Labour’s deputy leader in Wales has appeared to concede a historic defeat in the Senedd elections, as the party braces for a brutal set of results in its former heartlands. Huw Irranca-Davies, the deputy first minister, suggested he accepted Labour would not return to power in Wales while ballots were being counted across the nation.
Labour’s historic dominance under threat
The party 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 over two decades ago. However, after Wales went to the polls on Thursday, Labour is facing a significant loss of support.
Asked by the BBC if Labour would be in a position to form the next Welsh government, Mr Irranca-Davies replied: “I don’t think we’re going to be in that situation.” He 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.”
Labour vote collapses in heartlands
Labour sources in Wales earlier indicated the party’s vote had collapsed in Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni and said it would be a “struggle” to hold on to one seat out of a total of six in the constituency, which includes some of its South Wales heartlands. Baroness Eluned Morgan, the First Minister and leader of Welsh Labour, has previously said she is at risk of losing her seat in this election, where she stood in the Ceredigion Penfro constituency.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has already said he takes responsibility for a “tough” set of local election results in England, where hundreds of Labour councillors have been voted out.
Plaid Cymru and Reform UK lead
Plaid Cymru and Reform have topped opinion polls throughout the election campaign. A Plaid Cymru source said: “From what we have so far…. It’s looking good.” The Labour vote has “collapsed”, they added. Speaking from the Casnewydd Islwyn count on Friday morning, Plaid’s lead candidate in the constituency, Peredur Owen Griffiths, was more guarded about the result. The Newport constituency is expected to return Reform UK’s Wales leader Dan Thomas, alongside five other Senedd members.
Mr Griffiths told the Press Association that the 16,000 postal votes in the constituency yet to be verified made it harder to predict the result. “Obviously the verification for postal votes happens over time so you don’t get the same level of detail, so that could go any which way. That is why I can’t tell you how it is going,” he said.
Reform UK optimistic
Reform candidates in Newport, and in Llandysul, Ceredigion – where Lady Morgan is awaiting her future, were unwilling to speak openly to the press, and instead focused on observing ballot papers as they were counted. Helen Jenner, Reform’s deputy leader in Wales, told PA things were looking “very positive” for the party, but admitted Plaid Cymru had been “strong contenders”.
She said: “We are stronger in some parts than others… Some areas we’re very, very much neck and neck with Plaid, actually it’s quite reflective of what the polls have been saying. Obviously, we’ve done amazingly well across the border… Here, I think Plaid Cymru have been strong contenders and there might be an element of tactical voting as well. There is a bit of tactical voting that’s gone on, I think. However, I think we’re doing really, really well, and there’s pockets where we’re doing exceptionally well.”
