On Friday evening, representatives from Wales’ five largest political parties will engage in a live televised debate. The event, hosted by Bethan Rhys Roberts, will air at 7 PM on BBC One Wales, Radio Wales, and online. Welsh First Minister and Labour Party leader Vaughan Gething, the Conservative party’s David TC Davies, Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, Jane Dodds for the Liberal Democrats, and Oliver Lewis for Reform UK will all participate.
Who are these individuals, and what can be expected from each of them? Vaughan Gething has been Welsh Labour leader and First Minister since replacing Mark Drakeford in March. His campaign for leadership was rocked by the revelation that his team accepted £200,000 from a company whose boss had twice been convicted of environmental offenses. Although he lost a no-confidence vote in June, he refused to resign and received the backing of Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer.
David TC Davies, the newly appointed Welsh Secretary, has admitted that the Conservative party has had a difficult time during the campaign. Davies has been an MP for Monmouth since 2005, and his previous roles include junior Wales Office minister, assistant government whip, and Welsh Affairs Select Committee chair. He has criticized the 685,000 individuals who legally migrated to the UK in 2023, claiming that the number is far too high.
Rhun ap Iorwerth replaced Adam Price as Plaid Cymru leader in 2023 after a report on misogyny, harassment, and bullying within the party. He has said that Welsh independence is not the focus of the upcoming election, instead concentrating on building a better Welsh economy.
Jane Dodds first became the Welsh Liberal Democrats’ leader in 2017. After winning a by-election for the Brecon and Radnorshire Westminster constituency in 2019, she held the seat for just three months before losing it to the Tories in that year’s general election. She has focused her campaign on social care and pledged to pay carers an additional £2 an hour.
Oliver Lewis, standing as a Reform UK candidate in the Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr constituency, is a PhD student researching British state failure. He rejects the notion that the party’s net-zero immigration aim will cause workforce gaps, arguing that it is “morally reprehensible” to bring foreign labor into the health service.
The debate will air live on BBC One Wales, Radio Wales, and online, on Friday night at 7 PM
Read the full article from The BBC here: Read More