Plaid Cymru, May 10th, 2026

Fe godwn ni eto.

I’ve mused in here about my burgeoning Welsh nationalism before. Not much interesting to say on the matter with regard to my own political development; between 2012 and 2020, I saw socialism rejected across the anglophone world and I retreated into a nationalism (granted, a nationalism of an oppressed nation, therefore possessing many “Left” qualities, but no matter). Cool story! So unique!

No matter. On Thursday, Plaid Cymru achieved something never done, and another thing not done since before the nineteen-goddamned-thirties: they became the largest party in the Senedd and beat Labour in absolute vote share. By a lot. Like, they DECIMATED Labour. (Good.)

But that’s all horserace bullshit. You might have guessed this outcome if you paid attention to the Caerfili by-election last year and the over-sampling of Reform UK (those fascist freaks). (You did not guess this outcome and you did not pay attention to the Caerfili by-election; you are almost certainly American and don’t even pay attention to the politics of the neighboring state, district, ward, etc etc etc). It’s interesting horserace bullshit, as any horserace that upends the prior century of horseracing would be. But it’s horserace bullshit.

Here’s where it matters.

You and I will live to see the breakup of the United Kingdom of England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Mark it, put my life on it.

The election results in Scotland (also had elections, also sent the nationalist party to power), the current makeup of Stormont in the north of Ireland (Sinn Fein is the largest party), and the rise of the hilariously, parodically, “mean-spirited-if-I-made-it-as-a-caricature” English nationalism of Reform UK means that we’re entering an era of open conflict with the Celtic Fringe not seen since Thatcherism (at least–this probably dwarfs that). And now we have to add Plaid, from little old Wales, to that volatile mixture.

Nigel Farage, provided he doesn’t die of liver failure, lung cancer, or cocaine toxicity before the next election, will be the UK’s next prime minister. Do YOU think that the SNP, Sinn Fein, and now Plaid Cymru will just… accept that? The SNP is already militating for a 2nd referendum under LABOUR (I mean “Labour”). In this case, PM Farage probably means a militarized Hadrian’s Wall and UN peacekeepers. And Sinn Fein has been itching to pull the trigger on the island of Ireland. Good on em. I hope that they start this ball rolling.

So. To Cymru. Land of my fathers, land of song, land of dragons and legend and Yr Hen Iaith. Do YOU think Cymru will be content to be the left wing rump of Englandandwales? Especially one run by a man who seems to be a tulpa of Margaret Thatcher’s suppressed masculine energy? Reform UK won a shocking number of seats in Cymru yesterday. That’s not encouraging. But the Reform+Conservatives (plus Lib Dems–fuck it, you’re closer to them than us) figures are dwarfed by Plaid+Labour (plus Greens, who actually sent two MSes to the Senedd; good for them!). So no great worries of reactionary control top to bottom. Reform would love to make this week’s results about their performance. But fuck those fascist freaks. South Wales, the spiritual home and actual birthplace of UK Labourism, broke for Plaid. Everywhere did.

So we’re here on the other side of the most consequential election to my own politics and priors since–at least–2016. A politically despondent Cymro-American who has mostly Given Up–a DSA member who will maybe consider going to a monthly general assembly, but who eventually decided it’s more productive to sit alone and smoke weed (at least I won’t burn any gas). Now: given shape, given form, given purpose buy a fella named Rhun (pronounce it RHEEN, you angloid fuck).

England’s First Colony, ych a fi. And (at least, considering our relative timidity compared to the Scots and Irish) England’s Last Colony. Yma o damn hyd. And we always will be.

(Eat shit Keith Starmer, lmao. Eat shit and die. Loser. LOSER!)