Plaid's party leader Ieuan Wyn Jones will launch the Party's election campaign

The Welsh nationalist party Plaid Cymru is due to launch its election campaign on Anglesey.

The party's leader Ieuan Wyn Jones is expected to say it is time to "burst the Westminster bubble" and have local champions fight for Welsh communities.

Plaid has governed in coalition with Labour in the Welsh assembly since 2007 and has three Westminster seats.

It believes a hung parliament would benefit Wales but would want funding guarantees before supporting any party.

Following the campaign launch, Mr Jones is expected to visit Plaid candidates from across the north of Wales in a tour of constituencies. The party is due to unveil its manifesto on Tuesday.

'Come at a price'

It is the first time in its 85-year history that Plaid Cymru enters the general election as a party of government.

Plaid has had three cabinet posts in Wales in 2005, with its ministers responsible for economic development, rural affairs and culture, while Mr Jones is the deputy first minister.

It hopes to at least double its number of seats at this election, targeting two seats that it previously held, Ynys Mon and Ceredigion, and another two that it holds in the assembly, Aberconwy and Llanelli.

PLAID CYMRU Founded: August, 1925 First MP: Gwynfor Evans, Carmarthen, 1966 Leader: Ieuan Wyn Jones Elected members: 3 MPs, 14 AMs, 1 MEP Ministers: 3 Welsh Assembly Government cabinet members, 1 deputy minister

Plaid is campaigning on the basis of the influence it might wield in the event of a hung parliament.

The BBC's Wales correspondent Colette Hume said that is what happened in the hung parliament of 1974.

"In return for its support for the Labour government, Plaid secured a sickness compensation deal which has since paid out millions of pounds to former quarry workers in North Wales," she said.

And the party says any support for any new government would again be negotiated with benefits for Wales in mind.

In particular Plaid says it will demand changes in the formula that governs public spending in different parts of the UK. The party argues that the so-called Barnett formula short-changes Wales and that the country should receive an additional £300m a year from the Treasury.

The launch of Plaid's election campaign follows a day of campaigning in Wales.

On Wednesday, Conservative leader David Cameron paid his first election campaign visit to Wales, promising to "trim the fat" from central government.

Elsewhere, Labour highlighted its "lifeline" business loan guarantee scheme, and Plaid Cymru focused on its support to help companies expand.

Meanwhile Welsh Liberal Democrats said all their candidates were signing a "code of conduct" to restore trust to politics.

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