On 7th May, 2026, Wales went to the polls for the Welsh Parliament election. Polling throughout the election period suggested that Welsh Labour – who have governed Wales for 27 years of devolution, and has been the largest party in Wales for over 100 years – was in for an upset, with Plaid Cymru the favourites to lead the new Welsh Government. 

That polling came to fruition under a new, more proportional electoral system: Plaid Cymru won 43 seats, Reform UK 34, Welsh Labour 9, Welsh Conservatives 7, Welsh Liberal Democrats retained their sole seat, and the Welsh Greens won their first two seats. 

Rhun ap Iorwerth MS, the leader of Plaid Cymru and recently confirmed First Minister of Wales, is now leading a minority Welsh Government, with Reform UK making up a formidable opposition.

Given their statuses in the Seventh Senedd, this blog will only focus on these two parties.

What does that mean for the construction sector? 

In our Manifesto, published earlier this year, we called for the next Welsh Government to: 

• Develop and implement a retrofit plan for Wales’ housing market 
• Create financial incentives for retrofit outside of the social housing sector 
• Improve procurement processes, increasing accessibility for construction SMEs, which make up the vast majority of the Welsh construction sector 
• Adopt a more holistic view of construction skills beyond apprenticeships to increase numbers in the construction workforce
• Conduct a Welsh construction skills survey to better understand the gaps in the construction workforce and specifically target those gaps with improved funding and focus. 

All these recommendations are, broadly, Plaid Cymru policies. Some are manifesto commitments. Some, including a (non-construction-specific) skills plan, are in the party’s The First 100 Days Plan. Others, such as procurement reform to improve accessibility, were proposed in their previously published Making Wales Work economic strategy. Some of these measures may be difficult to get through the Senedd with a minority government. They may rely on Labour’s 9 MSs to get the votes across the majority line, though any formal – or informal – deals have yet to be proposed between the two parties.

Opposition

Reform UK’s continued – but much larger – presence in the Siambr will be that of “robust opposition”. In their leader Dan Thomas’ words: 

“As leader of the largest opposition group, I wish the Government well in its efforts… in creating the right environment for the economy to grow and for job creation, because Wales badly needs it…

“We will hold Plaid Cymru to account and we will be a voice of the left-behind communities that have voted for us.”

In conversations with Reform UK candidates – now Members of Senedd – prior to the election, they recognise the importance of the construction sector. But, their focus is more akin to the “build, baby, build” mantra. While new housing supply is important across both private and social housing tenures and vital to achieving housing targets outlined in both parties’ manifestos, the retrofit of existing properties is just as important. Wales has 1.4 million homes which account for 11% of the country’s carbon emissions. Over 90% of these homes are predicted to remain in use by 2050. As such, to truly resolve the housing and environmental crises, a retrofit plan to reduce the environmental impact and ensure this housing stock remains safe and adequate for continued is desperately needed.

It remains to be seen how Reform will deal with these and other grey areas of alignment with Plaid Cymru proposals, especially considering Reform UK’s manifesto commitment to “scrap net zero in devolved policy”. As the recently-elected Cai Parry-Jones MS said on social media: 

“Reform UK will ruthlessly attack decisions within the Senedd that go against the interest of the people of Wales.”

Bearing in mind the prevalence of fuel poverty, high energy costs, and the condition of Wales’ housing stock, a national retrofit plan would undoubtedly be in the interest of the people of Wales. 

That being said, Reform UK did make several other commitments in their manifesto germane to the CIOB’s work which are in alignment with Plaid Cymru’s manifesto commitments, including: 

• Speeding up planning reform and intervening where councils fail to deliver the homes their communities need 
• Expanding technical education and apprenticeships – including in rural areas of Wales – working with employers to align skills with the demands of the Welsh economy, including for trades 
• Prioritising (public) procurement with local firms, subject to value for money 
• Creating a Government Supplier Guarantee, ensuring public bodies are required to pay their suppliers within 30 days 
• Ring-fencing local funding to repair public spaces. 

What next?

CIOB and other professional bodies have a vital role to play in this Senedd term: ensuring that decision-makers across the political spectrum are well informed. And, for Plaid Cymru MSs and Government cabinet secretaries and deputy ministers, to ensure that policy is done with the construction sector, rather than done to us.