Welsh Labour appears to have protected bulk of its ‘red wall’ seats

Welsh Labour looks to have exceeded expectations as counting for the Welsh Parliament election went on.

Only one of Wales’ so-called red wall seats, the Vale of Clwyd, fell to the Welsh Conservatives, while Labour sources are also confident of unseating former Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood in Rhondda.

Changes to ensure social distancing at venues meant counting for all constituencies was unlikely to finish last night.

Some regional counts also look set to be pushed back to today.

At the start of the election campaign, polling suggested Labour was facing its worst-ever result and was at risk of winning as few as 22 of the Senedd’s 60 seats, a loss of seven from 2016.

After voting polls closed at 10pm on Thursday, party sources said retaining all of its seats in the Senedd remained “a massive challenge”.

But yesterday evening, confirmed results as well as indications from parties contesting seats across the country means Mark Drakeford’s party is confident of ending up just short of an outright majority once again.

The first minister said Labour’s performance reflected the “real enthusiasm” he had encountered on doorsteps.

“I started this campaign answering questions as to why this was going to be Labour’s worst-ever result, a poll prediction of 22 seats,” he said.

“The campaign never felt like that to me.

“We’ve had a fantastic and energetic campaign with hundreds of people involved and real enthusiasm on the doorstep, so that never seemed to me to genuinely reflect the mood here in Wales.”

Mr Drakeford said it was “too early to say” whether results meant Labour could win an outright majority.

Wales’ health minister Vaughan Gething said Labour had fought hard to win back the trust of voters in North Wales.

Wrexham, Clwyd South and Delyn, were all held despite being targeted by the Tories after they flipped them from Labour in the 2019 general election.

“We’ve absolutely had to re-earn the trust of the people of Wales in every part of Wales. We’ve taken nothing for granted, we’ve absolutely not been complacent,” Mr Gething said.

“The Tories put a lot of heavy artillery into North Wales. The prime minister visited several times, the chancellor was there, Andrew RT Davies was there on regular occasions, and they launched their manifesto in Wrexham.”

Mr Gething said indications of a stronger Labour result than was predicted could help the UK party following its Westminster by-election defeat in Hartlepool.

Welsh Tory leader in the Senedd Andrew RT Davies said his party’s taking of Vale of Clwyd from Labour was a “brilliant result”, but suggested traditional Labour voters who voted Tory in the 2019 general election had now “come home”.

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford and his wife.