Rhun ap Iorwerth — Plaid Cymru Leader, First Minister of Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Rhun ap Iorwerth — Plaid Cymru Leader, First Minister of Wales 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

Celtic Alliance Position

Proponent — active. Rhun ap Iorwerth is the most current high-profile advocate of Celtic cooperation. He drove the October 2025 "Progressive Alliance" talks with SNP leader John Swinney at Bute House, Edinburgh, discussing election coordination and policy sharing.

Following the May 2026 Senedd election, Plaid Cymru won 43 of 96 seats (45%) and ap Iorwerth became Plaid Cymru's first ever First Minister of Wales, forming a minority government with Green Party confidence-and-supply.

Key actions:

• Met John Swinney at Bute House (30 Oct 2025) to discuss 2026 election coordination
• Proposed modelling Welsh social policy on Scotland's Scottish Child Payment
• Framed Plaid-SNP cooperation as a "progressive alliance" against Westminster
• Led Plaid Cymru to historic Senedd victory (May 2026)
• Has maintained regular contact with SNP leadership since
• Now leads Wales with a pro-independence, Celtic cooperation mandate

Sources

• BBC — SNP and Plaid Cymru to join forces (Oct 2025)
• Nation.Cymru — Plaid Cymru and SNP to join forces
• The National — SNP Plaid wins serve as wake-up call
• Nation.Cymru — Rhun ap Iorwerth set to become first premier (May 2026)
• Wikipedia — Rhun ap Iorwerth