RHUN WILL BE THE VOICE OF WALES IN ELECTION TV DEBATES – LEANNE

Rhun ap Iorwerth will be “the voice of Wales” during the pre-election televised debates, former Leader of Plaid Cymru Leanne Wood has said today.

Leanne Wood represented her party at the General Election televised debates in 2015 giving Plaid Cymru an unprecedented platform in the UK media.

She used the debates to make the case for fair funding and a more progressive social agenda for Wales, gaining renown for challenging now-leader of Reform UK and then-leader of UKIP, Nigel Farage, for scaremongering about HIV patients from abroad.

Rhun ap Iorwerth added that he was looking forward to promoting Plaid Cymru’s ambitious vision for the future of Wales and to holding Labour and the Tories to account for their historic failure to secure fair funding for Wales and taking Welsh voters for granted for too long. He criticised Rishi Sunak and Keir Starmer for “hiding from the television studios” by sending other representatives to take part in the debate on their behalf.

Speaking ahead of the first seven-leader televised debate in London on Friday 7 June, Leanne Wood said:

“The pre-election televised debates in 2015 gave Plaid Cymru an unprecedented platform to reach new audiences and give our nation the focus it deserves in the UK media.

“It was good for Plaid Cymru that we could take part in those debates to make the case for fair funding and a more progressive society, and I know Rhun will be the voice of Wales on that stage tomorrow too.  

“I know Rhun will be using every opportunity to set out Plaid Cymru’s positive vision, calling out 14 years of disastrous Tory rule and holding Labour to account for taking Welsh voters for granted.”

Plaid Cymru Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth added:

“I’m excited to be following in the footsteps of Plaid Cymru Leaders representing Wales’s best interests during the televised debates.

“I’m looking forward to promoting Plaid Cymru’s vision of a fairer, more ambitious future for our nation where our public services have the funding they need to give our communities the care they deserve. 

“It is regrettable that Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak fel that they can pick and choose when to appear alongside other leaders. They can hide from the television studios, but they cannot hide from their parties’ records of neglecting Wales’s needs, and I will be holding them to account for that during Friday’s debate.”