Welsh election 2021: Who should I vote for? Compare party policies
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Political parties in Wales are campaigning ahead of the election on 6 May.
To help you decide who you might vote for, use this policy guide to compare where the parties stand on the key issues.
What are the parties promising you?
Select an issue and a party to see their policies
Covid-19
Including future containment measures and the rollout of vaccines.
Economy
Covering infrastructure investment, business taxes, and support for industry.
Education
Covering school and university funding, salaries, school testing and inspection, and university tuition fees.
NHS and care
Covering hospitals, GPs, dentists, funding, staffing, waiting times, mental health and social care.
EU relations
Including trade and our future relationship with Europe.
Environment
Covering climate change, emissions targets, renewable energy, plastic use, recycling, energy efficiency and air pollution.
Work and benefits
Including childcare, tackling poverty and council tax benefit.
Housing
Including house building, home ownership, social housing, homelessness and tenants rights.
Transport
Covering rail ownership and franchising, bus services, and road upgrades.
Democracy
Including the future of devolution in Wales.
Welsh Labour
Welsh Labour
Leader
Mark Drakeford
Main policies
- A new Young Persons' Guarantee of a place in work, education, training or self-employment for everyone in Wales under the age of 25, including creating 125,000 new apprenticeships
- Guarantee the Real Living Wage for all social care staff and keep the cap on non-residential care fees and maintain the £50,000 capital limit
- Invest £800m in new trains to ensure that by 2023, 95% of journeys on our rail network will be on new trains
Covid-19
- Continue to work with NHS staff, armed forces and volunteers to get people vaccinated
- Further support Welsh workers and businesses with what it says is the most generous financial support in the UK
- Launch programme of catch-up support for public services, including employing over 1,800 additional tutoring staff in schools and a new medical school in North Wales
Economy
- Continue business rates holiday for retail, leisure and hospitality businesses for a further 12 months, in combination with the Small Business Rates Relief scheme will mean more than 70,000 businesses will pay no rates at all in 2021-22
- Establish a new Young Persons' Guarantee of a place in work, education, training or self-employment for everyone in Wales under the age of 25, including creating 125,000 new apprenticeships
Education
- New curriculum for Wales starting in 2022, focusing on higher standards of literacy and numeracy, ensuring our young people are more digitally and bilingually competent, and supporting pupils' mental and emotional health
- Continue to protect the Educational Maintenance Allowance
- Support for families to cover uniform and school equipment costs, and guaranteed free school meals through the holidays during the pandemic
NHS and care
- Free prescriptions and free hospital car parking will remain protected
- Guarantee the Real Living Wage for all social care staff and keep the cap on non-residential care fees and maintain the £50,000 capital limit
EU relations
- Stress the importance of our economic, political and social links with the EU allowing businesses to trade Welsh goods across Europe
- Continue with the implementation of the International Strategy which seeks to raise Wales' profile, grow the economy and establish Wales as a globally responsible nation
Environment
- Create jobs across Wales with green energy, environmental protections and tourism
- Abolish the use of the most littered single-use plastics, protecting the seas and countryside
- Create a National Forest for Wales, for the benefits of equality and mental health as well as the environment
Work and benefits
- Put the social partnership approach into law, and make Wales a genuinely Fair Work Nation
- Continue to push the UK government to support Welsh families in areas it is responsible for and withdraw planned cuts to Universal Credit
Housing
- Build thousands of new low-carbon, affordable homes for rent and with it, create thousands of new jobs
Transport
- Deliver high-quality, sustainable public transport system for Wales
- Keep the Wales and the Borders rail franchise in public ownership
- Invest £800m in new trains to ensure that by 2023, 95% of journeys on our rail network will be on new trains
- Re-regulate the bus network, meaning easier access to local bus services
- Invest in communities and infrastructure to help ensure more and more journeys are taken by foot or by bike
Democracy
- Believe that the United Kingdom is a voluntary association of four nations, where power should be dispersed and not centralised, and where as much as possible decisions are made as close to people as they can be taken
- Support a constitutional convention to develop a new settlement for the United Kingdom
Welsh Conservative Party
Welsh Conservative Party
Leader
Andrew RT Davies
Main policies
- Build the M4 Relief Road, upgrade the A55 in North Wales to reduce pinch points and the A40 to boost the economy of West Wales
- No new powers for the Welsh Government
- Build 100,000 houses over the next decade, including 40,000 social homes, with all new homes carbon neutral by 2026
Covid-19
- Appoint a dedicated Covid-19 Recovery Minister in the Welsh government to oversee all areas of coronavirus recovery, including the vaccine rollout across Wales with every adult offered both doses by the end of October, and delivery of any booster shots
- Establish routes to support for people suffering with mental health problems due to the pandemic, especially NHS staff, care workers and families who have experienced trauma due to patients being alone at the time of their death
- Review and open funding for businesses on a needs basis, ending the first come first serve nature of current support for Welsh businesses by the Welsh government
Economy
- Create a one-stop shop for businesses in Wales by bringing together the Development Bank of Wales, Business Wales and recreating the best aspects of the Welsh Development Agency
- Establish Innovate Wales, based in north Wales, a one-stop shop for firms to support new enterprises, and encourage existing businesses to grow and export
- Deliver a tax cut for small businesses by scrapping business rates
- Introduce a comeback package for seaside and market towns to level up with a Tourism Towns Fund, enabling communities to improve their local economy by attracting new visitors with free WiFi or improved transport links
- Establish a National Mission to grow the Welsh economy, with a clear target to create 65,000 new jobs. Once achieved, we will cut the basic rate of income tax to support hardworking families
Education
- End the underfunding of our young people and guarantee that more funding directly reaches the classroom
- Fully scrap the Welsh Baccalaureate to allow pupils to focus on GCSEs, A-levels and vocational courses
- Introduce different routes to excellence with the expansion of apprenticeships, including degree apprenticeships
NHS and care
- Develop a clear plan to enable the Welsh NHS to clear the waiting list backlog that has further deteriorated during the pandemic, utilising cross-border and independent facilities to speed up treatment
- Ensure that no one should wait more than one year for treatment in the NHS with our Patient Guarantee
- Deliver 1,200 more doctors, 3,000 more nurses and other professionals through our ‘Retain, recruit and train' programme
- Transform mental health services by treating it with the same priority as physical health
EU relations
- Support businesses to access new opportunities following Brexit using our one-stop shop to access investment
- Work with schools and universities to ensure that the most disadvantaged in our society are able to access the new Turing Scheme
- Ensure that the Welsh government, with the UK government, liaises closely with the Republic of Ireland to ensure smooth imports and exports
Environment
- Introduce a Clean Air Act to cut pollution and reduce the incidence of respiratory disease
- Ban single-use plastics for non-medical use such as plastic wet wipes, straws, stirrers, disposable cups and cotton buds, as well as creating a drinks deposit return scheme
- Tackle climate change by ensuring Wales meets our net-zero carbon emissions target by 2050
Work and benefits
- Establish a single point of access for benefits and support scheme administered in Wales, exploring the possibility of automatically passporting Universal Credit claimants to this
- Introduce a ‘housing first' model for supporting people who are homeless
- Support our older communities by maintaining free prescriptions, free bus travel and promote free entry to Cadw sites and pilot free rail travel for the over 75s
Housing
- Encourage aspiration by scrapping Land Transaction Tax for first-time buyers and raising the threshold to £250,000
- Restore a reformed right to buy so more people can benefit from the security of owning their own home
- Build 100,000 houses over the next decade, including 40,000 social homes, with all new homes carbon neutral by 2026
Transport
- Build the M4 Relief Road, upgrade the A55 in north Wales to reduce pinch points and the A40 to boost the economy of west Wales
- Create a fast-charging network of 20,000 electric car charging stations
- Help young people access education, training and employment with free bus travel and discounted rail travel for 16-24 year olds
Democracy
- No increase in the number of Members of the Senedd in the next five years and without support of the public
- No new powers for the Welsh government - it needs to get on and use the power it has rather than push for more
- Work together with the UK government - not against it - to level-up the whole of Wales
Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru
Leader
Adam Price
Main policies
- Investing in 4,500 extra teachers and support staff
- A guaranteed job, on at least a Real Living Wage, or high-quality training for every 16–24-year-old
- Hold an independence referendum by 2026
Covid-19
- Build the best National Health and Care Service by reducing waiting lists, building new cancer diagnostic centres and raising the hourly wage of care workers to at least £10
- Create a £6bn Green Economic Stimulus, which, together with investments in healthcare, education, and the local economy, will generate 60,000 jobs over the next Senedd year term
- Prioritising educational and wellbeing recovery by recruiting 2,000 extra teachers and 2,000 extra support staff in schools across Wales
Economy
- A guaranteed job, on at least a Real Living Wage, or high-quality training for every 16–24-year-old
- Zero interest loans to support small businesses to bounce back post-Covid
- Create Prosperity Wales, a dynamic new economic development agency, dedicated to growing small and medium-sized Welsh firms, boosting exports and creating jobs in every community
Education
- Investing in 4,500 extra teachers and support staff, reducing class sizes, and valuing the teaching profession
- Establish world-class early years education and childcare, offering 30 hours a week, free for all children from 24 months to school age
- Reduce the maximum tuition fee chargeable to Welsh-domiciled students at Welsh universities to £7,500
NHS and care
- Build a National Health and Care Service where personal care is free at the point of need
- Provide 6,000 extra healthcare professionals for Wales - 4,000 nurses, 1,000 doctors and 1,000 allied health professionals
- Make improving mental health a central goal, and establish a network of Youth Wellbeing Centres for mental and physical health support for young people throughout Wales
EU relations
- Investigate ways for Wales to continue to participate in the EU Erasmus programme
- Develop a new export strategy for Welsh business, focused on EU regions and nations like Ireland and Basque Country where there are already established relationships
- Start planning for an independent Wales to join the European Free Trade Association
Environment
- Set a Wales-wide mission to generate 100% of electricity and reach zero emissions by 2035
- Introduce a Nature Act with statutory targets to restore biodiversity by 2050
- Commit to providing good quality and safe green space within a five-minute walk of all Welsh households
Work and benefits
- £35 per child weekly top-up payment to families living below the poverty line
- Provide a lifelong learning entitlement for retraining worth £5,000 for everyone over 25
- Pilot a Universal Basic Income in Wales
Housing
- Launch the most ambitious public homes programme since the 1970s, creating 50,000 genuinely affordable homes to rent and buy over the next five years
- Permanently end rough sleeping on our streets through a rapid re-housing policy
- End no-fault evictions and create a new system of fair rents for people in private rental accommodation
- Cut the bills of average Council Tax payers, and use planning and tax powers to tackle the second homes crisis
Transport
- Aim to halve the proportion of journeys made by car by 2030
- Allocate at least 50 per cent of all capital transport spend on improving bus and train services
- Create a new west coast rail line, connecting the north and south
- Build a Valleys CrossRail, linking east and west
Democracy
- Give the people of Wales a say on their future by holding an independence referendum by 2026
- Create a statutory National Commission to oversee the process leading to the referendum, including drafting a Welsh Constitution, involving widespread consultation
- Seek the immediate devolution of power over currently reserved matters, including policing and criminal justice, rail, welfare, broadcasting, large energy projects, and the Crown Estate
Reform Party UK
Reform Party UK
Leader
Nathan Gill
Main policies
- Ensure no more lockdowns
- Clear the NHS backlog caused by Covid
- Give parents the right to take their children on holiday for up to ten days
Covid-19
- Never have a full scale lockdown for Wales or any part of Wales
- Establish expert advisery group looking at wider impact of policy on health system and economy
- Keep schools, leisure and fitness facilities open
- Never introduce vaccine passports and remove guidance for wearing masks in class
Economy
- Free up 1.2m small businesses and self-employed from paying coporation tax
- Create an internet sales tax and scrap business rates in Wales
- Stimulate the north Wales economy by supporting Wylfa Newydd
Education
- Make financial education a mandatory subject for all school children at GCSE level
- Allow parents to have the flexibility to take children out of the classroom for up to 10 days for those not in their GCSE years
- Reform term dates and scrap a six-week holiday July/August
NHS and care
- Invest to clear the backlog of NHS waiting times over the next four years
- Invest in community services to ensure everyone gets the support they need on mental health and normalise mental illness with powerful health promotion campaigns
- Develop a medical model that focuses on prevention, recovery and co-production as well as cure
- Develop a workforce policy that ensures adequate numbers of high quality and motivated staff are kept and recruited
EU relations
- Work with our EU partners as well as the Rest of the World to develop trade deals that benefit both parties
Environment
- Support and invest in tidal energy to make Wales a world leader in this technology
- Work with Local Authorities to create an Electric Vehicle charging network model that funds public services
- Create a National Forest for Wales with open access to all citizens
Work and benefits
- Maintain free prescriptions
- Oppose Wales introducing higher rates of income tax than other parts of the UK
- Nationally would reduce the number of people paying income tax by increasing the minimum threshold to £20,000, from £12,500 per annum
Housing
- Keep the current legislation that allows local authorities to charge up to 100% extra on empty and second homes, but introduce a policy to ensure the money raised goes directly back to the communities affected
- Introduce planning permission for home owners that wish to seek a change of purpose for that home to a holiday let business
- Make it easier for local people to build a home in their local village or town
Transport
- Build the M4 relief road
- Build new rail infrastructure in South Wales, including SE Wales Transport Commission recommendation for six new train stations and Valley line upgrades
- Improve transport links between South and North Wales
- Invest in improving road links in North Wales
Democracy
- We will actively campaign to remain a firm member of the United Kingdom
- Oppose any increase in the number of Senedd members
- Hold a seperate election for the first minister
- Seek to devolve some powers of Welsh government to councils
Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party
Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party
Leader
Richard Suchorzewski
Main policies
- Abolish the Welsh Assembly/Senedd through a referendum
- Restore one NHS
- End 1 million Welsh speakers target
Covid-19
- A UK-led response rather than a fragmented four nation approach
Economy
- Powers over economic development should be devolved from Cardiff Bay to local area across Wales in Local enterprise partnerships.
- Councils should then work in partnership with business and employers, who know their areas, in Local Enterprise Partnerships.
- Lower council tax could help poor areas more than third sector grants
Education
- Retain UK curriculum
- Restore consistency of exams and grading with England
- Devolve matter of whether Welsh should be compulsory in non-Welsh medium schools to councils
- Support academies and free schools
- End 1 million Welsh speakers target
NHS and care
- Restore one unified National Health Service
- Put doctors on same pay scales as counterparts in England
- Keep free prescriptions for the less well off, children, pregnant women and retirees, but use money paid for prescriptions by others for tackling the huge waiting lists in NHS following the Covid crisis
EU relations
- Support Brexit on the basis determined by UK government following the vote by Wales and aim to leave EU
Environment
- Abolish Natural Resources Wales
- Support transition to new technologies in agriculture that could reduce adverse environmental impacts
- Prioritise support for traditional Welsh hill farming
Work and benefits
- Oppose the devolution of benefit administration to avoid putting at risk the circa 15% of GDP fiscal transfer from rest of UK to Wales
Housing
- End devolution of Land Transaction Tax, replacing with UK Stamp Duty Land Tax
- Restore right to buy
Transport
- Sell Cardiff Airport
- Build the M4 Relief Road as supported by Public Inquiry and working with Newport city council supported by UK government
- A more integrated UK-led rail system
Democracy
- Hold a referendum on scrapping the Welsh Parliament
- Give tax powers back to Westminster as per statement on ballot paper in 2011 referendum that "the Assembly cannot make laws on ... tax whatever the result of this vote"
Welsh Liberal Democrats
Welsh Liberal Democrats
Leader
Jane Dodds
Main policies
- £500m to help our high streets, town and city centres, and support small businesses to thrive and adapt
- An investment of £1bn per year to fight the climate emergency, create new green jobs, and cut household energy bills
- Create a 24/7 crisis mental health service to ensure that people can recieve care when they need it
Covid-19
- £500m to help our high streets, town and city centres, and support small businesses to thrive and adapt
- Freeze business rates for the next 5 years and create an investment relief fund to enable businesses to invest.
- Work towards re-joining the Single Market and Customs Union, as part of the scheduled renegotiation with the EU in 2025, or earlier should the opportunity arise
Economy
- Tackle holiday hunger by providing free school meals throughout the school holidays for the next 5 years and investing in Food and Fun programmes during school summer holidays
- Expand degree apprenticeships, including at postgraduate level, diversifying the subject areas available, and creating more routes into employment
- Personal Learning Accounts to realise a right to lifelong learning, allowing people to upskill and retrain
Education
- Implement the new Curriculum for Wales and ensure it has the resources needed to make it a success
- Improve opportunities for disadvantaged learners to learn over school holidays and ensure they get a good meal
- End digital exclusion at all levels of education, investing in devices and digital skills
NHS and care
- Create a 24/7 crisis mental health service to ensure that people can recieve care when they need it
- Support our carers by paying all social care workers the Real Living Wage
- Putting in place properly funded catch-up plans for our health and care services so health workers and patients have certainty about their care, for example cancer and stroke services
EU relations
- Push for tariff free trade as part of the Single Market and Customs Union
- Promote and facilitate opportunities for international collaboration in research and education
- Ensure Wales does not lose a penny of investment through the new Shared Prosperity Fund
Environment
- An investment of £1bn per year to fight the climate emergency, create new green jobs, and cut household energy bills
- Pass a Green Homes Act to create a new green standard for Welsh homes and cut average household bills by up to £500 per year
- Tackle pollution and clean up the air we breathe with a Clean Air Act in the first 100 days
Work and benefits
- Take meaningful steps towards becoming a Living Wage and Living Hours nation
- Deliver universal access to free childcare from the age of 9 months, including wrap-around care for children in school
- Pilot a trial of Universal Basic Income in Wales to provide a minimum standard of living for everyone
Housing
- Build 30,000 new social homes for rent over the next 5 years to ensure everyone has access to a safe place to call home
- Introduce a plan to end homelessness and invest in services to help prevent people being pushed into homeless and help to maintain a home
- Continue to invest in the Rent to Own scheme that has helped people to own their own home for the first time
Transport
- Introduce free bus transport for every young person under the age of 25 by 2025
- Invest in safe routes to walk and cycle, allocating 10% of the transport budget in this area, to reduce pollution and encourage healthier habits
- Make sure public transport works for everyone. Our Bus Bill will ensure that bus routes meet community needs, ticket fares are affordable and flexible, timetables meet different needs, and bus stops and train stations are accessible.
Democracy
- Ensure decisions are made closest to the people they affect within a Federal UK based on mutual respect and trust
- Devolve justice and policing, whilst abolishing Wales' four Police and Crime Commissioners. Move towards a separate Welsh legal jurisdiction to allow Wales to move towards a more just and accountable system that prioritises effective rehabilitation
- Introduce a fairer voting system for the Senedd and all councils, ensuring that every vote matters
UKIP Wales
UKIP Wales
Leader
Neil Hamilton
Main policies
- End lockdown measures immediately
- A referendum on scrapping the Senedd and Welsh Government
- Scrap Welsh government's 'Nation of Sanctuary' policy for asylum seekers and refugees
Covid-19
- End lockdowns immediately, enabling all businesses to re-open, and individual freedom and travel to return
- Immediately halt ‘Vaccine Passport' proposals and reviews, which seek to make vaccination mandatory under the threat of marginalisation from society
- Restore civil liberties, such as freedom of travel, freedom of association and freedom to attend events that have been taken away from us during the pandemic
Economy
- Cut alcohol prices to reinvigorate the vital Welsh hospitality sector by cutting VAT on alcohol served in licensed premises.
- Stimulate the Welsh tourism industry by providing a £100m recovery and refurbishment fund for Welsh tourist attractions and hotels/guest houses
- Attract enterprise and investment into Wales by supporting the designation of Welsh free ports and other tax-free zones along new road constructions and in coastal areas
Education
- Scrap the Welsh Baccalaureate and make the teaching of Welsh optional through the whole curriculum
- Dismantle the four schools improvement consortia in Wales and redirect their annual £150m budget directly to schools
- Scrap tuition fees for students studying degrees in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics at university provided that, after graduation, they stay in the UK and work in those fields during part of their student loan repayment period
- Put power back into the hands of parents by restoring and respecting their right to remove their children from relationship and sex education lessons and remove such lessons from primary schools altogether
NHS and care
- Introduce locally elected health boards, putting patients and families at the heart of NHS decision-making
- Dramatically increase the number of training places for British doctors, nurses and paramedics and ensure that the required number of nurses and doctors are trained in Wales and the UK rather than imported from abroad.
- Reunite families with loved ones in care homes without delay
- Ensure that those who have paid sufficient tax and NI will not be forced to use their savings and home to pay for social care
EU relations
- Build on the untapped potential of the fishing industry in Wales by campaigning to take back full control of our waters
- Deport bogus asylum seekers who currently cannot currently be removed as a result of loopholes in the European Convention on Human Rights
- Defend the togetherness and integrity of the United Kingdom by ditching the border in the Irish Sea and the damaging Northern Ireland Protocol
Environment
- Lobby the UK Government to scrap the Climate Change Act (2008)
- Scrap all subsidies for so-called "green" energy projects which transfer money from taxpayers, including the poorest in society, to already rich environmental chancers
- Champion the growth of British farming, fishing, food safety and animal welfare standards
- Push ahead with a post-Brexit ban of live animal exports for slaughter
Work and benefits
- Seek to minimise the use of zero-hour contracts except where they are to the mutual benefit of employee and employer, and to ensure that everyone can earn a living wage
- Oppose the devolution of any further benefits to the Welsh Parliament.
- Free prescriptions, Council Tax and Discretionary (Social) assistance benefits will remain under UKIP
- End job discrimination and ensure applicants obtain roles based on merit, not on their ability to speak Welsh
Housing
- Bring housing demand under control by implementing firm and fair immigration control
- Give local people a greater say on major planning decisions in their communities through legally binding local referenda
- Where possible, incentivise local development by British companies to bring brownfield sites and derelict homes back into use, so that they can be released as affordable housing to local people
Transport
- Support the building of the M4 relief road
- Sell Cardiff airport immediately to mitigate any further loss to Welsh taxpayers, so that a new owner can operate it on a proper commercial basis
- Re-open train stations and railway lines to improve connectivity across Wales, where appropriate, by reviewing the Beeching cuts
Democracy
- Deliver a long overdue referendum on scrapping the Senedd and Welsh Government at the earliest opportunity
- Campaign to scrap the Senedd and oppose any increases to the number of Senedd Members
- Repeal Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru's granting of votes to foreigners
- Ensure that the voting age in Wales and the UK is 18
Propel
Propel
Leader
Neil McEvoy
Main policies
- Formally end all lockdowns, committing not to return to them and to repeal 'draconian' policing powers
- Establish a Welsh national energy company to extract gas reserves in former coal fields to replace use of imported gas.
- A Modern Democracy Act to create a Welsh constitution and a bill of rights – giving the public the right to call national and local referendums
Covid-19
- Establish an independent and transparent enquiry into the Welsh government's response to the coronavirus pandemic
- Introduce a Coronavirus Recovery Act to end all lockdowns in Wales, repeal all "draconian" policing powers, tackle coronavirus through social distancing measures and shielding the vulnerable, reclassify gyms as essential services and will stay open, as will schools, and a policy of full transparency of all data and decisions taken
- Renegotiate the furlough scheme to pay people impacted by Covid restrictions to work safely, while continuing to support shielding of the vulnerable
Economy
- Establish a Stock Exchange Cymru for listing Welsh companies who wish to publicly trade company shares
- Create a Welsh Sovereign Wealth Fund to develop a long-term, sustainable portfolio of investments, under the Santiago Principles
- Create eight co-operative community banks, with a primary focus on investing in existing and new small and medium-sized local businesses
- Reindustrialise Wales for the 21st Century through emphasis on developing high-tech, sustainable manufacturing for export
- Develop a new public procurement strategy to move towards 100% of public spending being awarded to Welsh companies
Education
- Schools will stay open and will not be locked down
- Pass a new Welsh Medium Education Act to bring together all existing legislative strands to provide unambiguous legal clarity in the future
NHS and care
- Implement Robbie's Law to make a duty of candour legally binding on medical practitioners and across the public sector, meaning they must be truthful in the event of mistakes or negligence
- Establish independent, non-party political and elected Public Services Investigators (PSI) to investigate complaints about public services in Wales
- Launch an independent audit of Welsh Government waste, fraud or corruption. Savings made will be redirected to the NHS.
EU relations
- Respect the results of the EU referendum, in which a majority of Welsh people voted to leave the European Union
Environment
- Establish a Welsh national energy company, majority owned by the Welsh Government and local authorities, for conventional extraction of Wales' known gas reserves to replace use of imported gas
- Cheaper energy supply will be used to support local employment in our key strategic industries, including steel and manufacturing
- Create a Sovereign Wealth Fund with the revenue generated to achieve long-term energy independence through investment in renewable energy
- Utilise Welsh universities to become a world leader in carbon capture and storage technology
- Reject the building of any nuclear reactors and veto any attempts for nuclear material produced outside Wales from being stored or dumped in the country
Work and benefits
- A new public procurement strategy will be adopted to move towards 100% of public spending being awarded to Welsh companies
Housing
- A ‘housing first' policy to end Welsh homelessness and close the second homes loophole, whereby second homes are reclassified as businesses to avoid local taxation
- Bring in an annual service charge cap for leaseholders, linked to the Consumer Price Index
- Not to grant building contracts to existing developers until they have rectified dangerous fire cladding in previous developments
- Introduce a new Right to Buy scheme for social housing tenants, with all revenue directed towards building more quality social housing
- Set compulsory targets for local authorities to bring long-term empty properties back into use
- Outlaw the renaming of Welsh-named properties to protect Welsh culture
- Guarantee that all military veterans who have seen active service will be prioritised for public housing and healthcare
Transport
- Upgrade Wales' strategic road network to expressway standard, including a North-South National Expressway
- Reinstatement of the Aberystwyth to Carmarthen and Afon Wen to Bangor railway lines
- A single ticketing system for public transport journeys
Democracy
- Create a Welsh constitution and bill of rights. The constitution will enact the principle of ‘modern direct democracy', meaning the public will have the right to bring about national and local referenda by collecting signatures
- The proportional Single Transferable Vote system for elections will be adopted for national and local elections
- Wales' twenty-two local authorities will be replaced with eight counties, largely based on Wales' preserved county borders. Each county will have a recognised capital, a directly elected governor and a community co-operative bank. Each county shall be considered to be sovereign, except where law-making power has been reserved to the Welsh parliament
- The Presiding Officer of the Senedd must sit as an independent to prevent political bias
- The Welsh First Minister will be directly elected
- Commission a feasibility study on the creation of an upper house for the Welsh Parliament, to be located in North Wales
- Support citizen journalism to provide a more diverse and accurate picture of politics and current affairs
Britain's Communist Party
Britain's Communist Party
Leader
Robert Griffiths
Main policies
- Self-government for Wales in a federal Britain
- Nationalise rail and bus services
- Build 10,000 council homes a year
Covid-19
- Applaud work of NHS staff during the pandemic
- Nationalise pharmaceutical companies
- Invest in super-fast broadband to encourage more working from home
Economy
- Take failing compaines into ‘democratic public ownership'
- Create a Welsh National Economic Development Authority with the power to direct investment of private capital
- Replace council tax with a local income tax
Education
- Abolish private education
- Create an alternative assessment system to replace the ‘exam factory'
- Welsh-medium schools and nurseries available in every part of Wales
NHS and care
- Create ‘primary health partnerships' of GPs, councils, residents, housing associations, schools and health professionals to assess the long-term health needs of communities
- A National Care Service with residential and nursing services free at the point of need
- A standard employment contract for care workers
EU relations
- Wales voted to leave the "capitalist big business" EU and Brexit means "new opportunities" for Wales
Environment
- Increased investment in renewable energy including tidal power and off-shore wind farms
- Support clean coal with carbon capture from deep mining
- Oppose nuclear power "until it can be demonstrated a safe nuclear fusion option is available"
Work and benefits
- Outlaw asset-stripping, mass redundancies and company "fire and rehire" schemes
- Extend maternity and paternity leave
- Free childcare from birth for parents who want to return to work
Housing
- Build 10,000 council homes a year
- Higher tax on vacant land
- All social housing brought back under local authority control
Transport
- Nationalise rail and bus services
- Capped travel costs for young people
Democracy
- Self-government for Wales in a federal Britain
- Wealth tax to redistribute wealth across nations and regions of Britain
Gwlad
Gwlad
Leader
Gwyn Wigley Evans
Main policies
- Wales to be indepdenent in the longer term, with its own currency
- Peak-hour congestion charging along the M4 east of Newport
- Expand Welsh-medium primary and secondary education so that it becomes "the norm in every part of Wales"
Covid-19
- Provide young people in ‘working from home' situations with options where they can find suitable workspaces together with appropriate support and mentoring
- Fast-track planning applications for change of use that involve the conversion of commercial property to residential use
Economy
- All publicly funded contracts should include provision for sustainable local content to ensure that money spent by the Welsh Government and local authorities is spent in Wales wherever possible
- Prioritise the needs of businesses whose head offices are located in Wales, ensuring that they have the appropriate support from councils, infrastructure providers, educational institutions and funding bodies
Education
- Expand Welsh-medium primary and secondary education so that it becomes "the norm in every part of Wales"
- Humanities curriculum in schools to prioritise learning of Welsh history, traditions, culture and values
- Student funding only given to students studying in Welsh institutions, other than for subjects not offered within Wales
NHS and care
- Smaller GP clinics combined into ‘polyclinics', also providing outpatient services
- Fee reductions for students studying medicine in Wales who undertake to work in Wales for a certain period of time on graduating
EU relations
- Keep open the option of a ‘re-join' referendum if circumstances change
- Seek to emulate New Zealand in expanding global trade
Environment
- Support investment in alternative technologies such as hydrogen technology as a way of storing, transporting and consuming energy generated by renewable methods
- Not anti-nuclear in principle, but oppose large projects such as Wylfa B
- Take all water assets within Wales into public ownership and to place them under the control of existing ‘not-for-profit' Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water
Work and benefits
- Welsh Revenue Authority takes responsibility for accurately accounting for all the taxation revenue generated within Wales
- Post-independence - replace the current benefits and taxation system with Citizens' Income and Flat Tax
Housing
- Require a licence for owning a second home, with the council charge surcharge set at 500%
- Tenants to have a right of first refusal if a landlord wishes to sell a property
- A new Wales National Housing Agency
Transport
- A 2/3 lane ‘Powys Spine Road' along the A470 & A483 corridors
- Peak-hour congestion charging along the M4 east of Newport
- Reinstatement of the Carmarthen-Aberystwyth railway line and the extension of the Cambrian Coast line northwards
Democracy
- Wales to be indepdenent in the longer term, with its own currency
- Referendum on whether to retain the monarchy
- Single Transferrable Vote (STV) system to be used for elections
Wales Green Party
Wales Green Party
Leader
Anthony Slaughter
Main policies
- Green Transformation Fund to raise and direct money locally into communities to create 10k jobs in the green economy and homebuilding
- Secure the future of the NHS by joining up health and social care, and investing in much better local health services
- Fix the climate emergency, go carbon zero by 2030 and work to restore nature
Covid-19
- Ensure that Wales' recovery from the pandemic is both fair and green
- Establish a public inquiry into the Welsh government's handling of the pandemic
- Provide further protections against transmission in schools by introducing effective protections to make them safer
Economy
- Deliver a sustainable Wales with an ambitious Green New Deal that creates tens of thousands of new jobs
- Ensure low rent and rates for existing small business, creative enterprises, and social and environmental start-ups to fill empty shops and bring back life to our high streets
- Call for the immediate introduction of a Universal Basic Income that shares prosperity across society
Education
- Stop the ongoing closure of small rural schools
- Provide access to electronic devices for all children who need to learn from home, and access to structured programmes of work if they are unable to attend school
- Widen access to higher and further education, ensuring that no fees are payable for initial degrees
NHS and care
- Safeguard the NHS as a free at the point of delivery, publicly-funded body
- Ensuring that health boards and local authorities have the funding needed to increase capacity across all areas of health and social care provision
- Ensure neighbourhood access to all treatments that can be made available locally
- Provision of social support for disabled people, older people and their carers will be given early and quickly, enabling all to live fulfilled lives
EU relations
- Work to strengthen our bonds with our European neighbours and allies at every level, promoting future positive opportunities and tackling the damage caused to Wales by Brexit
- Push for the UK government to seek ways to re-join the EU customs union as a matter of urgency
- Support efforts to re-join the Erasmus+ programme and work with all parties to maximise the educational and cultural opportunities available to our young people across Europe
Environment
- Tackle the climate emergency by ensuring that carbon emission reduction targets are met at the scale and pace needed, as demanded by the science
- Deliver a Green vision for net zero by 2030, replacing fossil fuels with onshore and offshore renewable energy and making necessary upgrades to the electricity grid
- Appoint a new Welsh Government Commissioner for Biodiversity and Animal Protection to reverse the decline of biodiversity in Wales
- Propose a bill to ban single-use plastic and legislation to progressively reduce all non-recyclable packaging waste, with a goal for an overall reduction on packaging
Work and benefits
- Advocate for a four-day week to share work opportunities and respond to the greater automation and digitisation of manufacturing and services
- Bring unions into local economy planning and provide workers with support for social and environmental business start-ups
- Improve wages and working conditions for front-line workers, partly through UBI, but also through improved public service and care workers pay settlements, workers' rights in collective bargaining, employment rights and health and safety
- End the ‘gig' economy in Wales and exploitative zero-hours contracts through UBI and the extension of worker's rights
Housing
- Build 12,000 new homes every year, built to the highest environmental and energy efficiency standards
- Ensure sufficient, ongoing investment to enable the retrofitting of existing housing stock to the highest energy efficient standards, lifting thousands out of fuel poverty
- Provide greater security for tenants by phasing out Assured Shorthold Tenancies in the private sector and provide those struggling with mortgage arrears with security of tenure through a ‘Right to Rent' scheme
Transport
- Create better, affordable, cleaner transport options for all, including access to better walking, cycling and other active travel options and affordable public transport
- Introduce a national transport strategy that responds to the climate emergency by reducing traffic and carbon emissions, while improving health, wellbeing and air quality
- Introduce free public transport for local journeys for those aged under 21 to engender the use of public transport
- Resist any attempts to reopen the proposals for the cancelled M4 relief road
Democracy
- Support the aspiration for an independent and fully democratic Wales, bringing decision making to those people most affected by those decisions
- Campaign for Wales to secede from the United Kingdom in any future referendum
- Strengthen local democracy by increasing citizen engagement through citizen's juries, people's assemblies, and similar bodies
This guide is a concise summary of the main policies being put forward by each party.
The policy areas featured in the guide were selected using polling data on what the public consider to be the most important issues facing the country.
More information on how the issues and parties were selected is in our methodology.
A full list of parties standing at the election is available here.
A modern browser with JavaScript and a stable internet connection is required to view this interactive. More information about these elections
Note: This lookup covers national elections in Scotland and Wales, the Hartlepool by-election, as well as council and mayoral elections in England and Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) elections in England and Wales. There may be parish council elections or council by-elections where you are. Check your local council website for full details.
- Published6 May 2021
- Published29 April 2021
