Meet your Plaid Cymru candidates for Caerdydd Penarth for the 2026 Senedd election!
Anna Brychan
Originally from Aberystwyth, Anna Brychan has lived with her family in Grangetown, Cardiff for a quarter of a century and raised three sons there. The diverse and vibrant community of her adopted square mile is very close to her heart.
Anna has worked in the education sector since the early days of devolution – as Director of NAHT Cymru (the National Association of Headteachers) for a decade; leading the work of an international education charity in Wales for a period; and for the past eight years in the Institute of Education and Humanities at the University of Wales Trinity Saint David, where she is an Assistant Dean.
Anna has not stood for election before: she was motivated to do so this time because she feels has valuable experience to offer and a contribution to make – particularly in helping secure a more prosperous future for her own community and for Wales more broadly, especially in the field of education and ensuring that all learners in Wales -of all ages - can access genuinely transformational experiences.
Kiera Marshall
Kiera Marshall (27) lives in Cardiff with her partner and young baby. Raised on one of Wales’s poorest council estates, she is determined to ensure that everyone has a voice in the Senedd. Too often, young people, women, mothers, and those from working-class backgrounds are excluded from Welsh politics and she is committed to changing that.
Driven by a deep commitment to tackling inequality and injustice, Kiera has already made her mark. In 2024, she stood as Plaid Cymru's Westminster candidate, securing the party’s best-ever result in Cardiff and delivering a 12.6% increase in vote share.
Leticia Gonzalez
“We need representatives who walk the same streets, face the same struggles, and live the consequences of the decisions made in the Senedd.
I’m proud to stand for the friends who’ve become my family and the neighbours who’ve become my community. I’m running to back the Welsh values of camaraderie and care, and to remind people what Cymru stands for: fairness, equality, and a Wales that moves forward together.”
Malcolm Phillips
Malcolm Phillips is a local Councillor in Dinas Powys being elected in 2022. He was also a candidate for Plaid Cymru in the 2024 General election standing for the Cardiff North constituency.
He achieved the best ever result for the constituency almost trebling the result from the previous General election. He has spent a career on the railways of almost 45 years and retired in 2017 as Operations Manager for 3 train depots throughout Wales. He also served as a Special Constable in the South Wales Police force for 14 years.
He has been married for 45 years. During his working career he also represented his work colleagues being a committed trade union rep.
He saved his local community council £80.000 by taking on a building developer who buried waste materials in an area destined to become a children's playground and recreational site.
Matthew Hawkins
Matthew was born and raised in Cardiff, graduating from the University of Nottingham with a BA before completing a master’s degree at Cardiff University. He works for a charity focusing on health and social care and lives in Canton where he previously stood as a council election candidate.