PLAID CYMRU SENEDD ELECTION: A STATEMENT BY PLAID CYMRU LEADER RHUN AP IORWERTH
This is a moment one hundred years in the making.
A moment in which we hold the promise and ambition of a nation in our hands.
The promise of fairness, of opportunity, of prosperity - of a nation determined in its ambition and uncompromising in its compassion.
This victory comes not only because of those campaigners whose hard work and passion propelled us forward in recent weeks and months, but to those who went before us, whose patience and persistence never waned, even when the disappointments hurt.
But of course we have won not for ourselves as individuals or as a party but for the people of Wales, in order that we can serve the people of Wales. And of course that means ALL of the people, regardless of how they voted in this election.
We have won because we represent hope over division, credibility over chaos, and progress over stagnation.
In the build up to this election, and in the result, Wales demanded change.
We could all sense it. Wales demanded a new beginning and now, a new dawn beckons.
But we have not yet reached the destination - far from it - we are just setting out on our journey. And we set off with new leadership, with new energy and new ideas.
Free to hope, free to aspire, free to dare to demand what Wales rightly deserves.
We now need a government which represents the change the people of Wales have voted for, governing with fairness, responsibility, compassion and humility. And with unbounded ambition.
That is what we will now strive to build and we intend to repay that trust placed in Plaid Cymru as quickly as we can.
Our missions today are the same as they were last week, last month, last year. Power will not shake our principles, or our pledges.
Cutting waiting lists and building a sustainable health service.
Creating jobs.
Raising standards in our schools.
Helping families with the cost of living.
Tackling child poverty.
And standing up for Wales - always.
I now intend to reach out to others who can support these missions with the pace and seriousness they demand, and to find common ground where we can, for the common good.
Plaid Cymru will press ahead with those conversations with urgency and put forward my name to be nominated as the next First Minister.
Our nation deserves a government that will work with relentless determination to deliver on the things that matter most to you.
We now focus on that task. And we do this... for Wales.
Dros Gymru. Diolch yn fawr.