The Welsh Liberal Democrats have reiterated their calls for a 24/7 mental health service to be put in place throughout Wales.  The Party first called for a complete overhaul of mental health services in Wales during the last Senedd elections, calling for mental health to be given equal status to physical health.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have stated today’s local election is the start of the revival for the party in Wales. The party has gained seats, the first time it has done so in an election since 2008.

• In Powys, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have emerged as the largest political group by a significant margin, leapfrogging both the Independents and Conservatives to first place.
• In Swansea, the party gained four councillors to become the official opposition.
• The party has also gained seats in Pembrokeshire and Neath Port Talbot.
• The Welsh Liberal Democrat gained more seats than the Greens, Plaid Cymru and the Conservatives.  

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have criticised Plaid Cymru and Welsh Labour for using Westminster-set constituency boundaries and continuing with a voting system that fails to ensure that votes match seats.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have called for local authority boundaries to be used to create new Senedd constituencies and for the Single Transferable Vote.

• Welsh Lib Dems call for rescue package for struggling families in rural areas
• Conservatives are accused of leaving rural communities “out in the cold” after refusing to cap the price of heating oil.
• 10/13 of the seats the Welsh Conservatives hold at a Westminster level are rural in nature alongside 7/8 of the constituency Senedd seats they hold.
• Ceredigion, Powys, Ynys Mon, Gwynedd, Carmarthenshire, Pembrokeshire and Monmouthshire are most reliant on heating oil.

Commenting, on the verdict by the High Court Government policies on discharging untested patients from hospitals to care homes in England at the start of the Covid pandemic have been ruled unlawful:

• Former Conservative Councillor and outgoing Deputy President of the National Farmers' Union of England and Wales Stuart Roberts becomes a member of the Liberal Democrats and will help write the party’s new farming policies
  
  
• Stuart joined Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey on a farming visit in Hampshire to make the announcement.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats have criticised the Welsh Government over their ‘silence’ after a raft of measures to assist cladding and fire safety victims in England were announced.

Welsh Lib Dem Leader Jane Dodds MS and Cardiff Lib Dem Leader Cllr Rhys Taylor addressing cladding campaigners.

Responding to figures released today showing that NHS waiting times are still failing patients, Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds MS said:

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds has called on the Welsh Conservative Leader Andrew RT Davies and Welsh Secretary Simon Hart to “show a backbone” and call for Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak to resign following the news that both men are to be fined over lockdown parties.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader and Senedd Member Jane Dodds has described the UK Conservative Governments’ decision not to restore the universal credit uplift as a “moral stain on the UK”.

Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds.