As we approach the 2026 Senedd election, the Countryside Alliance invited party leaders to write an article for our website setting out their party’s vison for rural Wales. We have invited Welsh Labour, Welsh Conservatives, Plaid Cymru, Reform, the Green Party and the Welsh Liberal Democrats. At the time of writing we have only received responses from Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives and Reform.

Here is the response from Plaid Cymru's leader Rhun ap Iorwerth:

Rural Wales plays an integral part in our economy and in promoting our culture and our language. Yet, our rural communities have been let down for far too long by both the Welsh and UK governments. From insufficient support, to dodgy trade deals, Plaid Cymru knows that rural Wales deserves better.

Unlocking the potential of our countryside, when it has been held back for so long will take detailed, ambitious plans by a party that is serious about seeing every part of Wales thrive. That is why Plaid Cymru has been working tirelessly to develop the plans that are desperately needed to support communities the length and breadth of Wales to thrive.

We know the challenges that our rural areas face - higher living costs, low incomes, and poorer access to services. If rural communities are to thrive, then accounting for their needs must be hardwired into government - placed on a mandatory, even statutory footing, so that no minister can sideline rural Wales ever again.

That’s why Plaid Cymru’s calls for a Rural Reset within Welsh Government is not a slogan - it’s a true structural shift. As part of creating a new national economic development agency, we will give it a clear, unapologetic responsibility for rural economic development. We want a new Rural Development Strategy with targeted measures to overcome the structural barriers that hold back our rural economy. And a determination to ensure that prosperity is not postcode-dependent.

As Plaid Cymru’s Rural Affairs spokesperson, Llyr Gruffydd, has said time and time again, agriculture is the backbone of Wales’ rural economy. We will support the farmers who put food on our plates and manage our land by giving them the financial security they deserve through the introduction of a multi-year funding cycle. We will also look to cut the bureaucratic burden placed on farmers so they can get on with doing what they do best.

By working on a new and comprehensive National Food Strategy, we will build food security and literacy, strengthen food supply chains and support rural businesses. When schools serve imported chicken while Welsh producers struggle, that’s not inevitability - that’s political choice. And we will choose differently.

By proposing a new statutory duty on rural proofing, we will ensure that Welsh Government programmes and funding models are fully responsive to the needs of rural communities.

We recognise that allowing rural Wales to thrive is not only of benefit to those communities, but to wider Wales as well. By supporting rural communities we support food production, we support economic growth, we support the development of culture and the Welsh language.

And given the importance to Plaid Cymru of looking after our natural environment and our determination to take our environmental obligations seriously, we will always remember the contribution rural Wales and the custodians of our countryside have in achieving that. It’s a win-win for us to pursue sustainability and prosperity – in social, economic and environmental terms. 

But to do that, we must also ensure that communities across Wales are given their fair share. We were told by Westminster that Wales would receive ‘not a penny less’ after Brexit, but Wales still feels the cost of Westminster’s underfunding to this day.

While Wales is being ignored by those who control the Westminster purse strings, Labour in Wales do nothing to try to overturn Wales’ fate of being left behind again. We in Plaid Cymru know, as the people across Wales know, that this is not as good as it gets for us. We know that, with a Government that is ready to stand up for Wales and demand our fair share, brighter days are ahead of us.

With the appropriate powers and funding in our hands, Wales will finally be able to invest in Wales, in areas that have been deprived for too long. The potential of our nation is great, and Plaid Cymru is determined that we are given the levers to unleash that potential.

Rural Wales is an integral part of the fabric of our nation, and Plaid Cymru will leave it ignored no longer. 

Rhun ap Iorwerth is the Leader of Plaid Cymru in the Senedd and Member of the Senedd for Ynys Môn.