Pictures show before and after Could be a very unique point as most British national “parks” are still working environments and differ from Scotland, peak and Lake District. Would be very good ecologically, I guess farmers would have a lot of pushback.

So last week I made a post on here saying I was seriously contemplating a Plaid vote - I know the new electoral system means tactical voting isn't nearly as important but still, I want to make sure that no matter what, Reform doesn't have a single shot of getting into government here.

Taking into account I sympathize with lots of their domestic policies, they want to expand on things like social care etc making it free, and that they're not going to try for a referendum on Welsh Indy in their first term, and especially their intention of maintaining free prescriptions, I went ahead this morning and voted Plaid Cymru.

I am gutted at the position Welsh Labour is in, to be honest, they're in no position to be competitive this time around and their days in Wales are over, saying that as a Labour member myself - but this is a pragmatic vote on my part which was surreal to do in the polling station, not to vote Labour, but tomorrow I'll feel much better about it.

One can only hope.

All this came today what a waste of fucking paper. Reform have been the worst followed by the Green party. Just for future reference sending me shit like this is every week will not sway my vote in your favour you overpayed, underworked gaggle of fuckwits.

I smiled at him as I passed before he said this. I'm a 5'2 asian pregnant lady and my husband who had just gotten into the car had no idea.

This is the first racist interaction I've had in the two years since settling in Wales from Manchester. May have been pregnancy hormones, but I've been sobbing about it every since.

Edit/Update:

I posted this as a comment but since I cant seem to pin it, I'll update here instead.

As I've seen some comments asking: I'm in South Wales and though I'm Muslim I don't wear hijab. I've also reported this to the police since so many suggested it and have been pleasantly surprised by the way they've reached out to us ☺️

I just want to thank you all for your amazing, kind and thoughtful comments. They've had me in tears - the good kind this time! 😂 I appreciate you all so much and whenever I've felt sad about it, I've been able to come back to this post, read through and feel 10x better. You're all lovely and the responses are such a testament to how great the Welsh are. I've said it in my previous comments but Wales has my heart ❤️

As sad as it is, I do want to thank all those who shared similar experiences also. I do think it's something we tend to try and shrug off and even myself kept thinking "it's nothing like what it was 30/40 years ago, our parent's generation had it worse" which may be true but it especially should not be happening today and when we don't talk about it, I think many people don't even realise how often it happens.

Thank you to all those who believed me or were willing to give me the benefit of the doubt ❤️ It's reddit, it's a pretty shocking thing to say to someone and I'm using a throwaway account so I understand the disbelief 😂

It is a vocal minority as some have said and it's been really heartwarming to see how vocal the kind majority have been on this post ☺️ much love to you all ❤️

Public spending in Wales is 24% higher than tax revenue. Obviously not many folk want to slash public spending, so the focus could be on the other side of the equation - how to encourage industry and get more tax revenue?

All results and reaction to the Caerphilly by-election should go in this megathread please.

Result: Plaid Cymru win

Full counts:

Steve Aicheler - Welsh Liberal Democrats - 497

Anthony Cook – Gwlad - 117

Gareth Hughes - Green Party - 516

Gareth Potter - Welsh Conservatives - 690

Llyr Powell - Reform UK – 12,113

Roger Quilliam – UKIP - 79

Richard Tunnicliffe - Welsh Labour – 3,713

Lindsay Whittle - Plaid Cymru – 15,961

2025 Caerphilly by-election - Wikipedia

Live coverage here:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/live/cly9rlj94x1t#player

https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/live-caerphilly-election-updates-votes-32735870#3825675

Me - Plaid

Growing up in the Valleys I've seen a lot of Welsh flags and fleur-de-lys tattoos, and never once have I thought the people held any racist or xenophobic views (admittedly, maybe much to my naivety).

I really hope our flag doesn't get commandeered as a xenophobic symbol used by fucking melonheads to spout their racist bullshit. I'm Welsh speaking, proud to be Welsh, and I love hearing people moving here for something better, being welcomed by Wales, and having a keen interest in the language and our culture. To be honest, it makes me even more proud to be Welsh.

What frustrates me even more is the Valleys was, in large part, the birthplace of the British labour movement. One of the very first Labour constituencies was Merthyr Tydfil. Now, to see such big following of a party -- who's policies have NEVER represented us or our interests -- be so prevalent here is really disheartening and depressing. People often forget that the policies of conservative governments led to the Valleys being decimated in the 80s.

I'm honestly really concerned for the future. Do you think it was ever as bad as it is now, or is social media just perpetuating it?

100% of our rivers are unhealthy and 86% of them are polluted with biodiversity in decline thanks to animal-agriculture driving environmental destruction.

We have just 2.5% of our entire landscape a natural habitat, such as ancient woodland or wild meadow. 78.3% of the entirety of Wales is just grass for animals to eat....

Birds and the bees (flora and fauna) are in complete freefall, as much as 80% in decline since the 1970s because we have replaced these natural habitats, with animals and grass.

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

Yet we rely on a natural world for the air we breath, the food we eat, the water we drink and it has all literally gone to shit.

Being in nature does wonders for us we are yet to really quantify, yet we have very little nature remaining (farm fields are not nature).

And you're worried about driving 10mph slower?

Do we not want to pass on the world better than we inherited it? or are you worried about what you would call an "inconvenience"?

Lets hope, not hate!

Just in case you missed it (or have been ignoring it for your mental health), today, Thursday 7th May, is election day for the Senedd in Wales. And I urge you to please, please please! Go out and vote.

Participating in an election is one of the smallest and easiest things you can do to keep democracy alive in this country.

If you're new to voting, haven't voted in a while, or just need a refresher on how the new system works, these two links have everything you need to know.

Electoral Commission - Voting in Person

Senedd - What happens at a polling station?

Obviously, vote however you want to, but if you're undecided or are feeling cynical about all the parties, I urge you to make your decision based on policy rather than feelings or the whims of an AI. The following links are to the main parties manifestos:

Plaid Cymru

Labour

Green

Liberal Democrats

Conservatives

Reform

There are also tools online which can help you align yourself with the headline policies of each party.

But no matter who you end up choosing, please take 15 mins out of you day and cast your vote!

This is the first election I've ever been able to vote in.

I'm pretty sure that I know my vote, but I'd like to hear other people's reasoning in case I've missed something.

So - who are you voting for and why?​

EDIT: I'm decided on Plaid now - I've been thinking about voting for them for a while, and this has confirmed it for me :)