Senedd members have voted by a margin of two votes to back the creation of a new road on the M4 to ease congestion around Newport, though the result is not binding on the Plaid Cymru government.
The motion, brought by Welsh Labour during an hour-long debate on Wednesday, described the proposals from transport minister Mark Hooper as “inadequate” and called on the government to rule out junction closures and begin work “on an appropriate relief road for the M4”.
It marks a significant U-turn for the party, which scrapped the relief road under the previous leadership of Mark Drakeford. The prospect of a new road has been revived by new leader Ken Skates.
Support and Opposition in the Senedd
The Labour motion won the support of Labour, Conservative, and Reform UK Members of the Senedd, while Plaid Cymru and the Greens opposed it. As a non-binding vote, it cannot force the government to take action.
Plaid Cymru’s plans involve an 18-month scheme to examine shorter-term fixes, which could include the closure of junctions, followed by a five-year plan that would see all options reassessed.
The debate reopened the long-running saga of how to deal with traffic congestion in Newport, decades after a new road was first suggested.
Labour Defends Its Record
Former transport minister Ken Skates defended the decisions made by previous Labour administrations. “Where we are today is a world away from 2019,” he said. “The policy and consenting environment has changed substantially since 2019 and a relief road would rightly have to meet far more stretching environmental challenges. Revising existing plans would provide an opportunity to include dedicated bus rapid transport and active travel routes along the M4.”
Peredur Owen Griffiths accused Labour of showing “opportunism”. “When I saw this debate on the agenda, I wondered whether the scriptwriters from The Thick of It had taken over the Labour group, because, Llywydd, you can't make this up. Do Labour Members think we've forgotten who cancelled the M4 relief road?” he said.
Labour's Jayne Bryant, who represents Casnewydd Islwyn which includes Newport, said Labour accepted “this issue has gone on unresolved for far too long”. “You do not need to live locally to know that the M4 around Newport is broken. Sadly, the Brynglas tunnels have become synonymous with gridlock. The vast majority of M4 traffic is not local but the motorway was never designed to carry the weight of a modern national economy,” she said.
Reactions from Other Parties
Plaid Cymru's Lyn Ackerman said Labour was showing “barefaced cheek”. “Having cancelled the previous scheme in 2019, let us not forget that, in government, they spent £135m not to build the very thing they are now demanding of Plaid Cymru today,” she said.
Reform UK's Jason O'Connell said: “It's an obvious attempt to cut the strings of Labour's puppet master, Mark Drakeford. Now, we welcome the decision and we congratulate Welsh Labour on taking 27 years to come to the same conclusion that it took us exactly one minute to make.” He added: “Labour hasn't changed. They've discovered the political consequences of ignoring it. And now, frightened of losing even more support to Reform UK, they're desperately trying to distance themselves from the anti-motorist legacy of Mark Drakeford and Lee Waters.”
Welsh Conservative MS Natasha Asghar, who also represents a constituency containing Newport, said: “Something absolutely needs to be done to tackle the M4's never-ending problems. By closing junctions 26, 27, and 25, it's simply not going to be the answer to everyone's prayers. Now, instead of providing any sort of relief, as the government claims, junction closures will consign Newport to even more misery.”
