Vote for Lib Dems a 'bolt against division', says leader Jane Dodds
Getty ImagesEvery vote for the Liberal Democrats in the upcoming Senedd election is a "bolt on the door against division", the Welsh Lib Dem leader has said.
Jane Dodds told the party's spring conference Lib Dems could hold the "balance of power" in Cardiff Bay after 7 May.
This could be used to thwart Plaid Cymru's efforts towards Welsh independence and to block what she called "Reform's attempt to turn neighbour against neighbour", she told party members.
Dodds, who is also describing the election as a chance to "save our NHS", is the only Lib Dem Senedd member, with polls suggesting her party is still struggling to make an impact.
But the party is hoping to benefit from the increase in the number of politicians who will be elected to an enlarged 96-member Welsh Parliament after the election, as well as the switch to a more proportional voting system.
Addressing party members at the event in Cardiff on Saturday afternoon, she described the current Labour Welsh government as "tired" and "out of ideas" after 27 years of power.
Opinion polls have consistently suggested Plaid Cymru or Reform UK are most likely to form the largest party in the next Senedd.
Yet no party has won more than half the seats in Cardiff Bay and the new electoral system makes that even less likely.
"The balance of power will matter," said Dodds.
"Every vote for the Welsh Liberal Democrats will be a bolt on the door against division.
"Against Plaid's attempt to pull Wales out of the United Kingdom, against Reform's attempt to turn neighbour against neighbour.
"And with the balance of power in our hands we will make sure not a single penny of Welsh government money is wasted on the independence agenda.
"Instead it will go where people need it - into our health service, our communities and our economy."
RYAN PRIESTA number of recent polls have seen the Liberal Democrats lagging behind the other parties of the left, Labour and the Green Party as well as Plaid.
Plaid and the Greens also appear to be benefiting most from Labour's own struggles.
In a BBC interview on Friday, Dodds also focused on Lib Dem opposition to Welsh independence, presenting it as something differentiating her party from Plaid Cymru and the Greens.
Some of those thinking of voting Green in May did not realise that the party wanted Wales to leave the UK, she told Radio Wales Breakfast.
"I think it's really interesting to sometimes hear from Green Party supporters and potential voters, that they don't know that they want independence for Wales," she said.
"We're clear that is where we are distinctive."
Commenting on her own party's position in the polls, Dodds said: "We don't know what the polls are, do we really? They've never predicted an election like the one we've got."
She agreed that the Liberal Democrats would not win the election.
"I'm not going to be the first minister of Wales," she said, "but we may play a key role in the next Welsh Parliament."
The Lib Dems have only held one seat in the Senedd since 2016, but the party has wielded influence during that period.
Former Welsh Lib Dems leader Kirsty Williams served as education secretary between 2016 and 2021.
Dodds, who was first elected to Cardiff Bay in 2021, negotiated a budget deal with the Labour government last year.
NHS
Speaking at a pre-conference rally later on Friday, Dodds also described the Senedd election as a "chance to change course and save our NHS".
"NHS waiting lists [in Wales] are the longest anywhere in the UK and councils are under growing pressure because social care is stretched beyond breaking point," she said.
The Welsh Lib Dems have already said they would be prepared to raise income tax by 1p to support social care services if the money could not be found elsewhere.
The party has also said it would provide 30 hours of free childcare a week for all children aged between nine months and four years old.
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