Plaid Cymru becomes largest party in Welsh Senedd

Plaid Cymru have won 43 seats in Wales’s Senedd election with all constituencies declared, Bethan McKernan reports, putting the Welsh nationalists in a comfortable position to form a minority government and ending more than 100 years of Labour hegemony.

Polls consistently suggested Plaid Cymru and Reform UK were neck and neck in the race to become the biggest party under Wales’s new more proportional voting system.

As in last year’s closely watched Caerphilly Senedd byelection, however, the contest was not as close as predicted. Reform has come in second, with 34 seats – up from 1% of the vote share in 2021’s election.

Labour, for so long Wales’s political behemoth, has limped into third place with just nine seats in a 96 seat parliament.

Read Beth and Steven Morris’ full report below:

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Updated at 13.49 EDT

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Nigel Farage strikes celebratory tone in Chelmsford speech

Speaking from Chelmsford, Essex, Nigel Farage has said the election results have reflected a “truly historic shift in voting patterns” in the UK.

“The results in the Red Wall are truly astonishing,” Farage said, celebrating Reform’s gains from Labour in the Midlands, the North East and the North West.

He also laid into the Conservatives, saying “no one would forgive them” for the decisions they took while in power.

He wrapped up his speech by saying: “The results have exceeded, frankly, the best expectations I had – for Essex, for Suffolk – for many areas.”

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Sinn Féin’s Michelle O’Neill has hailed the gains of the SNP and Plaid Cymru as a seismic shift in the political landscape of the UK.

“For the first time in history there could be three nationalist, pro-independence and pro-self-determination First Ministers,” said O’Neill.

“I want to send my congratulations to the SNP and Plaid Cymru for their historic success.

“It is clear people want better. They want a brighter future, filled with hope.

“More and more people are looking beyond the constraints of Westminster where decisions are made without regard for people and communities in Scotland, Wales and the north of Ireland.

“That future is beyond Westminster. The desire for independence cannot be ignored.

“I look forward to working closely with John Swinney and Rhun ap Iorwerth to build on the existing relationships, strengthen the ties that bind us and continue the momentum towards constitutional change.”

Last month the Guardian reported on how strong election results for nationalist parties who aim to break up the UK could reshape politics’. “The change will be seismic,” said Angus Robertson, a senior minister in the Scottish government.

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Updated at 16.04 EDT

The Green Party has won a majority on Hackney council, usually a Labour stronghold.

By 8.30pm, 37 Green councillors had been elected out of 57 seats, ousting Labour for the first time since 2002 when the council had no overall control.

Labour has so far held onto just eight seats of 43 it had held.

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In a statement, the mayor of London Sadiq Khan has described today’s election results as “bitterly disappointing for Labour in London.”

He said: “I want to thank, from the bottom of my heart, all the great Labour councillors who have lost their seats for their hard work and dedication over many years.

“This includes people who I’ve worked with closely throughout my time as mayor to deliver for our city, including introducing free school meals, building record numbers of council homes and creating opportunities for young people.”

He added: “Labour has lost votes in London to a variety of different parties, but the biggest change has been Labour voters switching to the Greens.

“Many people who voted Labour at the last general election clearly feel angry, disappointed and let down.

“They want a Labour government to address the cost-of-living crisis while demonstrating the core values the party was established to promote. Too many of the Government’s achievements have been overshadowed by basic mistakes and a failure to boldly assert our progressive values.

“Londoners are also frustrated with the slow pace of change and are impatient to see the delivery they were promised.

“London has been taken for granted for too long. This must change. We need more investment in our public services and infrastructure, which would not only boost the economy and living standards for Londoners, but lead to jobs, wealth and prosperity right across the country.”

Reform UK wiped out the Conservatives to take majority control of Havering Borough Council, securing 39 out of the 55 council seats.

The Green Party now has two new mayors, Zoe Garbett in Hackney and Liam Shrivastava in Lewisham.

Both were Labour mayoralties until Thursday’s elections.

The Greens also took control of Waltham Forest, their first London council.

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A transgender candidate who secured one of three seats for the Scottish Green Party on the Edinburgh and Lothians East regional list said their victory in the election was “what diversity looks like”.

Dr Q Manivannan, the first person who identifies as transgender elected to Holyrood, and party colleagues Kate Nevens and Kayleigh Ferguson Kinross-O’Neill were among the seven candidates to secure seats on the list, along with Angela Ross from Reform UK, Irshad Ahmed and Katherine Sangster from the Scottish Labour Party and Scottish Conservative Miles Briggs.

“My name is Dr Q Manivannan, I am a transgender Tamil immigrant, my pronouns are they/them,” Dr Manivannan said as they addressed a crowd of cheering party supporters after the results were announced in Edinburgh.

“I am to some in this country everything that the hateful despise and I am standing here as your MSP now with care. They say politics is the art of the possible, a politics of care I would say expands what is possible for everyone left behind, pushed out or never invited in.”

They added: “This is what diversity looks like in power.”

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Based on full results from 110 of the 136 councils in England that held elections on Thursday, Labour has won 44% of the seats it was defending, while the Conservatives have won 62% of the seats they were defending, according to Press Association analysis.

At last year’s local elections in England, both parties won 33% of the seats they were defending.

Reform UK has so far won 35% of the seats it contested this year, while the Greens have won 10%.

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On Labour’s local election results, the foreign secretary Yvette Cooper said on X: “these have been really tough results today – including in Wakefield. “As the PM has said, this is now a time for serious, calm-headed reflection, because following these results, we must listen and respond, but do so in a steady, thoughtful and reflective way.”

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Pippa Crerar

Pippa Crerar

Keir Starmer is under pressure to set out a timeline for his departure after a crushing defeat in elections across Britain prompted senior Labour MPs to call for him to step down within a year.

In a disastrous set of results, Labour lost hundreds of council seats in England, many to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which made big gains across the Midlands and the north as well as taking seats from the Tories in the South.

After more than a century of domination, Labour was also expecting a near-wipeout in Wales, where the party’s first minister, Eluned Morgan, lost her seat. Labour could slump to third place in Scotland behind the SNP and Reform.

While the prime minister appeared to have avoided an immediate coup, there was a furious response to the results among senior MPs and the unions, with some warning him to change course or risk electoral oblivion.

Louise Haigh, a former cabinet minister and co-chair of the powerful Tribune group of MPs, was the first to break cover.

“What is abundantly clear is that unless the government delivers significant and urgent change, then the prime minister cannot lead us into another election,” she said.

One senior backbencher said: “We want Keir to agree a timetable for his departure, but we want it to be dignified. He should have his last conference this autumn and then oversee a leadership contest straight after. He can’t take us into next year’s locals. It’s too late.”

However, Starmer insisted that he “won’t walk away” from the leadership as doing so would “plunge the party into chaos”, although he acknowledged that voters were fed up with the slow pace of change.

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Labour’s affiliated unions said they were “deeply concerned” by the party’s “catastrophic” election results, and demanded a meeting with the PM.

The 11 unions in the Trade Union and Labour Organisation (TULO) said the results showed a stark disconnect between the Labour Government and the working people and communities it was elected to represent.

They said: “Voters right across the country have sent a clear message: that this Government are not delivering on the promised change they so desperately want to see.

“This cannot continue. Voters want to see a radical new direction from Labour, that stems the tide of division and unites workers and communities in every part of the country.

“TULO unions are united in calling for a fundamental change of direction on economic policy and political strategy, so that Labour do what it was elected to do: govern in the interests of workers.”

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The Scottish Conservative leader Russell Findlay, whose party lost seven seats in the Holyrood election, said: “We always knew this was going to be a tough election”.

Speaking to journalists at a count at the Braehead Arena in Renfrew, he said: “What we warned would happen is exactly what has happened.

“In many seats the Scottish Conservative candidates were beaten by the narrowest of margins, and that’s because people voted for Reform in those seats and let the SNP through the middle.”

Findlay is a candidate in the West of Scotland regional list, which is expected to be declared on Friday evening.

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Updated at 15.02 EDT

Reform UK took the West Midlands council Sandwell after gaining 41 of the 72 seats, with Labour losing 33.

The party also seized Wakefield in West Yorkshire, winning 58 seats, with two Liberal Democrats and one each for Labour, the Greens and the Conservatives. Labour had controlled the council with 48 seats.

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Anas Sarwar has issued a statement following Scottish Labour’s election loss, describing the result as “disappointing and difficult”.

The Scottish Labour leader said: “We made the case for change, but sadly that was not an argument we won in the face of a national wave that we couldn’t overcome.

“I want to thank everyone who voted for us – we will continue to fight for you, for communities across Scotland and for the values we believe in.”

He added: “The Scottish Labour Party is hurting today. It is my job to hold our party together. That’s what I will do.”

ShareResults in from 100 of 136 councils

With results available from 100 out of 136 councils in contention at these elections, here’s where things stand:

Labour have control of 22 councils, 20 fewer than before the elections. They have 504 council seats, and have lost a net total of 595 seats so far.

Reform were not in control of any of the councils up for election this time but have won seven so far. They have 936 council seats so far, which is up 873.

The Greens were also not in overall control of any councils, but have won control of at least three at these elections. They have 231 councillors, which is up 128.

The Conservatives now have control of five councils, with a total of 484 councillors and a net loss of 303 currently.

The Lib Dems have control of 13 councils, up one. They have 593 council seats, which is up 45 from before the election.

There are currently 48 councils under no overall control, which is up by 15.

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Updated at 15.15 EDT