Rhun ap Iorwerth has been voted first minister of Wales after Plaid Cymru\u2019s Senedd electoral victory ended 100 years of Labour hegemony and held off Reform UK.<\/p>\n
Ap Iorwerth was confirmed after a plenary vote on Tuesday with the support of the 43 Senedd members of his party and two Greens.<\/p>\n
Plaid Cymru ended Labour\u2019s century-long electoral dominance in Wales in last week\u2019s elections, winning the most seats in the newly expanded 96-seat parliament. Reform, which had hoped to be the biggest party, won 34 seats, and Labour came third with just nine seats, marking a definitive end<\/a> to the party\u2019s grip on its birthplace.<\/p>\n The former Labour first minister Eluned Morgan lost her seat, triggering a leadership contest. Ken Skates, the Senedd member for Fflint Wrecsam and former cabinet secretary for transport, has taken over as interim leader.<\/p>\n Under Wales\u2019s new and more representative electoral system, at least 49 seats are needed for a majority. No party was likely to win that, but Friday\u2019s results put Plaid Cymru<\/a> in a comfortable position to form a minority government.<\/p>\n