This article needs additional citations for verification .(December 2007) |
This article is part of a series within the Politics of the United Kingdom on the |
Politics of Wales |
---|
There are four types of elections in Wales: elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elections to the devolved Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh : Senedd Cymru), local elections to community councils and the 22 principal areas, and the police and crime commissioner elections. In addition there are by-elections for each aforementioned election. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday. Three of these four types of elections are held after fixed periods; the exception is UK general elections, the timing of which is at the discretion of the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Senedd elections may be postponed to avoid elections to the UK parliament and Senedd coinciding with each other.
The two electoral systems used for elections in Wales are: first-past-the-post (for UK elections, police and crime commissioner elections and local elections, though individual local authorities are able to move to STV under recent Welsh legislation) and the Closed Lists (for Senedd elections). The supplementary vote system was previously used for police and crime commissioner elections, until the system was switched for those elections to first-past-the-post under provision made by the Elections Act 2022. The previous Additional Members System for the Senedd was replaced for Closed list by the e Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024. [1]
There are elections to 22 unitary authorities across Wales every four years, most recently on 5 May 2022. The electoral system used is first-past-the-post. The largest unitary authorities in Wales are Cardiff, Newport and Swansea councils, which all lie in the southern coastal belt.
Police and crime commissioners were established in England and Wales, replacing the local police authorities, following the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement of 2010, with the first police and crime commissioners elected in 2012.
This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Reform Act passing.(July 2024) |
There have been six elections to the devolved parliament of Wales, based in Cardiff Bay since 1999. These elections are held every five years to elect sixty Members of the Senedd (MSs; formerly Assembly Members, ASs). Voters have two votes: forty MSs are elected by the First Past the Post system in individual constituencies, and a further twenty MSs are elected by a regional top-up system in which voters vote by region. This system overall is called Additional Members System (AMS) and is a hybrid electoral system mixing both a plurality system (FPTP) and a proportional system (the party list system). The regions are: Mid and West Wales, North Wales, South Wales Central, South Wales East and South Wales West, whereas the constituencies are the same used for elections to the UK parliament. Each region elects four MSs, to achieve approximately proportional representation overall, with every individual in Wales being represented by five MSs in total, their local constituency MS and four regional MSs. Between its inception in 1999, it was known as the 'National Assembly for Wales'. Legislation was passed in 2020, for a name change on 6 May 2020 to its current name, 'Senedd Cymru' or the 'Welsh Parliament' (or simply 'Senedd') to fully reflect its constitutional status as a law-making and tax-setting parliament. [2] It is based in Cardiff Bay, initially (as the Assembly) in Tŷ Hywel from 1999 to 2006, until it moved to the Senedd building, which opened on 1 March 2006, where the Assembly and now Senedd has been based since 2006. The elections were held every four years from 1999, but were increased to five years following the Wales Act 2014 for the 2016 election.
The 2021 Senedd election on 6 May 2021, was the first election to the devolved parliament since its name change. The election took place akin to previous elections when it was known as the National Assembly for Wales.
The Richard Commission report of 2004 suggested an increase of the number of Members to 80. That number was also suggested, as a minimum, by the 2014 report of the Silk Commission. [3] Similarly, in 2013 and 2016, the Electoral Reform Society published reports making the case for an upsize of the Assembly. [4] [5] A 2017 report of an expert commission suggested an increase to between 80 and 90 Members, switching to single transferable vote (STV) and enforcing gender quotas. [3]
A reduction in the number of Welsh MPs has been proposed for the next UK general alection. Under the proposals, the number of MPs would be reduced from 40 to 32 and new constituency boundaries have also been proposed. [6] The boundary plans were published on 19 October 2022 and voters have four weeks to comment. The map of the new constituency boundaries would also be used as Senedd regions for the next Senedd election. [7]
The Special Committee was set up on 6 October 2021. [8] In May 2022, a joint position statement was published by First Minister Mark Drakeford and Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price, [9] calling for a 96-Member Senedd, all elected through closed party list proportional representation (using the D'Hondt method) with mandatory "zipping" of male and female candidates in the list to ensure that for every party, half of the Members will be women. [10]
The final report of the Special Committee was published on 30 May 2022 and recommended the system agreed to by the Labour and Plaid Cymru leaders. [11]
In September 2023, the Welsh Government published its plans for electoral reform as part of the proposed Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill. The number of Senedd constituencies is set to fall to 16, with each constituency electing six MSs from a closed list under the D'Hondt method. Under the proposals, all candidates must live in Wales, and elections would take place every four years, rather than five. [12]
Elections to the institution prior to 2020, with the last being in 2016, were done under the previous name the 'National Assembly for Wales' (see below). Following legislation in 2020, any subsequent elections, from the 2021 Senedd election will be under its new name.
The next Senedd election is expected to be held on Thursday 7 May 2026, under the provisions of the Wales Act 2014 where Senedd terms are five-year terms. This date can be postponed under circumstances including public health or safety emergencies, or an early UK parliamentary election (itself expected in 2024, but can be held prior).
It was the sixth general election since the establishment of the institution in 1999. It was held along with the other 2021 United Kingdom local elections and was the first election where 16 and 17-year-olds were allowed to vote in Wales, which is the largest extension of the franchise in Wales since 1969. Both changes were a result of the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill 2019. [13]
Elections to the then 'National Assembly for Wales' (or Welsh Assembly') occurred from its first election in 1999 up until the 2016 election (with any subsequent elections being as the 'Senedd'). This follows the 1997 devolution referendum where Welsh voters narrowly approved the formation of the devolved institution. The institution is now known as the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh : Senedd Cymru) (see above).
Overall turnout: 46%
Wales has been eligible to send MPs to Westminster since the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Between then and 1885, most constituencies were categorised as county or borough constituencies; each sent one MP to Westminster. As the Industrial Revolution took hold there were many calls for reform (particularly in towns such as Merthyr Tydfil). Parliament eventually[ when? ] allowed the new towns to vote, and this introduced the first Labour MPs. The first leader of the Labour Party in Parliament, Keir Hardie, was one of the two MPs for Merthyr Tydfil. The following table shows the composition of Wales' Westminster MPs since 1885.
Year | Labour | Liberal Democrat/ Liberal | Conservative | Plaid Cymru | Independent | Liberal Unionist | Independent Labour | Others |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1885 | - | 29 | 4 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
1886 | - | 26 | 6 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 |
1892 | - | 30 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
1895 | - | 24 | 8 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 |
1900 | 1 | 26 | 6 | - | - | 1 | - | 1 |
1906 | 1 | 28 | - | - | - | - | 1 | - |
1910 (Jan) | 5 | 27 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - |
1910 (Dec) | 6 | 26 | 3 | - | - | - | 1 | - |
1918 | 9 | 3 | 4 | - | - | - | - | 19 |
1922 | 18 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | 1 | 9 |
1923 | 19 | 11 | 4 | - | - | - | - | 2 |
1924 | 16 | 11 | 9 | - | - | - | - | - |
1929 | 25 | 10 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - |
1931 | 15 | 5 | 6 | - | - | - | 1 | 9 |
1935 | 18 | 8 | 6 | - | - | - | - | 4 |
1945 | 25 | 7 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
1950 | 27 | 5 | 3 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
1951 | 27 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
1955 | 27 | 3 | 5 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
1959 | 27 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | 1 |
1964 | 28 | 2 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - |
1966 | 32 | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - |
1970 | 27 | 1 | 7 | - | - | - | 1 | - |
1974 (Feb) | 24 | 2 | 8 | 2 | - | - | - | - |
1974 (Oct) | 23 | 2 | 8 | 3 | - | - | - | - |
1979 | 22 | 1 | 11 | 2 | - | - | - | - |
1983 | 20 | 2 | 14 | 2 | - | - | - | - |
1987 | 24 | 3 | 8 | 3 | - | - | - | - |
1992 | 27 | 1 | 6 | 4 | - | - | - | - |
1997 | 34 | 2 | - | 4 | - | - | - | - |
2001 | 34 | 2 | - | 4 | - | - | - | - |
2005 | 29 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | - | - | - |
2010 | 26 | 3 | 8 | 3 | - | - | - | - |
2015 | 25 | 1 | 11 | 3 | - | - | - | - |
2017 | 28 | - | 8 | 4 | - | - | - | - |
2019 | 22 | - | 14 | 4 | - | - | - | - |
2024 | 27 | 1 | - | 4 | - | - | - | - |
Party [14] | Seats | Votes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Gains | Losses | Net +/- | % seats | Total | % | Change | ||
Labour | 22 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 55 | 632,035 | 40.9 | 8.0 | |
Conservative | 14 | 6 [a] | 0 | 6 | 35 | 557,234 | 36.1 | 2.5 | |
Plaid Cymru | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 153,265 | 9.9 | 0.5 | ||
Liberal Democrats | 0 | 0 | 0 [b] | 0 | 92,171 | 6.0 | 1.5 | ||
Brexit Party | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 83,908 | 5.4 | new | ||
Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15,828 | 1.0 | 0.7 | ||
Independents | 0 | 0 | 0 [c] | 0 | 6,220 | 0.4 | N/A | ||
Gwlad | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,515 | 0.1 | new | ||
Cynon Valley | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1,322 | 0.1 | new | ||
Monster Raving Loony | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 345 | 0.0 | |||
Christian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 245 | 0.0 | new [d] | ||
SDP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 181 | 0.0 | new [d] | ||
Socialist Alternative | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 88 | 0.0 | new [e] | ||
Total | 40 | 1,544,357 | Turnout | 66.6 |
Party | Seats | Votes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Gains | Losses | Net +/- | % seats | Total | % | Change | ||
Labour | 28 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 70.0 | 771,354 | 48.9 | 12.1 | |
Conservative | 8 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 20.0 | 528,839 | 33.6 | 6.3 | |
Plaid Cymru | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10.0 | 164,466 | 10.4 | 1.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 71,039 | 4.5 | 2.0 | |
UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 31,376 | 2.0 | 11.6 | |
Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 5,128 | 0.3 | 2.2 | |
Others | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3,612 | 0.2 | 0.1 | |
Total | 40 | 1,575,814 | Turnout | 68.6 |
Party | Seats | Votes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Gains | Losses | Net +/- | % seats | Total | % | Change | ||
Labour | 25 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 62.5 | 552,473 | 36.9 | 0.6 | |
Conservative | 11 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 27.5 | 407,813 | 27.2 | 1.1 | |
UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 204,330 | 13.6 | 11.2 | ||
Plaid Cymru | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7.5 | 181,704 | 12.1 | 0.8 | ||
Liberal Democrats | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2.5 | 97,783 | 6.5 | 13.6 | |
Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 38,344 | 2.6 | 2.1 | ||
Socialist Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3,481 | 0.2 | 0.2 | ||
TUSC | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1,780 | 0.1 | 0.1 | ||
Others | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 10,355 | 0.7 | 0.5 | ||
Total | 40 | 1,498,063 |
Party | Seats | Votes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Gains | Losses | Net +/- | % seats | Total | % | Change | ||
Labour | 26 | 1 | 5 | 4 | 65.0 | 531,601 | 36.2 | 6.5 | |
Conservative | 8 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 20.0 | 382,730 | 26.1 | 4.7 | |
Liberal Democrats | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7.5 | 295,164 | 20.1 | 1.7 | |
Plaid Cymru | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.5 | 165,394 | 11.3 | 1.3 | |
UKIP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 35,690 | 2.4 | 1.0 | |
BNP | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 23,088 | 1.6 | 1.5 | |
Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6,293 | 0.4 | 0.1 | |
Christian | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1,947 | 0.1 | N/A | |
TUSC | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 341 | 0.0 | N/A | |
Others | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | — | 24,442 | 1.7 | 1.1 | |
Total | 40 | 1,466,690 | 64.9 |
Party | Candidates | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % change | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 29 | 5 | 594,821 | 42.7 | 5.9 | ||
Conservative | 3 | 3 | 297,830 | 21.4 | 0.4 | ||
Liberal Democrats | 4 | 2 | 256,249 | 18.4 | 4.6 | ||
Plaid Cymru | 3 | 1 | 174,838 | 12.6 | 1.7 | ||
UKIP | 0 | 20,297 | 1.5 | ||||
Green | 0 | 7,144 | 0.5 | ||||
Forward Wales | 0 | 3,461 | 0.2 | ||||
Legalise Cannabis | 0 | 1,772 | 0.1 | ||||
BNP | 0 | 1,689 | 0.1 | ||||
Socialist Labour | 0 | 1,605 | 0.1 | ||||
Veritas | 0 | 1,437 | 0.1 | ||||
Respect | 0 | 643 | 0.0 | ||||
Liberal | 0 | 605 | 0.0 | ||||
Socialist Alliance | 0 | 557 | 0.0 | ||||
Communist | 0 | 440 | 0.0 | ||||
Yourself | 0 | 284 | 0.0 | ||||
Bean Party | 0 | 159 | 0.0 | ||||
Independent | 1 | 1 | 28,888 | 2.3 | |||
Turnout: | 1,392,719 | 62.4 |
Party | Candidates | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % change | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 40 | 34 | 666,956 | 48.6 | 6.1 | ||
Conservative | 40 | 0 | 288,623 | 21.0 | 1.4 | ||
Plaid Cymru | 40 | 4 | 195,893 | 14.3 | 4.4 | ||
Liberal Democrats | 2 | 189,254 | 13.8 | 1.5 | |||
UKIP | 0 | 12,552 | 0.9 | ||||
Green | 0 | 3,753 | 0.3 | ||||
Socialist Labour | 0 | 2,805 | 0.2 | ||||
Socialist Alliance | 0 | 2,258 | 0.2 | ||||
ProLife Alliance | 0 | 1,609 | 0.1 | ||||
Communist | 0 | 384 | 0.0 | ||||
BNP | 0 | 278 | 0.0 | ||||
Others | 7,959 | 0.6 | |||||
Turnout: | 1,372,324 | 61.6 |
Party [15] | Seats | Votes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Gains | Losses | Net +/- | % seats | Total votes | % votes | Change | ||
Labour | 34 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 85.0 | 885,935 | 54.7 | 5.2 | |
Conservative | 0 | 0 | 8 | 8 | — | 317,127 | 19.6 | 9.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.0 | 200,020 | 12.4 | 0.1 | |
Plaid Cymru | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10.0 | 161,030 | 10.0 | 1.1 | ||
Referendum | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 38,245 | 2.4 | New | ||
Socialist Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 6,203 | 0.4 | New | ||
Independent Labour | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4,633 | 0.3 | New | ||
Independent | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2,258 | 0.2 | N/A | ||
Green | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1,718 | 0.1 | 0.3 | ||
Other parties | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3,087 | 0.2 | N/A | ||
Party [16] | Seats | Votes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Gains | Losses | Net +/- | % seats | Total votes | % votes | Change | ||
Labour | 27 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 71.1 | 865,663 | 49.5 | 4.4 | |
Conservative | 6 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 15.8 | 499,677 | 28.6 | 0.9 | |
Liberal Democrats | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 2.6 | 217,457 | 12.4 | 5.5 | |
Plaid Cymru | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 10.5 | 156,747 | 9.0 | 1.7 | |
Others | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9,233 | 0.5 | 0.3 | ||
Party | Seats | Votes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Gains | Losses | Net +/- | % seats | Total votes | % votes | Change | ||
Labour | 24 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 63.2 | 765,209 | 45.1 | 7.6 | |
Conservative | 8 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 21.1 | 501,316 | 29.5 | 1.5 | |
Alliance | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.9 | 304,230 | 17.9 | 5.3 | |
Plaid Cymru | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 7.9 | 123,599 | 7.3 | 0.5 | |
Others | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3,742 | 0.2 | 0.2 | ||
Party | Seats | Votes | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Total | Gains | Losses | Net +/- | % seats | Total votes | % votes | Change | ||
Labour | 20 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 52.6 | 603,858 | 37.5 | 9.4 | |
Conservative | 14 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 36.8 | 499,310 | 31.0 | 1.2 | |
Alliance | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.3 | 373,358 | 23.2 | 12.6 | |
Plaid Cymru | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5.3 | 125,309 | 7.8 | 0.2 | ||
Other parties | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 7,151 | 0.4 | 1.9 | ||
Wales was a constituency in European Parliament elections. Following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union on 31 January 2020, Wales no longer elects representatives to the European Parliament.
European Election 2019: Wales [18] [19] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. | |
Brexit Party | Nathan Gill (1) James Wells (3) Gethin James, Julie Price | 271,404 (135,702) | 32.46 | 32.46 | |
Plaid Cymru | Jill Evans (2) Carmen Smith, Patrick McGuinness, Ioan Bellin | 163,928 | 19.60 | 4.34 | |
Labour | Jacqueline Jones (4) Matthew Dorrance, Mary Wimbury, Mark Whitcott | 127,833 | 15.29 | 12.86 | |
Liberal Democrats | Sam Bennett, Donna Lalek, Alistair Cameron, Andrew Parkhurst | 113,885 | 13.62 | 9.67 | |
Conservative | Daniel Boucher, Craig Lawton, Fay Jones, Tomos Davies | 54,587 | 6.53 | 10.90 | |
Green | Anthony Slaughter, Ian Chandler, Ceri Davies, Duncan Rees | 52,660 | 6.30 | 1.76 | |
UKIP | Kristian Hicks, Keith Edwards, Thomas Harrison, Robert McNeil-Wilson | 27,566 | 3.30 | 24.26 | |
Change UK | Jon Owen Jones, June Davies, Matthew Paul, Sally Anne Stephenson | 24,332 | 2.91 | 2.91 | |
Turnout | 836,195 | 37.1 | 5.6 |
Date(s) | Polling organisation/client | Sample | Lab | UKIP | Con | Plaid | Green | Lib Dems | Brexit | Change UK | Others | Lead |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
16–20 May 2019 | YouGov/ITV | 1,009 | 15% | 2% | 7% | 19% | 8% | 10% | 36% | 2% | 0% | 17% |
10–15 May 2019 | YouGov/Plaid Cymru | 1,133 | 18% | 3% | 7% | 16% | 8% | 10% | 33% | 4% | 0% | 15% |
2–5 April 2019 | YouGov/ITV | 1,025 | 30% | 11% | 16% | 15% | 5% | 6% | 10% | 8% | 1% | 14% |
22 May 2014 | 2014 EU election results | 733,060 | 28.2% | 27.6% | 17.4% | 15.3% | 4.5% | 4.0% | N/A | N/A | 3.2% | 0.6% |
European Election 2014: Wales | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. | |
Labour | Derek Vaughan Jayne Bryant, Alex Thomas, Christina Rees [20] [21] | 206,332 | 28.15 | +7.9 | |
UKIP | Nathan Gill James Cole, Caroline Jones, David Rowlands [21] [22] | 201,983 | 27.55 | +14.8 | |
Conservative | Kay Swinburne Aled Davies, Dan Boucher, Richard Hopkin [21] [23] | 127,742 | 17.43 | −3.8 | |
Plaid Cymru | Jill Evans Marc Jones, Stephen Cornelius, Ioan Bellin [21] [24] [25] | 111,864 | 15.26 | −3.3 | |
Green | Pippa Bartolotti, John Matthews, Chris Were, Rosemary Cutler [21] [26] [27] | 33,275 | 4.54 | −1.0 | |
Liberal Democrats | Alec Dauncey, Robert Speht, Jackie Radford, Bruce Roberts [21] | 28,930 | 3.95 | −6.7 | |
BNP | Mike Whitby, Laurence Reid, Jean Griffin, Gary Tumulty [21] | 7,655 | 1.04 | −4.4 | |
Britain First | Paul Golding, Anthony Golding, Christine Smith, Anne Elstone [21] | 6,633 | 0.9 | 0.00 | |
Socialist Labour | Andrew Jordan, Katherine Jones, David Lloyd Jones, Liz Screen [21] | 4,459 | 0.61 | −1.2 | |
NO2EU | Robert Griffiths, Claire Job, Steve Skelly, Laura Picand [21] | 2,803 | 0.38 | −0.9 | |
Socialist (GB) | Brian Johnson, Richard Cheney, Ed Blewitt, Howard Moss [21] [28] | 1,384 | 0.19 | 0.00 | |
Turnout | 733,060 | 31.5 | +1.1 |
European Election 2009: Wales [29] [30] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. | |
Conservative | Kay Swinburne Evan Price, Emma Greenow, David Chipp | 145,193 | 21.2 | +1.8 | |
Labour | Derek Vaughan Lisa Stevens, Rachel Maycock, Leighton Veale | 138,852 | 20.3 | −12.2 | |
Plaid Cymru | Jill Evans Eurig Wyn, Ioan Bellin, Natasha Asghar | 126,702 | 18.5 | +1.1 | |
UKIP | John Bufton David Bevan, Kevin Mahoney, David Rowlands | 87,585 | 12.8 | +2.3 | |
Liberal Democrats | Alan Butt Phillip, Kevin O'Connor, Nick Tregoning, Jackie Radford | 73,082 | 10.7 | +0.2 | |
Green | Jake Griffiths, Kay Roney, Ann Were, John Matthews | 38,160 | 5.6 | +2.0 | |
BNP | Ennys Hughes, Laurence Read, Clive Bennett, Kevin Edwards | 37,114 | 5.4 | +2.5 | |
Christian | Jeffrey Green, David Griffiths, Alun Owen, John Harrold | 13,037 | 1.9 | N/A | |
Socialist Labour | Robert English, Richard Booth, Liz Screen, Judith Sambrook | 12,402 | 1.8 | N/A | |
NO2EU | Robert Griffiths, Rob Williams, Laura Picand, Trevor Jones | 8,600 | 1.3 | N/A | |
Jury Team (UK) | Paul Sabanskis, James Eustace, Neil Morgan, Steven Partridge | 3,793 | 0.6 | N/A | |
Turnout | 684,520 | 30.4 | −11.0 |
European Election 2004: Wales [31] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. | |
Labour | Glenys Kinnock , Eluned Morgan Gareth Williams, Gwennan Jeremiah | 297,810 (148,905) | 32.5 | +0.6 | |
Conservative | Jonathan Evans Owen Williams, Felicity Elphick, Albert Fox | 177,771 | 19.4 | −3.3 | |
Plaid Cymru | Jill Evans Jon Blackwood, Eilian Williams, Gwenllian Lansdown | 159,888 | 17.4 | −12.2 | |
UKIP | David Rowlands, Clive Easton, Elizabeth Phillips, Timothy Jenkins | 96,677 | 10.5 | +7.4 | |
Liberal Democrats | David John Williams, Alison Goldsworthy, Nicholas Tregoning, Nilmini Priyanga de Silva | 96,116 | 10.5 | +2.3 | |
Green | Martyn Shrewsbury, Molly Scott Cato, David Bradney, Dorienne Robinson | 32,761 | 3.6 | +1.0 | |
BNP | John Walker, Pauline Gregory, James Roberts, Mark Stringfellow [32] | 27,135 | 3.0 | N/A | |
Forward Wales | Ron Davies, Wendy Paintsil, Janet Williams, Graham Jones | 17,280 | 1.9 | N/A | |
Christian Democratic Party | Catherine Smith, Christine West, Joseph Biddulph, Robert Evans | 6,821 | 0.7 | N/A | |
Respect | Helen Griffin, Huw Williams, Raja Gul Raiz, Taran O'Sullivan | 5,427 | 0.6 | N/A | |
Turnout | 917,686 | 41.4 | +12.4 |
European Election 1999: Wales [33] | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
List | Candidates | Votes | Of total (%) | ± from prev. | |
Labour | Glenys Kinnock , Eluned Morgan Joe Wilson, Gareth Williams, Jane Hutt | 199,690 (99,845) | 31.9 | N/A | |
Plaid Cymru | Jill Evans , Eurig Wyn Marc Phillips, Susanna Perkins, Owain Llywelyn | 185,235 (92,617.5) | 29.6 | N/A | |
Conservative | Jonathan Evans Chris Butler, Owen John Williams, Robert Buckland, Edmund Hayward | 142,631 | 22.8 | N/A | |
Liberal Democrats | Roger Roberts, Peter Price, Alistair Cameron, Juliana Hughes, John Dixon | 51,283 | 8.2 | N/A | |
UKIP | Dai Rees, Niall Warry, Idris Richard Francis, Alan Barham, David Lloyd | 19,702 | 3.1 | N/A | |
Green | Molly Scott Cato, Klaus Armstrong-Braun, Sue Walker, Rachel Kalela, John Matthews | 16,146 | 2.6 | N/A | |
Pro-Euro Conservative | William Powell, Jennifer Harris, Antonio Fernandes-Vidal, Alan Morris, Christopher Hodgkinson | 5,834 | 0.9 | N/A | |
Socialist Labour | Elizabeth Screen, Darren Hickery, Stephen Bell, Miriam Bowen, George Tafarides | 4,283 | 0.7 | N/A | |
Natural Law | David Hughes, Brian Francis, Helen Evans, Andrea Jarman, John Ashforth | 1,621 | 0.3 | N/A | |
Turnout | 626,425 | 29.0 | N/A |
Party | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % change | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 5 | 1 | 530,749 | 55.86 | 6.93 | |
Plaid Cymru | 0 | 162,478 | 17.10 | 4.21 | ||
Conservative | 0 | 138,349 | 14.56 | 8.89 | ||
Liberal Democrats | 0 | 82,480 | 8.68 | 5.46 | ||
Green | 0 | 19,413 | 2.04 | 9.11 | ||
Natural Law | 0 | – | 6,081 | 0.64 | – | |
UKIP | 0 | – | 5,536 | 0.58 | – | |
Independent | 0 | – | 2,729 | 0.29 | – | |
Socialist Alliance | 0 | – | 1,270 | 1.33 | – | |
Communist | 0 | – | 1,073 | 0.11 | – | |
Turnout: | 950,158 |
Party | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % change | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 4 | 1 | 436,730 | 48.93 | 4.40 | |
Conservative | 0 | 1 | 209,313 | 23.45 | 1.91 | |
Plaid Cymru | 0 | 115,062 | 12.89 | 0.69 | ||
Green | 0 | 99,546 | 11.15 | 10.64 | ||
SLD | 0 | 28,785 | 3.22 | 14.18 | ||
SDP | 0 | – | 3,153 | 0.35 | – | |
Turnout: | 892,589 |
Party | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % change | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 3 | 375,982 | 44.53 | 2.83 | ||
Conservative | 1 | 214,086 | 25.36 | 10.98 | ||
Alliance | 0 | 146,947 | 17.40 | 7.79 | ||
Plaid Cymru | 0 | 103,031 | 12.20 | 0.41 | ||
Ecology | 0 | – | 4,266 | 0.51 | – | |
Turnout: | 844,312 |
Party | Seats | Seats change | Votes | % | % change | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Labour | 3 | – | 294,978 | 41.70 | – | |
Conservative | 1 | – | 257,029 | 36.34 | – | |
Plaid Cymru | 0 | – | 83,399 | 11.79 | – | |
Liberal | 0 | – | 67,962 | 9.61 | – | |
Independent | 0 | – | 4,008 | 0.57 | – | |
Turnout: | 707,376 |
A member of the Senedd is a representative elected to the Senedd. There are sixty members, with forty members chosen to represent individual Senedd constituencies, and twenty to represent the five electoral regions of the Senedd in Wales.
The Senedd, officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and Senedd Cymru in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees to certain taxes, and scrutinises the Welsh Government. It is a bilingual institution, with both Welsh and English being the official languages of its business. From its creation in May 1999 until May 2020, the Senedd was officially known as the National Assembly for Wales and was often simply called the Welsh Assembly.
Laura Anne Jones is a Conservative politician who has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for the South Wales East electoral region since July 2020, having previously held the same seat as an Assembly Member (AM) in the National Assembly for Wales between 2003 and 2007. Jones also served as a county councillor for the Wyesham ward in Monmouthshire County Council from 2017 to 2022.
The Wales Green Party is a semi-autonomous political party within the Green Party of England and Wales (GPEW). It covers Wales, and is the only regional party with semi-autonomous status within the GPEW. The Wales Green Party puts up candidates for council, Senedd, and UK Parliament seats.
Politics in Wales forms a distinctive polity in the wider politics of the United Kingdom, with Wales as one of the four constituent countries of the United Kingdom (UK).
The Senedd constituencies and electoral regions are the electoral districts used to elect members of the Senedd to the Senedd, and have been used in some form since the first election of the then National Assembly for Wales in 1999. New boundaries were introduced for the 2007 elections and currently consist of forty constituencies and five regions. The five electoral regions are: Mid and West Wales, North Wales, South Wales Central, South Wales East, and South Wales West, with the forty constituencies listed below. Voting last took place in all districts in the 2021 Senedd election, and is not used for local government.
Cardiff West is a constituency of the Senedd. It elects one Member of the Senedd by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the South Wales Central electoral region, which elects four additional members, in addition to eight constituency members, to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole. The constituency has twice provided the First Minister of Wales, Rhodri Morgan from 2000-2009 and Mark Drakeford from 2018–2024.
Cardiff Central is a constituency of the Senedd. It elects one Member of the Senedd by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of eight constituencies in the South Wales Central electoral region, which elects four additional members, in addition to eight constituency members, to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
Aberavon is a constituency of the Senedd. It elects one Member of the Senedd by the first past the post method of election. Also, however, it is one of seven constituencies in the South Wales West electoral region, which elects four additional members, in addition to seven constituency members, to produce a degree of proportional representation for the region as a whole.
The Welsh Liberal Democrats is a liberal, federalist political party in Wales, part of UK Liberal Democrats. The party is led by Jane Dodds, who has served as an MS for Mid and West Wales since May 2021. The party currently has one elected member in the Senedd and one Welsh seat in the UK House of Commons. It also has several members of the House of Lords. The party had 69 local councillors serving in principal authorities as of the 2022 local authority elections, up 10 from 2017.
The 2011 National Assembly for Wales election was an election for the National Assembly. The poll was held on 5 May 2011 and decided the incumbency for all the Assembly's seats. It was the fourth election for seats in the National Assembly for Wales, and the second election taken under the rules of the Government of Wales Act 2006.
Politics of Cardiff refers to the political representation of the city of Cardiff, capital of Wales. Cardiff is represented politically at a local, Wales and United Kingdom level and previously at the European level.
There are five types of elections in the United Kingdom: elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elections to devolved parliaments and assemblies, local elections, mayoral elections, and police and crime commissioner elections. Within each of those categories, there may also be by-elections. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday, and under the provisions of the Dissolution and Calling of Parliament Act 2022 the timing of general elections can be held at the discretion of the prime minister during any five-year period. All other types of elections are held after fixed periods, though early elections to the devolved assemblies and parliaments can occur in certain situations. The five electoral systems used are: the single member plurality system (first-past-the-post), the multi-member plurality, the single transferable vote, the additional member system, and the supplementary vote.
The 2016 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 5 May 2016, to elect members (AMs) of the National Assembly for Wales, now known as the Senedd. It was the fifth election for the National Assembly, the third election taken under the rules of the Government of Wales Act 2006 and the first since the Wales Act 2014.
The Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party, or in Wales, simply Abolish, is a registered single issue political party in Wales. It campaigns for the abolition of the Senedd, formerly known as the "National Assembly for Wales", the devolved legislature of Wales. Abolish advocates that devolved powers be returned to the Secretary of State for Wales within the UK Central Government and the Parliament of the United Kingdom at Westminster.
Neil John McEvoy is a Welsh nationalist politician, serving as leader of Propel since 2020, and as a Cardiff Councillor for the Fairwater ward since 2008.
The 2021 Senedd election took place on Thursday 6 May 2021 to elect 60 members to the Senedd. It was the sixth devolved general election since the Senedd was established in 1999. The election was held alongside the Scottish Parliament election, English local elections, London Assembly and mayoral election and the Hartlepool by-election.
Gwlad is a centre-right Welsh nationalist and pro-independence political party. Its current leader is Gwyn Wigley Evans.
The next Senedd election is due to be held on or before 7 May 2026 to elect 96 members to the Senedd. It will be the seventh devolved general election since the Senedd was established in 1999. If held in 2026 it will also be the first election following current reforms to the voting system, which would increase the size of the Senedd from 60 members to 96, adopting a party-list voting system, reducing the number of constituencies to sixteen, and shortening its term from five years to four. It will also be the second election since the Senedd changed its name in May 2020.
The Senedd Cymru Act 2024 is an act of Senedd Cymru expanding and reforming the Senedd in Wales. Provisions of the act include creating sixteen larger constituencies, each electing six members of the Senedd (MSs) by proportional representation.