'I am young, I am a woman and I am from Wales...that is not the norm in this place'

Plaid Cymru peer Carmen Smith has made her maiden speech in the House of Lords today, you can read it in full here.

When my colleague, my noble friend, Lord Wigley, made his maiden speech in your Lordships’ House, he spoke of his election alongside the noble lord, Lord Elis-Thomas, to the other place in 1974. He said: "It was once suggested that the two of us entered the place as revolutionaries and departed as mere reformers. But if the objectives which we then had, and to which I still aspire, of a new relationship between the nations of these islands can be achieved by reforming the structures of government, that is all to the good.” and “If the process of devolution allows Wales […] to take appropriate decisions on an-all Wales level, and to have its voice heard when other decisions are taken on a wider basis, that is also to the good.”

As I begin my time in your Lordships’ House, I associate myself with those words. I pay tribute my noble friend, Lord Wigley, not only for his many years of dedicated service in your Lordships’ House, but also for his decades of public and political service to my party and to Wales.

I can only hope to follow in his footsteps, and in time, perhaps, to earn the same level of esteem in which he is held. It will not have escaped your Lordships’ attention, however – and I know that my noble friend won’t mind my saying this – that I look rather different to Lord Wigley.

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Since my nomination was announced, much comment has been made on my age, the colour of my hair, and my choice of footwear. I assure your Lordships that I will be proud to wear my Doc Martens in this place!

My Lords, I am young. I am a woman and I am from Wales. Your Lordships know well that that is not the norm in this place.

I am now one of only 33 members of your Lordships’ House who is below the age of 50. One of only 7 below the age of 40. And the only one below the age of 30.

I am conscious of the particular responsibility which now falls to me, as not only the youngest current member of your Lordships’ House, but also the youngest life peer ever to have been created.

My responsibility, as I see it, is to not just be my own voice, or that of my party, or my country, but to be a voice of my generation. My own experience is that of growing up on a council estate in Llanfaes, Ynys Môn, as a young carer to my dear, late father.

Battling on a daily basis the kind of prejudices and barriers that too many of my fellow citizens still face; trying to find hope and build a future for myself in a world where the odds seemed to be stacked against people like me; and burning with anger at the deprivation to which my community had been subjected.

These experiences are not unique to me. My generation has a particular experience, a particular perspective, which deserves and needs to be reflected in this place. For the latest politics news in Wales sign up to our newsletter here.

We grew up through the global recession at the end of the first decade of this century.We grew up in the shadow of terrorism at home and overseas. We grew up with the Internet and social media. We grew up in the age of devolution. We grew up with the ever-growing threat, and reality, of climate change and mankind’s destruction of the natural world.

We grew up at a time of increasing, and often aggressive, polarisation in our politics: in the age of Trump, and Brexit and now, we have become adults in the age of Covid. During our still short lifetimes, we have seen inequality grow, and poverty deepen.

We see, despite our protestations, the world’s leaders failing still to respond adequately to the climate and nature crises.

We see wealth inequality all around us. We see high debts and housing costs, low wages, and unstable work.

That is why I am particularly pleased to be making my maiden speech during this debate, and I thank the noble lord Lord Chandos for bringing this motion today.

In August last year, the Wales Expert Group on the Cost of Living Crisis noted that rising rent and mortgage payments are affecting households’ disposable income, and that low-income households are particularly affected. They also said that the full impact of poor housing security is yet to be felt, and that by May 2023, the number of people placed in temporary accommodation, including children, had increased by a third on the previous year.

The housing and homelessness charity Shelter Cymru, meanwhile, says that “young people are not on an even footing with their older peers. They tend to have lower incomes and are more likely to be earning minimum wage and/or working ‘zero-hour’ contracts, they’re penalised by the UK welfare system which limits their entitlement to housing benefit, and are routinely discriminated against and exploited by landlords and letting agents when attempting to rent in the private sector”.

Housing is, of course, a devolved subject; but social security is not; and it is the interplay of these two dimensions that is of critical importance.

Data shows that by the spring of last year, around 67,000 people in Wales were on social housing waiting lists, and almost 7,000 were in emergency accommodation.

By October of last year, almost 90,000 were on waiting lists, and over 11,000 were in temporary accommodation, of which almost 3,500 were children.

And of course, many of us in Wales know all too well the difficulty that so many people, especially young people, face in buying a home in their own community, especially in the rural and coastal parts of Wales where the Welsh language is strongest.

For these reasons, it is imperative that the voices of young people, and of young women in particular, are included in your Lordships’ deliberations.

Since the announcement of my nomination to this place, I have been quite open in my view that, although I believe Welsh voices are necessary here now, while this place has a say in the laws that govern Wales, I do not believe that an unelected upper chamber has a place in a modern, democratic society.

While I may be in the minority in your Lordships’ House in holding that view, I would not be doing my job if I did not continue to express it.

Nevertheless, it is my intention to be constructive in my contributions here. I look forward to offering my perspective and sharing my voice in your Lordships’ deliberations, and I look for your support as I do that.

In closing, I should like to thank my supporters, my noble friend Lord Wigley and the noble baroness Lady Bennett of Manor Castle, and all those noble lords and baronesses who have taken the time to welcome me and offer me their advice since my arrival here. I have been touched and humbled by the welcome I have received.

I offer my thanks also to Black Rod, the clerks, the doorkeepers, the police and security services, and the many and various members of staff, both party and parliamentary, who have all been unfailingly warm and courteous in the welcome they have given me.

I thank my friends in the other place, and look forward to working alongside them in Wales’ interests.

And finally, I thank my family and friends for the love and support that they have given me. I am the person I am because of them, and I can hope only to do them proud.

Diolch yn fawr iawn.