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Well, Caerphilly, it’s good to be back with this column. It’s four weeks today since the election results, and three weeks since the formation of the first ever Plaid Cymru government. Being part of that government, and living through the past few weeks, has really felt like experiencing history as it’s being written. It truly is a momentous time for our nation.

I want to thank everyone who put their faith in me and in my party in the recent election. But however you voted, or if you didn’t vote at all, this government’s job will be to serve you over the next four years.  And locally, I can promise you that Lindsay, Niamh and I will work hard every day to help people with the problems they’re facing, and to make life better in this wonderful area we call home. 

Thanks to that election, we have a mandate to demand better for our communities – and work is already underway to bring down waiting lists in the NHS, to tackle poverty with the most generous childcare offer in the UK, to create jobs and support businesses, and to stand up for Wales when it comes to Westminster. 

Because it’s about time Wales had a better deal than what we’ve had to put up with. There is nothing inevitable about the poverty that blights too many lives in our nation and in our communities: it is a poverty of ambition that has kept us in this way, and the consequence of being an afterthought in government policy and practice for long decades past. 

It’s about time we had the fair funding we need to thrive again, greater powers over transport and energy – and not to mention the billions we’re owed from projects like HS2. This government – our government’s job – will be to demand those powers and funding that we’re owed. Because Wales deserves nothing less.

Some of you might have seen that I’ve had the tremendous privilege of being appointed a role in our new government: I am deputy minister for social care, mental health and women’s health. I know that there are many services that we need to improve. I know that there are too many problems facing people every day that need to be fixed. And I promise you that I will champion these issues at the heart of Wales’ government – to secure a better future for those who need it most.

The biggest privilege of all for me, though, will be to continue to represent this vibrant, resilient and magnificent area in our nation’s parliament. Please remember that I, and all of my fellow members, are here to represent you.  Dros Gymru gyfan – for Wales, and for our future.