WELSH LABOUR leader Eluned Morgan has launched her party’s Senedd election campaign with a headline pledge to invest £4bn in new hospitals, as the party faces growing political competition ahead of the May vote.

Speaking to party members and candidates in Newport on Monday (Mar 2), Morgan set out five central pledges focused on the cost of living, jobs, the NHS, the environment, and social fairness, presenting what she described as a long-term plan for Wales.

The announcement comes at a politically sensitive time, with health services widely expected to be a defining issue in the election and opposition parties seeking to capitalise on public dissatisfaction with NHS waiting times and performance.

Major NHS investment promise

At the centre of Labour’s campaign is a proposed £4bn Hospitals for the Future Fund, which would modernise parts of Wales’ ageing NHS estate over the next decade.

The funding would include replacing the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff, redeveloping Wrexham Maelor Hospital, and supporting a new hospital development in West Wales.

Eluned Morgan said: “The NHS is not just a service. It’s a promise. And we need to renew that promise. Not with slogans, but with the biggest investment programme in our history.”

She said the programme would ensure hospitals were “fit for modern medicine” while improving working conditions for staff and patient access.

Mental health and access reforms

Alongside capital investment, Labour also announced plans to expand same-day mental health services across Wales through an “open access” model, building on the NHS 111 press 2 system.

Demonstrator projects would be rolled out across all health boards, with the Welsh Government claiming Wales could become the first country to offer such a model nationwide.

Five campaign pledges

Morgan outlined five key priorities:

• Tackling the cost of living, including a £2 bus fare cap and expanded childcare
• Jobs for the future through renewable energy and retraining guarantees
• A new NHS deal including hospital investment and women’s health initiatives
• Environmental protection including river clean-ups and tackling fly-tipping
• A fairer society with homelessness action, pay rises for low-paid workers, and improved schools

Political dividing lines

The Labour leader used her speech to draw sharp contrasts with rival parties, criticising Reform UK as offering “rage” without solutions and accusing Plaid Cymru of lacking detail behind policy proposals.

“We are seeing a politics that is louder than it is wise,” she said. “Plaid always has a complaint. Welsh Labour has the plan.”

Election context

Labour has governed Wales since devolution began in 1999, but the upcoming election is widely expected to be more competitive than previous contests, with polling suggesting a fragmented political landscape and growing support for challenger parties.

Health services, cost-of-living pressures and economic confidence are expected to dominate the campaign in the coming months.

Further policy announcements are expected in the weeks ahead.

Eight remanded in custody as four-week trial fixed for May 18

NINE people have denied conspiring to supply Class A drugs into Pembrokeshire following a major police investigation.

The charges relate to the alleged supply of Class A drugs between February and November 2025. The arrests were made as part of a proactive operation led by Dyfed-Powys Police’s Serious and Organised Crime Team, with warrants executed across Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and areas outside the force area.

All nine defendants appeared before Swansea Crown Court, where they entered not guilty pleas.

Those charged are:

• Tommy Lee Jones, 32, of Castle Quarry, Monkton
• Ryan Hare, 27, of Heol Cae Pownd, Cefneithin
• Kalum Haines, 22, of Woodland Park, Neyland
• Leon Haines, 25, of Ashdale Lane, Pembroke
• Zack Fecci, 20, of Hawkstone Road, Pembroke Dock
• Ahmed Al-Farraji, 25, of Topaz Street, Cardiff
• Usman Afsar, 40, of Woodborough Street, Bristol
• Adam Noraddin, 25, of Plas Nanthelyg, Cardiff
• Mili Davies-Blewett, 25, of land adjacent to Pen Rhos, Maesybont, Carmarthenshire

Eight of the defendants were remanded in custody. Davies-Blewett was re-granted bail.

They will next appear at Swansea Crown Court on May 18.

WEST Wales currently has no asylum seekers being housed in hotels, according to the latest figures published by the Home Office.

Data released up to December 31, 2025 shows that 30,657 people were being accommodated temporarily in hotels across the UK while awaiting decisions on their asylum claims. The figure represents the lowest level recorded for 18 months.

However, the statistics confirm that none of those individuals are being housed in hotels in any of the five counties that make up west Wales. Hotels across Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire are all recorded as accommodating zero asylum seekers.

The use of hotels for asylum accommodation became a major national political issue in recent years, with protests taking place outside some sites across the UK.

Labour has pledged to end the use of asylum hotels by the end of the current Parliament, which would be 2029, if not sooner.

Plans previously existed to house asylum seekers in west Wales. The Home Office withdrew proposals to accommodate up to 241 people at the Stradey Park Hotel in Carmarthenshire in October 2023 after protests outside the site led to arrests. Dyfed-Powys Police issued an appeal for “calm and co-operation” following what they described as a concerning escalation in behaviour.

The hotel, which had been intended to house families awaiting asylum decisions, subsequently closed, resulting in the loss of 95 jobs, including 50 full-time and 45 part-time roles, and the cancellation of events.

West Wales has also previously hosted asylum accommodation at Penally military training camp near Tenby. The site was used between 2020 and spring 2021 to house between 240 and 250 men, mainly from countries including Iraq, Iran and Syria.

Both the Welsh Government and Pembrokeshire County Council argued the camp was unsuitable, with inspectors describing conditions as run down. The facility was later closed, residents were relocated elsewhere, and the site was returned to the Ministry of Defence.

Nationally, the number of asylum seekers in hotels peaked at 56,018 at the end of September 2023 under the Conservative government. It later fell to 29,561 by the end of June 2024, just before the general election.

The latest figures show numbers at the end of December were 15% lower than the previous quarter, when 36,273 people were recorded as staying in hotel accommodation.

Cover image: Asylum Seekers at Penally MOD Camp in 2020