Eluned Morgan the First Minister of Wales loses seat in Senedd election
Baroness Eluned Morgan, the First Minister of Wales, has lost her seat in the Senedd and resigned as Welsh Labour leader in a dire set of elections for the party.
Lady Morgan losing her seat marks the first time a sitting Welsh leader has lost an election in the Welsh Parliament, and is one of many results across Britain which will add to growing pressure on Sir Keir Starmer’s Government.
Labour has led Wales since the Senedd was first established as the National Assembly for Wales in 1999, and has been the largest party in the country for more than a century.
Lady Morgan’s departure comes amid a brutal day for the party across Wales and the UK.
She had been a member of the Senedd since 2016, became a minister in the Welsh government a year later and was the first woman to hold the role of First Minister in Wales.
She took over at a turbulent time in Welsh Labour, with former first minister Vaughan Gething lasting just five months in the role.
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, polling expert Professor Sir John Curtice said in a forecast for the BBC.
Labour believes it will only hold 10 seats in the new Senedd once all votes are counted.
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. Ten members under the new system would see them have about a tenth.
Elin Jones, the former president officer of the Senedd, paid tribute to the outgoing First Minister.
She said: “I want to thank Eluned Morgan for her service as first minister to our country. No-one will ever take away from Eluned that she was this country’s first ever female first minister.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub