Plaid Cymru Wins Power in Wales for the First Time

A political earthquake has hit Wales. For the first time in its 100-year history, Plaid Cymru, the party that wants independence from the United Kingdom, is set to form the next Welsh government. On Saturday, a crowd of supporters gathered outside the Senedd, the Welsh parliament, to welcome the party's 43 newly elected members. People were giddy with excitement. Some members of the Senedd were crying. The crowd then sang the Welsh national anthem, joined by the politicians. For the first time, Wales’s highest-ranking political representative will be from a party committed to breaking away from the UK. This victory puts the UK government in a very tricky position. If Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour Party refuses to give more powers to Plaid Cymru, it could accelerate its own decline. The scene was described by one journalist as unlike anything seen before in Welsh politics.