All change? Welsh Elections 2026 and what they mean for culture and the creative industries in Wales

Professor Sara Pepper is Co-Director of the Centre for the Creative Economy at Cardiff University 

Elections in Wales are imminent: Thursday 7 May is fast approaching. For over a century Labour has been the governing party, having the longest winning streak of any party in the world and described by Professor Wyn Jones of Cardiff University as “by some distance the democratic world’s most successful election-winning machine.” However that very dominance, unpopular Labour Governments at either end of the M4, the changing structure of Welsh politics with an expanded number of Senedd seats (from 60 to 96) and a change to a closed proportional list system could be what breaks that winning streak, paving the way for a more fragmented and broadly distributed multi-party era.  

At the same time as this significant change to the Senedd, the political landscape in Wales appears to be fragmenting. Welsh Labour is no longer just competing with a predictable set of rivals. Polling shows Plaid Cymru and Reform are currently neck-and-neck, reflecting a broader schism in the two-party dynamic that has long defined UK politics. As a result, this election may represent not just a change of government, but a structural shift in how many manifesto points are understood, debated, funded and governed in Wales.  

What will these changes mean for the Creative and Cultural Sectors and Industries (CCSIs) which are a major Welsh success story, now accounting for 5.6% of Wales’ GDP and turning over £5 billion? At more than 100,000 workers, creatives make up 6.9% of all Welsh employment with one in five jobs in the capital, Cardiff, are in the creative industries. Cardiff’s media sector (film, TV, gaming, immersive) performs particularly well, experiencing the strongest growth rate in the UK with an 84% increase in the number of businesses between 2017 and 2023. We also know the CCSIs have proven benefits beyond their economic impact with connections to social, educational, health and innovation agendas. Is there political understanding of the need for continued focus on this important sector? 

At the Centre for Creative Economy at Cardiff University, we have been researching, engaging with and advocating for the Welsh creative economy community for the past decade. Through this lens, we believe there’s some good news: across most of the political parties the CCSIs are more prominent than in previous Welsh elections.  

Below are a few key areas that we have been tracking over this period that have surfaced in party manifestos: 

1. CCSIs and the economy – Mapping similarly to the UK Government Industrial Strategy, CCSIs are framed in the majority of manifestos as an economic driver. However, there is a big picture divide between support for public cultural investment versus market-led creative economy. Linked to this is the issue of fair work in the CCSIs which is a major cross-party concern, particularly about the level to which these sectors rely on insecure labour. Campaign demands focus on fair pay standards, stronger unions, sector wide workforce/labour agreements and tackling freelance precarity.  
2. Governance and institutions – There is broad agreement from most parties on supporting CCSIs – particularly for their role in economic growth and Welsh identity. However, there are clear questions about future support and where organisations who do this would sit and function in a newly formed political landscape. 
3. Media policy and broadcasting – The Welsh Government is actively exploring the devolution of broadcasting powers to strengthen the nation’s media landscape and ensure better representation of Welsh culture, language, and interests. Proponents, including Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru, argue that the current London-centric model fails to reflect Welsh life adequately, creates a lack of Welsh-language content and that decisions should be made locally.
4. Welsh language and national identity – This is an especially important manifesto commitment for nationalist and progressive parties with policy recommendations linked to embedding culture in education, expanding Welsh-language media and supporting indigenous production. 
5. Education, wellbeing and access – Alignment with education is another key opportunity, but one less frequently addressed in manifestos. It is more visible in 2026 however with common proposals around free or subsidised access to cultural events for young people, expanding arts provision in schools and tackling inequality in access to creative careers. 

Whatever happens, it looks that the Senedd elections are set to be historic. I sincerely hope they bode well for the ongoing evolution of CCSIs across Wales. Ultimately, this election underlines that the CCSIs are no longer an area insulated from broader political realignment. Regardless of who holds power after 7 May, the sector’s resilience may hinge less on manifesto promises and more on its capacity to engage constructively with a changing political settlement – being nimble in seizing the opportunities as new policy directions and governance arrangements become clearer during the next four year Senedd term. 

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Professor Sara Pepper OBE is the Co-Director of the Centre for the Creative Economy at Cardiff University. She has led major initiatives at the Centre including Creative Cardiff, a city-wide creative network and the innovation programmes Clwstwr and Media Cymru. Sara is Innovation and R&D Working Group Chair for the Creative Industries Council and the UK-representative on the Global Creative Economy Council.