plaid Cymru’s intervention, local authority budgets would be in a much worse position, leading to reduced services and higher council tax bills.

The recent Plaid Cymru Spring Conference at the ICC in Newport was a roaring success. It was arguably the biggest conference we have hosted in our history in terms of attendance, venue size and outside interest.

There was a palpable sense of excitement at the prospect of political change in Wales after more than a century of Labour dominance.

Whilst the polls look positive for Plaid Cymru, we are taking nothing for granted. The 100 Day Plan we have published is to show that we are serious about replacing Labour and it is to demonstrate to people in Wales that we have a clear plan of action to ensure we hit the ground running if the electorate choose us to lead the country. It contains positive policy proposals across all devolved policy fields which have the potential to make a huge difference to our people and our communities. 

Only this week, we launched our campaign for the Senedd elections at Bedwas Workmen’s Hall where Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth set out his ambition to be the next First Minister of Wales, urging the people of Wales to “choose hope over division.”

We also had speeches from Delyth Jewell, Lindsay Whittle, and Niamh Salkeld – who are all standing as candidates in the Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni constituency, where the response on the doorstep policies has been encouraging.

There is little time left now before the election on May 7 but you can be sure that Plaid Cymru will be out in force across all communities in the remaining days that we have left.