In any election campaign the candidates and parties use a variety of methods to reach electors and get their message across. These methods include public meetings, canvassing, television and radio, the web and social media but one method that has been used for over 2 centuries remains important - the printed election address.
Our collection of election addresses dates back to 1837 but over the last 40 years the Welsh Political Archive has made a special effort to collect all kinds of leaflets, posters, badges and election campaign material with the help of almost 100 supporters in all parts of Wales. Our volunteer collectors keep every piece of campaign ephemera that reaches them and post them to us after the election so that there is a comprehensive collection with material from every candidate, party and constituency. This work was even more important this year with an election using a new electoral system for the Welsh Parliament, electing more members and a campaign where the result was the biggest chance in 26 years of devolved government.
Organising the material is always an interesting job to see what kind of messages were used, the design of the leaflets and different campaign methods. Some parties campaign with uniform addresses across the country. In most constituencies, only central campaign material was circulated by Reform UK with prominent pictures of Nigel Farage and Dan Thomas and with little attention on the local candidates, while the campaign material of the Liberal Democrats of Wales was very local with a lot of emphasis on the candidates. Plaid Cymru had circulated some national leaflets with a focus on Rhun ap Iorwerth as well as local material focusing on local issues and candidates. Welsh Labour, the Green Party and the Welsh Conservatives had followed the same pattern circulating a mixture of national addresses and local material. It is also always interesting to see the speeches of independent candidates, and where the campaigning has been more intense.
Some of our collection volunteers keep material they receive long before the election and this has made this year's collection noteworthy for another reason. By the time James Evans MS changed party from the Welsh Conservatives to Reform UK in early 2026, one campaign leaflet had already been circulated in Brecon Tawe Nedd so this is the first time (as far as I know) that a leaflet from the same candidate on behalf of two different parties in the same election has been received!
The Welsh Political Ephemera Collection is a fascinating one and an important source for researchers. It exists because our volunteer collectors think about records instead of recycling and we’re incredibly grateful to them.