Labour First Minister loses seat in Welsh election
Welsh Labour has already conceded defeat in the Senedd elections
Last updated 14 hours ago
Labour First Minister Baroness Eluned Morgan has lost her seat in the Welsh Senedd elections.
The result came just hours after Welsh Labour conceded defeat, following a dismal night for the party.
Labour has been the largest at country-wide elections in Wales for more than a century and had won the most seats in the Welsh Parliament since its creation more than two decades ago.
A Welsh Labour spokesperson said: “This has undeniably been a very difficult election for Welsh Labour.
“We now expect to lose several hardworking and respected Members of the Senedd. We thank them for their service to their communities.
“It is looking like Welsh Labour will return a group of around 10 MSs – which will at least allow a vocal Labour opposition, even though we are deeply disappointed about not being able to lead a government.”
In a speech given after the result, Baroness Morgan said the election results showed “we need the Labour government nationally to change course” in a criticism of Sir Keir Starmer.
She also confirmed she would step down as leader of Welsh Labour.
The Prime Minister paid tribute to Baroness Morgan in a tweet:
Elsewhere, Reform and Plaid Cymru performed strongly as the results of the ballot emerged.
Dan Thomas, Reform’s leader in Wales, won a seat in the Casnewydd Islwyn constituency, while Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru leader, will return to the Senedd for the new Bangor Conwy Mon constituency.
Plaid are expected to be the largest party in the new Senedd.
Where do Labour go now?
Under the new voting system in Wales, there are 16 constituencies, each represented by six members of the Senedd – resulting in a total of 96 being elected.
Before the election, Labour held 29 seats in the Senedd, just under half of the 60.
Now they are expecting to have just 10 members.
Huw Irranca-Davies, the deputy first minister, earlier suggested he accepted Labour would not return to power in Wales as ballots were being counted across the nation.
Asked by the BBC if Labour would be in a position to form the next Welsh government, he replied: “I don’t think we’re going to be in that situation.”
Mr Irranca-Davies insisted Welsh Labour had put forward a “very positive manifesto”, adding: “I think it has been a good manifesto, it really has, and we have tried to argue on policies and also the next chapter for Wales.
“But if it hasn’t cut through to the people of Wales, we’re not going to be in that position then to actually form the next government.”
Mainstream, a soft-left group within the Labour Party, laid the blame for its losses in Wales squarely at the door of the Westminster Government.
Kerry Postlewhite, chairwoman of the Mainstream interim council, said Labour and Wales have “shared a political bond forged over generations”, adding: “This is not the time for defensiveness or excuses from Westminster; this is a defeat manufactured in Westminster.”