I’m OK and reflecting, says Leanne, but Plaid needs different strategy
PLAID Cymru’s former leader and Member of the Senedd, Leanne Wood, has spoken publicly for the first time since losing her seat.
Ms Wood had held the Rhondda seat for five years, and before that had been AM for South Wales Central.
She lost her seat in the 2021 election to Labour’s Buffy Williams.
Speaking to the BBC’s The Leaders’ Lounge, Ms Wood said that Plaid Cymru needed a new strategy.
Asked how she was by presenter Betsan Powys, Ms Wood replied: “I’m OK.
“I live to fight another day, it’s hard to keep a good woman down, as they say.”
Asked when she’d realised she wouldn’t be re-elected, she replied:
“We thought we were in with a chance up until the count and I believed it would be close, even though it wasn’t. It was a strong campaign from Labour and the national campaign had an impact as well.
“The Covid question was huge, I think that Mark Drakeford’s handling of Covid was widely perceived to have been handled well.
“From Plaid Cymru I think the leadership and the strategists are going to have some head-scratching to do.
“We’ve lost the seat in the Valleys that we needed to build out from, and our majorities have increased in those seats we’ve traditionally held for three, four or five decades.
“That goal of independence is going to be difficult to achieve if we’re only polling well in those parts of Wales where we always have polled well.
“So the strategy to reach out has taken a big step back, I think, and we will need to think about how we respond to that and I think there needs to be a new strategy.”
Asked what Plaid Cymru needed to do, she said: “It’s about building in those areas where there’s a high population, and in the former industrial areas, not just the south but in the north east as well. We have to continue to do what we do, I think.
“It’s the community building work, the activity and visibility on the streets. It’s standing up for the poorest people in society and it’s also making the case for independence that makes sense to people.
“I think that there’s a very strong argument to make and I don’t think it’s been made yet, that the status quo is really bad for people.
“The poverty levels we have, it’s difficult to see how we increase our prosperity under the current set, with the limited powers, whichever party is in power in Wales because the set-up isn’t there to allow that prosperity”.
She said there is a route out of poverty by “being able to make decisions for ourselves”.
“I think that’s going to have to form part of Plaid Cymru’s strategy,” she said.
She said strategists and leaderships need to look at what will
change to not just take a seat, but keep it as well.
Presenter Ms Powys said there was a “different feel” to the group now. “There are three aps in there now, all Welsh-speakers, it’s a different feel to the group now.”
Ms Wood replied: “Let’s not pigeonhole people and stereotype people in any way. Everyone has a contribution to make.
“I think people are going to be surprised, in a good way, by people in this new intake.”
Asked if she planned to continue having a role in public life, Ms Wood said she would “continue in some form, some way”.
“I’ve got a lot of thinking and reflecting and considering to do, I don’t want to jump into something,” she said.
“I’ve been doing this job for 18 years, so it’ll need some sort of ‘pivot’, as we say.
“So I need some time to rest, and to have a think as well.”
Ms Wood led Plaid Cymru from 2012 until 2018, when she faced a leadership challenge from Adam Price and Rhun ap Iorwerth and came third in the subsequent ballot of party members.
Mr Price, who won that contest, has insisted he will continue as leader.
“I’m not walking away from anything, because this is the moment when Wales needs leadership,” he said.
The Leaders’ Lounge is available on BBC Sounds.