Rhun ap Iorwerth has been voted first minister of Wales after Plaid Cymru’s Senedd electoral victory ended 100 years of Labour hegemony and held off Reform UK. The appointment was confirmed by a plenary vote on Tuesday, with the support of Plaid Cymru’s 43 members and the two Green MSs, while Welsh Labour and the sole Liberal Democrat abstained.
Ap Iorwerth, who is pro-Welsh independence, received a standing ovation as the ballot result was announced. He said: “It is the greatest privilege of my life to be elected first minister in a nation that means so much to me. Something has stirred in the soul of Wales – a new confidence, a new hope, a new broader horizon.” He paid tribute to his predecessor, Labour’s Eluned Morgan, who lost her seat in the election.
Plaid Cymru won the most seats in the newly expanded 96-seat parliament, with Reform UK winning 34 seats and Labour coming third with just nine seats. The Conservatives returned seven seats, the Liberal Democrats one, and the Green party gained two MSs for the first time. Reform UK’s Dan Thomas, the new leader of the opposition, told the Senedd his party would be a “robust opposition” and emphasised a pro-union majority in the chamber.
Under Wales’s new electoral system, at least 49 seats are needed for a majority. Plaid Cymru is in a comfortable position to form a minority government. Ap Iorwerth has said he will seek cooperation from all opposition parties on a case-by-case basis and press the UK government for extra powers over policing and justice, rather than engaging in political rows with Westminster. He has ruled out an independence referendum in the next Senedd term but will make the case for an independent Wales.
Ap Iorwerth, 53, grew up on Ynys Môn (Anglesey) and worked as a BBC journalist before entering politics in 2013. He became Plaid Cymru leader in 2023. He will be sworn in by a high court judge on Tuesday afternoon and is expected to begin appointing cabinet secretaries on Wednesday.
