LEFT delegates at the Welsh Labour Grassroots (WLG) fringe meeting on Saturday evening were warned of the scale of the mountain the party faces in the 2026 Senedd election, David Nicholson reports from the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno.

Montgomeryshire & Glyndwr MP Steve Witherden said the party needs a strategy to address the threat Plaid Cymru presents on the left and Reform UK on the right.

“The people who say they will vote Reform have far more in common with us and our policies than the rich men who run that party,” he said.

Mr Witherden said Labour has to challenge Plaid’s pitch that it stands to the left of Labour, adding: “But we can only do that through our behaviour.”

The socialist campaign group member said the party has a dwindling activist base reluctant to have to publicly defend Labour  benefit cuts.

TUC Cymru general secretary Shavanah Taj raised a cheer from WLG members when she declared that she was seeking to get on the Cardiff list as a candidate for next year’s election.