Getting election ready: RTPI Cymru’s journey so far
Mark Hand is Director of Profession, International, Cymru and Northern Ireland and Kirsty Fox Hay is Public Affairs Officer both at the RTPI.
In the lead up to the pre-election period which has now started, we have been busy working behind the scenes for several months to ensure our Planifesto asks are clearly understood across the political landscape.
The run-up to the election has been a productive time for cross-party engagement, where we have focused on being the voice of the profession and empowering planners through our Planifesto asks as well as building and strengthening relationships that will remain important beyond May’s election.
From our workshops over the summer gathering evidence from members through our Cymru Executive Committee and Policy and Research Forum on what they felt are today’s issues in planning in Wales, to launching the RTPI Cymru Planifesto in November 2025, we made sure we published our election asks with plenty of time to get working and make an impact. Since then, we’ve disseminated our Planifesto across the political parties and sought follow-up meetings to discuss our asks in more detail. We’ve also attended events such as party conferences, the manifesto launches of other organisations, built environment events focusing on the upcoming election, and online events in conversation with party leaders, alongside publishing important research commissioned by the Welsh Government regarding resourcing in public sector planning.
With the release of a number of party manifestos, it has been great to see alignment with some of our Planifesto asks as we map and track any relevant policy announcements. Some overlap in priorities so far relate to housing, apprenticeships, economic growth, the climate and nature emergencies, and infrastructure. We look forward to the release of further party manifestos as campaigning ramps up in the final month before the election.
Our work doesn’t stop with the election though! It is important we maintain the relationships we built during the Planifesto process and use our election asks and what we’ve learnt over the past year to achieve our vision where planners in Wales are empowered to deliver positive impact, create healthy, well connected, inclusive and sustainable places and communities. We’ll also be focusing on building new working relationships with the new government and new Cabinet Secretary with responsibility for planning.
The outcomes of May’s Senedd election will certainly be an interesting one due to the new voting system, expansion in the number of seats, and new boundaries, and we look forward to seeing what this means for the built environment in general, and the Welsh planning system more specifically. For our members to better understand what the seventh Senedd and next Welsh Government will mean for the Welsh planning system, we are also organising an online event on 12 May to provide further insight into the outcome of the election and what this means for the formation of the next government and their programme for government – keep an eye out on our LinkedIn and website for more information on this soon.
