The SNP has hailed Plaid Cymru’s landmark victory in the Caerphilly by-election as a turning point for politics across the UK and a sign of what could come next May when voters in Scotland and Wales head to the polls.
Plaid Cymru swept to victory on a higher turnout than the previous Senedd election, comfortably defeating Nigel Farage’s Reform Party and taking a massive 27% swing from Labour, a party that has held Caerphilly for more than a century.
The SNP says the result offers a clear glimpse of what may lie ahead, with growing frustration over Westminster’s direction and a rising appetite for self-government across the Celtic nations.
According to internal Labour briefings reported in recent weeks, Prime Minister Keir Starmer faces potential removal from office if Labour suffers heavy defeats in Scotland and Wales at next year’s elections.
Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney has already confirmed that an SNP majority at Holyrood would follow the same precedent set in 2011, securing the right of the Scottish people to choose a new path through independence.
SNP Depute Westminster Leader Pete Wishart MP said the Plaid Cymru win should send “shockwaves well beyond Welsh politics.”
“This is an historic win for Plaid Cymru and will send shockwaves well beyond Welsh politics, it points the path to the opportunity voters will have at next year’s Holyrood and Senedd elections,” he said.
“The historic combination of an SNP majority in Scotland and a Plaid Cymru victory in Wales is the perfect chance to beat Nigel Farage’s Reform Party and remove Keir Starmer at the very same time, you’d be hard pressed to find a better two-for-one offer.
“That result would have the most powerful impact on a broken Westminster system that is so far removed from the priorities of our peoples.”
Mr Wishart added that the momentum now building across Scotland and Wales could mark a decisive shift.
“For my own nation it would also set us on course to be given the chance of a fresh start with independence, free from Westminster’s self-serving chaos,” he said.
“The chaos of this Labour Government and the threat of a Farage future is proof of the same pattern people have been living with for years, Westminster doesn’t work for Scotland, it doesn’t work for Wales, and Brexit Britain is broken.
“In place of a damaging Westminster consensus that has inflicted austerity, Brexit and an endless cost of living crisis, our nations have the chance to build our own Celtic consensus based on the simple but powerful idea that our interests are always far better served by self-government.
“More and more people across our respective countries are coming to the conclusion that if we leave Westminster in charge of the big decisions, things are only going to get worse.
“A more hopeful future is possible when our future is in our own hands.
“That’s the choice on offer next May, the chance to build beyond a Westminster system that is broken.
“A chance to build a fairer, wealthier and independent future for all our people.”
