From Townhill to the London School of Economics: Who is Kiera Marshall?

“I grew up on a council estate – and I don’t want politics to forget people like us”

By Joseph Gough

A Plaid Cymru candidate has said her motivation for entering politics comes from growing up on a Swansea council estate and wanting to ensure her daughter – and children across Wales – have better opportunities than previous generations.

Kiera Marshall, who grew up in Townhill, Swansea, said her experiences of inequality, poverty and under-investment shaped her political outlook from a young age.

“I saw the difference between where I lived and where some of my friends lived,” she said. “That sticks with you. You notice it as a teenager – and you don’t forget it.”

Marshall credits her mother, a former policy officer for children’s charity Barnardo’s who later set up a co-operative researching the experiences of marginalised groups, as her first introduction to politics.

“She wasn’t party-political at first,” Marshall said. “But she cared deeply about justice – disabled people, care leavers, people coming out of prison. That absolutely shaped me.”

After studying politics at college, Marshall went on to attend the London School of Economics, where she says the contrast between London and Wales further reinforced her views.

“It was a real awakening,” she said. “You’re suddenly surrounded by very affluent people from all over the world, and it makes you think about how uneven opportunity really is.”

Now based in Cardiff, Marshall says becoming a mother has sharpened her political focus – particularly around child poverty and inequality.

“I worry about what kind of Wales my daughter will grow up in,” she said. “I don’t want her world to shrink. I want her to have choices – real choices.”

She added: “One in three children in Wales live in poverty. That’s heartbreaking. If we don’t reduce child poverty, then we’ve failed.”

Marshall has been vocal about policies she believes could make an immediate difference, including universal free childcare, improved access to apprenticeships and vocational education, and better literacy support in schools.

She said Plaid Cymru’s next manifesto has been written with delivery in mind.

“We’ve costed everything,” she said. “People have lost trust in politics. We want to be able to say: we promised this – and we delivered it.”

On public spending, Marshall pushed back against claims of “waste” in Welsh politics, arguing the issue is not how much is spent, but where.

“I don’t think public spending is bad,” she said. “I think spending money on the wrong priorities is bad.”

She also said she would donate part of her salary if elected, setting up a local trust to fund community projects in deprived areas.

“There are things communities need that just never get funded,” she said. “Sometimes it’s small things – a boxing ring, youth facilities – but they make a real difference.”

Marshall has also spoken openly about being stalked in the past and how the experience exposed serious failures in how victims are treated by the justice system.

“I was completely in the dark,” she said. “I didn’t know what evidence was used, when court dates were, or what my rights were. That shouldn’t happen to anyone.”

She believes devolving justice powers to Wales would allow better protections for women and girls, alongside reforms to policing and education.

“Almost every woman I know has a story,” she said. “We need to stop scapegoating and actually fix the systems that fail victims.”

Despite her growing profile, Marshall insists she is not driven by personal ambition.

“I don’t want to lead a party,” she said. “I just want to make my community better – especially places like Ely, Riverside, and other areas that are written off as ‘rough’ when really they’re just under-invested.”

“They’re not rough,” she added. “They’re poor – and that’s a political choice.”