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by David Nicholson
PARTIES in Wales stepped up their campaign efforts today as opinion polls show a tightening race for the Welsh Parliament election on May 6.
The latest ITV YouGov poll suggests that Labour would still be the largest party with 26 seats (down from 29), Plaid Cymru on 17 and the Conservatives on 14.
Welsh Labour leader Mark Drakeford unveiled his party’s latest slogan: “if you value it, vote for it” on an advertising van to target seats in South Wales and in online messaging.
He said: “This election is unlike any other.
“It is not just Welsh Labour’s pledge for a jobs-led recovery on the ballot paper, but the very fabric of the country we have built together.
“I am saying to voters in Wales: if you value free prescriptions and free hospital parking then you need to vote Labour.
“People in Wales have valued the careful step-by-step way we have approached the pandemic where we have arrived at the lowest rate of coronavirus and the best vaccination rate anywhere in the UK.
“I heard on the news this morning that in England they will be starting to invite over 44-year-olds for their vaccination.
“In Wales, we have vaccinated 70 per cent of everyone in their forties and a third of people in their thirties have already had a vaccination.”
Both Labour and Plaid Cymru are appealing to young people as this is the first Senedd election where 16 to 18-year-olds have been given the vote.
Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price unveiled his party’s pledge to work towards making university education free again.
He said: “Young people have been hit particularly hard by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We want to make access to a university education as much of a level playing field as possible, eventually making university education free once again.
“A Plaid Cymru government’s first step towards achieving this goal would be to cap tuition fees for Welsh-domiciled students at Welsh universities at £7,500: a reduction of £1,500.”
Mr Drakeford gave a guarantee to young people for work, training and education and also pointed to a greener future.
“We will use the natural resources we have to create the energy and housing of the future and a national forest: the first new national park since 1957,” he said.
