Welsh leaders to make final pitches to voters ahead of crucial election
ReutersParties will be looking to bolster support and make last-minute pitches to undecided voters across Wales in a final day of campaigning for the Senedd election.
In one of the most important elections in Wales for decades, Welsh Labour faces the prospect of losing for the first time since the Senedd was opened in 1999.
Opinion polls throughout the campaign have suggested that Reform UK and Plaid Cymru are vying to become the biggest party in Wales' parliament.
Polling stations will open at 07:00 BST on Thursday, and close at 22:00. Counting will take place during the day on Friday, with full coverage on BBC Wales TV, radio and online.
First Minister Eluned Morgan is set to kick off the last day of campaigning for Labour in Pembroke Dock on Wednesday morning, shortly followed by the Conservative's Senedd leader Darren Miller meeting locals at Festival Church in Abergele.
Welsh Liberal Democrats leader Jane Dodds will be on a campaign stop in Builth Wells, while Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth will attend an event in Llandudno.
For the Wales Green Party, leader Anthony Slaughter will be joined in Wales by UK party leader Zack Polanski in Cardiff.
A Reform UK Wales event on Tuesday evening saw leader Dan Thomas and UK party leader Nigel Farage address supporters in Merthyr Tydfil.
Getty ImagesA new voting system will elect a total of 96 Members of the Senedd (MSs) after Thursday's vote.
Across Wales' 16 constituencies, six politicians will be elected to represent each, split roughly according to the proportion of votes parties get.
No party is expected to win a majority, and whoever comes first will likely need to work with other politicians to form a government or at least to help pass laws in the Senedd.
Labour has dominated Welsh politics for a century, and has won every major domestic parliamentary election since 1922.
It has led every Welsh government since devolution in 1999, when the UK government began to give politicians in Wales powers over the health service, education, local government and a host of other policies.
It has fallen to Welsh Labour's Eluned Morgan to defend her party's 27-year record.
Morgan, who became first minister in the summer of 2024, has appealed to voters not to take a risk on other parties at a time of economic and geopolitical upheaval.
Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar said: "This election comes down to a simple choice: more of the same from Labour and Plaid Cymru, a risk with Reform or the Greens, or credible change with the Welsh Conservatives.
Both Plaid Cymru's Rhun ap Iorwerth and Reform UK Wales' Dan Thomas say they represent change - and both party leaders are hoping to replace Morgan.
Ap Iorwerth says as first minister he "will always put national interest before self-interest". Plaid has told voters only they are capable of beating Reform.
Plaid has been criticised by other parties over costings and for its independence stance - it says it will not try to hold a referendum in the first term of a government. It has been under pressure on the vetting of candidates, as has Reform.
Reform is offering to re-set Wales' politics completely, bringing the country's era of centre-left government to a close, on a platform of tax cuts and scrapping the 20mph default limit.
A win could mark the best performance a party on the right has ever had in a Welsh vote, outside of European election.
It has had to build up its organisation from a standing start - it had no Senedd politicians until last summer, has had spats over with some grassroots members over candidates, and has had to find a Welsh leader.
ReutersThe Welsh Conservatives have tried to portray themselves as a more competent alternative to both Reform and Plaid Cymru, accusing both of not being credible or serious.
They have lost activists, politicians and staff to Reform as the last 12 months have unfolded, and many of its policies are similar to Dan Thomas' manifesto, although it launched its version first.
The Greens are hoping to enter the Welsh political scene seriously for the first time - hoping too that they can return around five Senedd members.
The party has pitched itself as potential kingmakers for a future Welsh government, and has openly welcomed the prospect of a Plaid Cymru first minister. Some of its manifesto policies are similar to Rhun ap Iorwerth's.
Meanwhile the Welsh Liberal Democrats have tried to find a niche with voters opposing Labour but also opposed to independence.
Leader Jane Dodds has said refusing to spend money on making Wales a separate state is a red-line, although it has not been clear if that firmly rules out the Lib Dems working with Plaid Cymru.
