Thursday, October 15, 2026
Senedd bans poem by Wales National Poet
So I was interested in an story in Will Hayward's latest newsletter, one that does not reflect well on the Senedd Commission, who are responsible for running the parliament and arranging the official opening.
He tells us that the National Poet of Wales has been barred from reading a poem in front of the King at the opening of the Senedd today because it is “too political":
Hanan Issa, who has been Cymru’s national poet since 2022, was commissioned by the Senedd to produce and read a poem ahead of the official opening of the seventh Welsh Parliament tomorrow. Her planned appearance in front of the King, Queen, First Minister and Senedd Members was, as of last week, widely publicised.
The brief that she was given was “to celebrate Members and their achievements being elected” but also to serve as “a reminder of their commitment to the people of Wales”.
It also added:
“We are happy for Hanan to execute the poem as they wish. It can be a solo piece or it could have a community focus, potentially gathering and crafting views from across 16 constituencies on people’s hopes for Wales’ future and turn this into a poem to be read in the Siambr.”
So in summary, Cymru’s national poet was commissioned to remind politicians of their commitment to the people of Wales however she wished.
Ms Issa spent time speaking to people in Wales about the issues they felt mattered to them and produced a powerful poem called “To Grow” (you can view it at the bottom of this newsletter).
In it she referenced a wide range of issues including the recent wildfires, cuts to women’s health services, Welsh water being guzzled up by new data centres and the atrocities committed in Gaza.
Upon submitting this poem, this newsletter understands that she was told it was too political for the opening of parliament. Following this, she compromised by making these references less overt. She then submitted a second version of the poem.
However, this too was rejected with the comment that while the Senedd Commission are “mindful of respecting the poet’s artistic independence and freedom of expression” they feel that “some aspects of the poem may still not align with the brief”. It’s worth bearing in mind that this is not a decision made by the Welsh Government but rather by the Senedd.
Will Hayward reproduces both version of the poems on his substack, suggesting that if the ears of politicians are too delicate to hear issues affecting the lives of Welsh people in a poem, what hope have we got for them to listen in real life?. I have reproduced the revised one at the top of this post, which in my view is actually a better poem. You can read the original version by clicking on the link above.
