In the upcoming Senedd election on 7 May, the Wales Green Party will stand candidates across all 16 constituencies. And the surging party is on course to get its best ever result in the nation, thanks to the new proportional system of voting.
Green Party: rent freezes, public ownership of water, and international law
Ahead of a likely wipeout for both Labour and the Tories, the Greens will probably stand alongside centre-left nationalists Plaid Cymru to oppose far-right Reform UK and the other right-wing parties. Welsh Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter has been clear about his party’s goals.
Slaughter, who has been leader of the Wales Green Party since 2018, has suggested that he’s ready to cooperate with Plaid Cymru. But he will be calling for speedy action on issues like “genuine public ownership” of Welsh Water and a demand for “rent freezes”. As he said in a statement, Green candidates:
will take the cost of living seriously by introducing rent controls, start cleaning up our rivers by holding Dŵr Cymru/Welsh Water to account, and stand up for international law and human rights in the face of government complicity in genocide and illegal wars.
And as the party noted:
Wales is the first nation in the UK to scrap the First-Past-The-Post system and the election in May will be the first under the full proportionate representation voting system that was introduced when the Senedd Reform Bill was approved on 9 May 2024.
Standing outside the historic Labour-Tory duopoly, the Greens will be one of the big beneficiaries of the change in the voting system:
YouGov’s first MRP of the 2026 Senedd election shows Plaid Cymru on course to be the largest party
PC: 43 (+19 from 2021*)
Ref: 30 (+30)
Lab: 12 (-32)
Grn: 10 (+10)
Con: 1 (-25)
LD: 0 (-2)*notional results had the last election been conducted on the new system based on data… pic.twitter.com/nTpERackDc
— YouGov (@YouGov) March 25, 2026
This is the projections from the latest poll for Wales.
The polling was by YouGov for ITV Cymru and Cardiff Uni.
You can find the full analysis in my pinned tweet. pic.twitter.com/aRBoA4PJEG
— Will Hayward (@WillHayCardiff) March 24, 2026
The chance to challenge establishment parties via electoral reform is one reason why Green Party of England and Wales leader Zack Polanski has also promised to prioritise this change across the UK:
Zack Polanski sets out his day 1 priorities if PM:
- Change voting system from FPTP to PR
- Introduce a wealth tax
- End homelessness (including by ending right to buy, building social housing and freezing rent) pic.twitter.com/AokyvYDBRa
— Rivkah Brown (@rivkahbrown) March 24, 2026
Progressives must stop Reform
As the Wales Green Party has stressed, hate-mongering Reform leader Nigel Farage:
has no respect for Wales at all
Farage has no respect for Wales at all.
His last leader turned out to be a Russian spy – now he makes glib remarks about us like one more group of people to aim his hatred at.https://t.co/dBQXEZg8A5
— Plaid Werdd Cymru | Wales Green Party (@WalesGreenParty) March 19, 2026
Polanski, meanwhile, has reminded Welsh voters that:
Nigel Farage had a leader in Wales who was a Russian asset go to prison for 10.5 years.
As the BBC reported, former Reform leader in Wales Nathan Gill received a sentence of:
10-and-a-half years in prison after admitting taking bribes for pro-Russia interviews and speeches.
He apparently got “up to £40,000” for this when he was a politician in the European Parliament.
Despite this record, however, Reform may do well in May’s election. So progressives across the board will need to get out and vote to show Reform that its corrupt divisiveness is not welcome in Wales.
Featured image via the Canary
By Ed Sykes
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