On eve of its conference, Rhun ap Iorwerth talks of his party becoming the largest in the Welsh parliament

Rhun ap lorwerth outside the Senedd: ‘There’s a real opportunity for a change of leadership in Wales.’ Photograph: Kara Thomas/Athena Pictures

The leader of Plaid Cymru says the party can build on its progress at the UK general election and make significant gains in traditional Labour heartlands.

Speaking on the eve of the party’s conference, Rhun ap Iorwerth said Plaid could take advantage of Labour’s troubles in London and Cardiff to win more votes in places such as the south Wales valleys and the Welsh capital.

It is holding its conference at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff. On Friday ap Iorwerth and the social justice spokesperson, Sioned Williams, will visit a community hub in the city’s Ely district, symbolically parking their tanks on Labour territory. The Welsh first minister, Eluned Morgan, grew up in Ely and the area is represented at the Senedd by the former leader of Wales, Mark Drakeford.

Plaid has also just held a “valleys conference” in Pontypridd to set out its aspirations for the area and work on the challenging task of taking on Labour there.

Ap Iorwerth said: “I’m focusing a lot of work on the valleys. We have some historic success in areas of the valleys that we need to regenerate now. I want to make sure that Cardiff sees that we have a plan for our capital city.”

While Plaid won four of the 32 seats at the UK election to Labour’s 27 – the Tories were wiped out – it recorded its highest ever vote share at a general election, 14.8%, with Labour dropping 3.9 percentage points compared with 2019.

Plaid strategists believe this puts the party in a good position for the 2026 Senedd elections, which will feature a new proportional voting system and an increase in the size of the parliament.

Ap Iorwerth said: “As a party, we feel in a very good place. I don’t think I remember a time where there’s been such excitement about the vision that we have. There’s a real opportunity for a change of leadership in Wales. Never before has Plaid Cymru been in a position this strong to be able to be the largest party in the Welsh parliament, and to be able to lead government.”

Labour’s troubles in Wales, where Vaughan Gething stepped down after only 118 days as first minster over a donations scandal, and Keir Starmer’s faltering start as UK prime minister, are also helping Plaid, ap Iorwerth believes.

He said: “We’ve had months and months of chaos here and it’s been a very difficult start for Keir Starmer, compounded by his own actions on excess hospitality, the acceptance of gifts and so on. We have such a level of disillusionment in politics now. Those kinds of actions are not what we need.”

The Plaid leader criticised Starmer’s stance on winter fuel payments, as figures from Age UK showed 86% of pensioners in Wales living in poverty or just above the poverty line would no longer receive the support. It is the joint highest percentage across UK regions.

Ap Iorwerth said: “The UK government is letting people down in terms of its unwillingness to break away from the pain of the last 15 years and that sort of austerity. That’s embodied more than anything in the winter fuel payments cut.”

He said Welsh Labour’s reluctance to press Starmer for increased funding was a growing problem. “It’s clear that the Welsh first minister isn’t pushing him as far as we need.” Ap Iorwerth said this was because it would be “awkward” if Starmer turned down requests from Morgan’s administration.

The conference will focus on policy areas such as health, education and the economy but ap Iorweth said the party would not shy away from the question of independence.

He said: “I am crystal clear in my mind that we will only be able to reach our potential as a nation when we do have that status as an independent country. My job is to bring more and more people with us on that journey.”

Wales has long been governed by Labour but ap Iorwerth is convinced change is in the air. “There has been a sense of inevitability that however well other parties do, essentially it’s going to be a Labour-led government, because we’ve been Labour in Wales for a hundred years. It’s not inevitable, and it will change.”