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| Politics of Wales |
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The Welsh Shadow Cabinet is constituted by members of the largest party not part of the Welsh Government. Since 6 April 2017 this has been the Welsh Conservatives, and since 7 May 2021 the Leader of the Opposition has been Andrew RT Davies.
Both the Welsh Conservatives and Plaid Cymru currently refer to their own front benches as Shadow Cabinets. As of June 2023 the following speak for their respective party and question the relevant minister in plenary session.
| Portfolio | Name | Constituency | Term | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leader of the Opposition |  | Andrew RT Davies MS | South Wales Central | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for Finance |  | Peter Fox MS | Monmouth | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for Health |  | Russell George MS | Montgomeryshire | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for the Economy |  | Paul Davies MS | Preseli Pembrokeshire | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for Climate Change |  | Janet Finch-Saunders MS | Aberconwy | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for Education |  | Laura Anne Jones MS | South Wales East | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for Social Justice and Shadow Counsel General |  | Mark Isherwood MS | North Wales | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for the Constitution and North Wales, and Chief Whip |  | Darren Millar MS | Clwyd West | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for Equalities |  | Altaf Hussain MS | South Wales West | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs and the Welsh Language |  | Samuel Kurtz MS | Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for Local Government |  | Sam Rowlands MS | North Wales | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for Mental Health, Wellbeing and Mid Wales |  | James Evans MS | Brecon and Radnorshire | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for Transport and Technology |  | Natasha Asghar MS | South Wales East | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for Social Services |  | Gareth Davies MS | Vale of Clwyd | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for Culture Tourism and Sport |  | Tom Giffard MS | South Wales West | 2021– | |
| Shadow Minister for Social Partnership |  | Joel James MS | South Wales Central | 2021– | |
Rhun ap Iorwerth was announced as a new leader of Plaid Cymru on the 16 June 2023. [1] He announced his shadow cabinet on the 27 June. [2]
| Portfolio | Name | Constituency or electoral region | Term | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leader of Plaid Cymru |  | Rhun ap Iorwerth MS | Ynys Môn | 2023– | |
| Deputy Leader and Shadow Minister for Climate Change |  | Delyth Jewell MS | South Wales East | 2023– | |
| Shadow Minister for Rural Affairs Chair of the Senedd Group |  | Llyr Huws Gruffydd MS | North Wales | 2023– | |
| Shadow Minister for Education, Welsh language and Culture Business Manager |  | Heledd Fychan MS | South Wales Central | 2023– | |
| Shadow Minister for Health, Social Care and Housing Chief Whip |  | Mabon ap Gwynfor MS | Dwyfor Meirionnydd | 2023– | |
| Shadow Minister for Justice and European Affairs |  | Adam Price MS | Carmarthen East and Dinefwr | 2023– | |
| Shadow Minister for Finance and Local Government |  | Peredur Owen Griffiths MS | South Wales East | 2023– | |
| Shadow Minister for Social Justice and Social Services |  | Sioned Williams MS | South Wales West | 2023– | |
| Shadow Minister for the Economy |  | Luke Fletcher MS | South Wales West | 2023– | |
| Lead Designated Member for the Co-operation agreement |  | Siân Gwenllian MS | Arfon | 2023– | |
| Designated Member for the Co-operation agreement |  | Cefin Campbell MS | Mid and West Wales | 2023– | |
At the 2016 election, Plaid Cymru, led by Leanne Wood, won 12 seats to the Welsh Conservatives' 11, and thus became the largest party not in government. On 14 October 2016 Dafydd Elis-Thomas left Plaid Cymru to sit as an independent, so that Plaid Cymru and the Welsh Conservatives both held 11 seats. During this period, Wood was not referred to as Leader of the Opposition, but merely as leader of Plaid Cymru. [3] The Conservative group grew to 12 when Mark Reckless defected from UKIP to the Conservative group on 6 April 2017, and the Welsh Conservative leader, Andrew RT Davies at the time, was referred to as Leader of the Opposition once more. [4]
Plaid Cymru is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom.
Adam Robert Price is a Welsh politician who served as Leader of Plaid Cymru from September 2018 to May 2023. He has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr since 2016, having previously been a Member of Parliament (MP) for the same Westminster constituency from 2001 to 2010.
Elin Jones is a Welsh politician who has served as the Llywydd of the Senedd since 2016. A member of Plaid Cymru, Jones has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Ceredigion since 1999.
Leanne Wood is a Welsh politician who served as the leader of Plaid Cymru from March 2012 to September 2018, and served as a Member of the Senedd (MS) from 2003 to 2021.
Welsh independence is the political movement advocating for Wales to become a sovereign state, independent from the United Kingdom.
The Welsh Conservatives is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second-most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second-largest share of the vote at every general election since 1931. In Senedd elections, the Conservatives are currently the second-most supported party but have at times been third. They hold 14 of the 40 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament, and 16 of the 60 seats in the Senedd.
Thomas Alun Rhys Davies is a Welsh Labour and Co-operative party politician serving as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Blaenau Gwent since 2011, and formerly Mid and West Wales from 2007 to 2011. He has served in several Welsh government offices, including Cabinet Secretary for Local Government and Public Services, Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language, and Minister for Natural Resources and Food.
Andrew RT Davies CBE is a Welsh politician serving as Leader of the Welsh Conservative Group in the Senedd since 2021, previously holding the position from 2011 to 2018. He has been a Member of the Senedd (MS) since 2007.
Suzy Davies is a Welsh Conservative Party politician, who served as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for South Wales West from 2011 to 2021. She was elected first on the Welsh Conservatives party list for the region in the 2011 election.
Llŷr Huws Gruffydd, is a Welsh Plaid Cymru politician, serving as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for the North Wales region since 2011. He acted as interim leader of Plaid Cymru from 16 May to 16 June 2023.
Rhun ap Iorwerth is a Welsh journalist and politician serving as the Leader of Plaid Cymru since June 2023. He has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Ynys Môn since 2013.
Siân Gwenllian is a Welsh Plaid Cymru politician who has represented the constituency of Arfon in the Senedd since 2016. She currently holds the seat with a majority of 8,642 votes.
Neil John McEvoy is a Welsh nationalist politician, serving as leader of Propel since 2020, and as a Cardiff Councillor for the Fairwater ward since 2008.
Ben Morgan Lake is a Plaid Cymru politician serving as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Ceredigion since 2017.
The 2018 election for the leader of the Welsh political party Plaid Cymru began on 7 August. Voting closed at midnight on 27 September. Adam Price was declared the winner on 28 September, defeating the two other candidates.
In the Senedd, the Leader of the Opposition is the leader of the largest political party in the Senedd that is not part of government and provides the official opposition to the government. Since 7 May 2021 the Leader of the Opposition in the Senedd is Andrew RT Davies (Conservative). To date the office has been held by six individuals, three from Plaid Cymru and three from the Welsh Conservatives. Only one, Ieuan Wyn Jones, has gone on to serve in the Welsh Government.
In the run-up to the 2021 Senedd election, various organisations carried out opinion polling to gauge voting intentions. Results of such polls are displayed in this list. Most of the pollsters listed are members of the British Polling Council (BPC) and abide by its disclosure rules.
Andrew RT Davies became the Leader of the Opposition in Wales on the 24 January 2021 after the resignation of Paul Davies as leader the following day. After the 2021 Senedd election the Welsh Conservatives got a record 16 seats out of 60, and Andrew R. T. Davies remained in the post.
The 2023 Plaid Cymru leadership election was triggered by the resignation of Adam Price as party leader on 16 May, after an internal report found the party to have a "culture of harassment, bullying and misogyny". Rhun ap Iorwerth became leader on 16 June 2023 unopposed.
In December 2021, the Welsh Labour government and Plaid Cymru signed a three-year co-operation agreement, where the two parties agreed to work together in 46 policy areas. The agreement is not a coalition or confidence and supply agreement; Plaid Cymru remain in opposition but can appoint advisers to offices of the Welsh Government.
