Having been in power since devolution began in 1999, Welsh Labour has become synonymous with Welsh politics.

However, if you give opinion polls much credit, Labour could be looking at an unprecedented defeat across Wales, with some polls suggesting they could win as few as 12 seats.

Labour’s manifesto draws on both what they deem previous successes and new promises for the seventh Senedd term.

The party sets out five key pledges at the beginning of the manifesto. These are: tackling the cost-of-living crisis; creating jobs for the future; a new deal for the Welsh NHS; protecting the planet; and creating a fairer future.

Cost of Living

Welsh Labour pledges to tackle the cost-of-living crisis through a series of measures such as cheaper bus fares, lower energy bills, and expanding childcare.

Having introduced £1 bus fares for young people in late 2025, the party says it will introduce a £2 cap on adult bus fares if it retains power.

It also guarantees a “continuation of our £1 bus fare for under-25s and free bus travel for over-60s.”

The party states it will “stick to clear underpinning principles” to keep energy bills as low as possible, to create new jobs in the energy sector, and to ensure local communities feel the benefit of renewable energy projects.

However, what these clear underpinning principles are is not defined within the manifesto.

Welsh Labour also pledges to phase-in funded childcare to babies aged nine-months-old and make childcare easier to access.

Since April 2019, the Childcare Offer for Wales has provided eligible working parents of three- and four-year-olds with up to 30 hours of combined funded early education and childcare a week, for up to 48 weeks per year.

The manifesto states that 20,000 new funded childcare spaces will be created as part of the plan.

Other childcare policies in the manifesto include expanding the Baby Bundles programme to more people, including all families on Universal Credit, and using all devolved powers to tackle child poverty under the Child Poverty Strategy for Wales.

“Jobs for the future”

The second pledge put forward by Welsh Labour focuses on jobs for the future within an “energy independent Wales”.

An energy independent Wales is defined in the manifesto as being “built on clean and homegrown energy, helping to protect Wales from unstable global energy markets.”

One way in which the party appears to plan the move towards this is by support the nuclear development at Wylfa, which will create more than 3,000 jobs.

The party also aims to introduce a new ‘lifelong retraining guarantee’ to ensure that workers can access the training they need in their career, particularly in response to major economic transitions.

As part of this pledge, Labour will retain the Wales Union Learning Fund and build on the existing Flexible Skills Programme - both of which aim to build a stronger more skilled workforce for Wales.

Having hosted the first Wales Investment Summit in December 2025, the manifesto sets out Welsh Labour’s plans to host another summit designed to attract further global investment in Wales during the seventh Senedd term.

Welsh NHS

Promising a new deal for the NHS with “£4 billion to build new hospitals, same-day mental health support, and a focus on women’s health”, Welsh Labour commits to bettering NHS services across Wales.

The party, if re-elected, will invest £4 billion in a hospitals of the future fund to build new hospitals, including replacing Wrexham Maelor Hospital and Cardiff’s University Hospital Wales. 

There is also a pledge to create a major hospital development in west Wales.

Improving mental health support is also a key feature of the Welsh Labour manifesto with the party promising to “transform” mental healthcare to provide “easy-to-access, same-day services so everyone can get the right support when they need it.”

Building on the Women’s Health Plan for Wales, which was first introduced in December 2024, Welsh Labour says it will “ensure the NHS listens to women and prioritises women’s healthcare”.

It also pledges to take targeted action to improve services for endometriosis and incontinence.

As part of a commitment to improving both mental health services and women’s healthcare, Welsh Labour pledges to invest in community-based mental health support for mums-to-be and new mums.

“Protecting the planet”

Said in the manifesto to be committed to “building a greener, safer Wales for the future generations”, Welsh Labour has shared a series of policies to uphold their fourth key pledge of protecting the planet.

The party promises cuts to carbon emissions to meet the current carbon budget, as well as keeping the ban on fracking, opposing fossil fuel extraction, and working towards a net zero public sector by 2030.

It will also protect 30% of Welsh lands and seas for nature by 2030 with “new, robust, and legally binding targets for restoring nature.”

The manifesto also includes new environmental governance body for Wales, and drive action on the nature and climate emergencies through Nature Estate Cymru.

Similarly to the plans for a second Wales Investment Summit, the party wants to host a dedicated Nature Investment Summit to leverage private sector funding for nature in Wales.

Fly-tipping will also be cracked down on under a Welsh Labour Senedd with the party pledging to “clean up our streets” by increasing fines and creating new offences.

“Fairer future”

The final key pledge highlighted in the manifesto is Welsh Labour’s ambition to create a “fairer future” for Wales.

With an emphasis on “ending homelessness, a pay-rise for the lowest paid workers, and raising school standards” the manifesto sets out the party’s goals for a more equal Wales in the seventh Senedd term.

One of the biggest pledges in the manifesto is to end homelessness by 2034 - with a milestone to have no children placed in bed and breakfast accommodation by 2030.

Yet how this will be achieved is not stated in the manifesto.

The party does specify however its aim to deliver 100,000 homes over the next ten years, including a minimum of 40,000 low carbon homes for rent in the social sector, and establish a new national housing taskforce to reform the planning system and drive faster adoption of modern construction methods.

Raising school standards is also a major element of the Welsh Labour manifesto with the party pledging to boost standards with a “relentless focus” on literacy and numeracy as the foundations of learning.

It proposes introducing targeted literacy and numeracy support for pupils in Year 6 and 7 as they progress from primary to secondary school, and wants to extend free school meals in secondary schools for at least all households receiving Universal credit.

Welsh Labour will also set out to eliminate the gender, ethnicity, and disability pay gaps by 2050 - with a target to achieve this earlier within the devolved public sector.

Costings

David Phillips, head of devolved and local government Finance at the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said “It is clear that fully delivering on Welsh Labour’s various ambitions for the spending side of the budget would require substantial additional expenditure."

“In the context of its pledge to freeze the WRITs, a slowdown in increases in funding from the UK government, and rising demand and costs of health and social care, delivering these pledges would almost certainly require cuts to spending on some other services."

“And it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that despite being in government for 27 years, Welsh Labour, like the other Welsh parties, is not fully facing up to the difficult fiscal reality facing the next Welsh Government.”

Candidates
Bangor Conwy Môn: Joanna Stallard, Emily Owen, Margaret Lewis, Rebecca Gibbons, Huw Jones, Natasha Jose
Gwynedd Maldwyn: Ian Parry, Dawn McGuinness, Steffan Chambers, Dana Davies, Mathew Norman, Morgan Peters

You can read Welsh Labour’s full manifesto here in both English and Welsh.