‘The punishment election’: Is Labour facing a bloodbath in Wales?
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 29 April 2026
⏱️ 36 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
South Wales has been a Labour heartland since the party formed over a century ago, but speak to people there today and you'll find support leaving in droves. So can Labour avoid an electoral car crash? Could the other main parties capitalise? Ahead of the Welsh Senedd elections next week, we travelled to Swansea to take the political temperature.
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Guests:
- Professor Matthew Wall, professor of politics, philosophy and international relations at Swansea University and principal investigator of the 2026 Welsh election study.
- Grant Berni, head of the Osprey’s supporters club.
Host: Manveen Rana.
Producer: Harry Stott.
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Read more: A walk round Pembroke Dock shows why Labour will lose Welsh election
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From the Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. |
| 0:06.2 | I'm Manvine Rana. |
| 0:11.2 | I'm going to come over. |
| 0:14.7 | I know I'm supposed to start with Borodar, but then I'm lost beyond that, so you're going to have to help. |
| 0:21.3 | Oh, is it? |
| 0:22.3 | Oh, God, it's the afternoon. |
| 0:23.6 | I knew I'd get it for it. |
| 0:26.1 | So, I'm in a pub in the charming seaside village of Mumbles, |
| 0:32.4 | just along the coast from Swansea and South Wales. |
| 0:35.9 | In fact, if you head up from the beach |
| 0:37.6 | along the streets of bright yellow, blue and peach-coloured houses, |
| 0:42.3 | you'll find it, the bright pink Victoria Inn. |
| 0:46.4 | It's surprisingly busy on this Monday afternoon in April, |
| 0:50.4 | and a group of people have gathered to learn Welsh, including me. |
| 0:57.1 | How do I say welcome to Swansea? |
| 1:00.0 | Crois so, I'm at Tohwe. |
| 1:02.0 | Havredi, it's lovely to see you. |
| 1:06.1 | Oh, it's lovely to see you too. |
| 1:08.5 | I feel like I'm learning, slowly. |
| 1:10.5 | I'm too terrified to pronounce things, but I'm... |
| 1:13.1 | This is a joy. |
| 1:18.1 | Who wouldn't want to spend a Monday afternoon taking a language class in a pub over drinks? |
... |
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