Carmen Smith: Youngest peer’s job is to ‘lead’ efforts to ‘get rid’ of House of Lords, Plaid Cymru leader says | UK News
The job of the youngest peer in the House of Lords will be to “lead” efforts to “get rid” of it, Plaid Cymru’s leader has said.
Baroness Smith, 28, of Llanfaes officially took her seat in the Lords on Wednesday.
Her party’s leader Rhun ap Iorwerth told Sky News she would be front and centre of his party’s efforts to end the “undemocratic, unelected House of Lords“.
“While it exists and Welsh decisions are taken there, while it has influence on legislation that affects Wales, it is simple. We have to be around the table,” he said.
Mr ap Iorwerth, 51, was speaking before the party’s two-day spring conference in Caernarfon, which begins on Friday.
Looking ahead to the general election, he said there were “no specific talks at all about electoral pacts” with other parties.
“Plaid Cymru will be there holding the feet to the fire of whoever is in Downing Street, with the interests of Wales at the heart of everything that we do,” he added.
The leader insisted the party was not just a vehicle for those who sought Welsh independence.
“Plaid Cymru is open and is a welcoming party for everybody who has a desire to build a better Wales, to give more hope to citizens and communities in Wales,” he said.
“I know that we are on a journey of nation-building and that people are at different places on that journey. Plaid Cymru can be a home for all of them.”
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Plaid Cymru is currently part of a cooperation agreement with the Labour government in Cardiff.
That means the party offers its support on a list of 46 government policies.
But the three-year deal is due to end in December.
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Mr ap Iorwerth believes it’s unlikely the cooperation pact will be extended after Vaughan Gething’s election as first minister on Tuesday.
“I’ve spoken very publicly before in saying that I would expect that it doesn’t continue after its lifespan that was designed from the beginning,” he said.
“In the lead-up to a Welsh election, the relationship [between Labour and Plaid] would change.”