Welsh Voters Cite Cost-of-Living Pressure Ahead of Senedd Election

BBC Business reported Monday that Welsh residents are taking increasingly drastic steps to manage household finances. The stories emerged on the eve of Thursday’s Senedd election, where cost-of-living policy has become a decisive voter issue.

Dog Food, Offal, and a Lost Weekend

Cardiff-based India Lerigo, 29, told the BBC she now makes her own dog food from scratch to save money. Her Staffy, Luna, requires specialist food due to allergies and a notoriously picky appetite. Commercial options were running her between £400 and £500 monthly for herself and her pet combined. She now bulk-buys once a month and spends an entire weekend batch-cooking and freezing meals for both herself and Luna. Her total food bill has dropped to roughly £250 per month. She uses cheap meat off-cuts and offal for Luna’s portions, slow-cooking and freezing batches ahead. Lerigo spent two months studying canine nutrition and secured her vet’s sign-off before switching. She noted that Luna’s digestion has improved noticeably since the change. As a vegetarian, however, she admitted that handling livers and hearts still unsettles her.

Other Families Feel the Same Squeeze

Lerigo is not alone. Sara Davies, a part-time worker from Caerphilly whose husband also works full-time, said the couple now scrutinise every grocery item before it goes into the trolley. Regular fortnightly pub evenings have quietly disappeared from their routine as hospitality costs have climbed. From Cowbridge, Andrew Pritchard, 62, described the overall situation as “bonkers,” telling the BBC he works full-time simply to cover rent and utility bills. Orla Williams, 58, from Llanelli, pointed to fuel prices as a particular pressure point, linking them to geopolitical instability affecting global energy markets.

A Crisis Building Since 2022

The strain is not new. Ashley Comley, representing Citizens Advice in Caerphilly Blaenau Gwent, told the BBC the issue had been building for years, with the 2022 Ukraine invasion acting as an accelerant. The organisation recorded a 49% rise in demand for its services during 2025 alone. Comley said communities had been managing persistent financial pressure long before it became front-page news. Donna Jones, 58, from Swansea, summarised the mood bluntly, saying incomes have simply failed to keep pace with food and energy bills. With Thursday’s Senedd vote approaching, candidates across parties are facing pointed questions about what devolved government can realistically do to ease household cost pressures that many voters describe as relentless.

Read Next: Fed Holds Rates Steady as Powell Flags Inflation Uncertainty