Who won the regional vote?
Parties keep hold of constituencies
ELUNED Morgan and Joyce Watson are both returning to the Senedd as Labour regional members for Mid and West Wales. This time they are joined by Cefin Campbell, from Plaid Cymru, and Lib Dem Jane Dodds, who kept the party’s only seat. The region covers the constituencies of Brecon & Radnorshire, Carmarthen East & Dinefwr, Carmarthen West & Pembrokeshire South, Ceredigion, Dwyfor Meirionnydd, Llanelli, Montgomeryshire and Preseli Pembrokeshire.
Across Mid and West Wales the total number of votes for each party was:
■ Plaid Cymru 65,450 (27.47%, +1.18%)
■ Conservative 63,827 (26.79%, +6.19%)
■ Labour 61,733 (25.91%, +6.46%)
■ Liberal Democrats 16,181 (6.79%, -4.12%)
■ Green 10,545 (4.43%, +0.62%)
■ Abolish 8,073 (3.39%, -1.57%)
■ UKIP 3,731 (1.57%, -10.04%)
■ Reform 2,582 (1.08%)
■ Propel 1,428 (0.60%)
■ CPW 1,366 (0.57%)
■ Gwlad 1,303 (0.55%)
■ FA 1,181 (0.50%)
■ Comm Brit 589 (0.25%)
■ TUSC 257 (0.11%)
The turnout was 52.83%, up 2.09% from 2016.
Out of a total population of 450,927, voter turnout was 238,246.
Eluned Morgan is minister in the Welsh Government responsible for mental health, wellbeing and the Welsh language. She was the Labour frontbench spokesperson in the House of Lords on foreign affairs and Wales.
Before that she worked as the director of low carbon energy for SSE in Wales developing renewable energy and prior to that served as a Member of the European Parliament for 15 years.
She is 54 and married with two children.
Joyce Watson is a 66-year-old grandmother and Labour Senedd Member for Mid and West Wales since 2007. She lives in Haverfordwest and grew up in Tywyn, Manorbier, Cosheston and Cardigan, one of eight children. Before getting involved in politics she ran several small businesses – pubs, restaurants and retail – in West Wales.
Cefin Campbell is a Plaid Carmarthenshire county councillor since 2012 who lives with his family in the Towy Valley. He runs his own business which has advised some of Wales’s foremost public bodies including the Welsh Government, numerous local authorities, universities, health boards and S4C.
Jane Dodds, 57, was the short-lived MP for Brecon and Radnorshire and has returned to elected office and kept Lib Dem representation in the Senedd alive. Ms Dodds won the Brecon seat in August 2019 in a by-election, only to lose it four months later.
She has stood for the party a number of times across the UK and has also worked as a social worker.
THERE was little change in the political landscape in West Wales as all four main constituency seats were held in Thursday’s Senedd elections.
Despite a disappointing night overall for Plaid Cymru, party leader Adam Price held on to his Carmarthen East and Dinefwr seat, while Elin Jones increased her share of the vote in Ceredigion on a bad night for the Liberal Democrats.
There is one new face representing the region in the Senedd as Conservative Sam Kurtz won the Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire seat, keeping the seat for the Tories after Angela Burns stood down.
And in the Llanelli seat, Labour’s Lee Waters recorded an impressive victory over Plaid’s Helen Mary Jones. In what was due to be a tight tussle, Mr Waters won by more than 5,000 votes.
The regional vote saw Labour’s Eluned Morgan and Joyce Watson return alongside Plaid’s Cefin Campbell and Lib Dem Jane Dodds.
THE Conservatives have kept the Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire seat with Sam Kurtz winning the vote.
Seven candidates fought it out for long-serving Welsh Conservative Angela Burns’s seat after she announced she would be standing down.
Mr Kurtz received 11,240 votes, around 900 more than Labour’s Riaz Hassan, who had 10,304.
Mr Kurtz, who at 29 will be one of the younger MS’S in Cardiff Bay, thanked the people for “putting their trust in me to serve them well for the next five years.”
He added it was a “privilege” to take over from Mrs Burns, who was “such a dedicated member of the Senedd.”
The newly elected MS will keep his Pembrokeshire Council seat until the next election and plans to use his council salary for charity and community work.
Following the counting of the Senedd votes on May 7, which saw Mr Kurtz win 11, 240 votes, he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that it had been confirmed by council chief executive Richard Brown that he could stay on the council, but would not be eligible to stand for re-election as a sitting MS.
He added he would like to do as Welsh Conservative leader Andrew RT Davies does, whose “council salary goes towards grant funding” for local charity and community work.
Of the Senedd result, he said he was “overwhelmed, honoured and there’s a realisation that the hard work begins now.”
He thanked the people of the constituency for “putting their trust in me” as he also paid tribute to the hard work and dedication of Mrs Burns.
“If I can do the job half as good as her, I would be pleased with what I can do,” he said.
Plaid Cymru’s Cefin Campbell was in third place with 6,615 votes, then Liberal Democrat Alistair Cameron with 1,224, UKIP’S Paul Dowson with 982, Independent Jon Harvey with 866 and Peter Prosser of Reform UK got 424 votes.
The turnout was 52.12%, with 31,827 ballot papers verified for counting.
That’s an extra 2,590 ballot papers than were cast in the last election in 2016 when the turnout was 51.4%.
Full result:
Con hold
■ Samuel Kurtz (C) 11,240 (35.51%, +0.09%)
■ Riaz Hassan (Lab) 10,304 (32.55%, +8.67%)
■ Cefin Campbell (PC) 6,615 (20.90%, +2.23%)
■ Alistair Cameron (LD) 1,224 (3.87%, +1.48%)
■ Paul Dowson (UKIP) 982 (3.10%, -8.18%)
■ Jon Harvey (Ind) (2.74%)
■ Peter Prosser
424 (1.34%)
■ C maj 936 (2.96%)
■ 4.29% swing C to Lab
■ Electorate 60,942
■ Turnout 31,655 (51.94%, +0.55%)
■ 2016: C maj 3,373 (11.54%) – Burns (C) 10,355 (35.42%); Tierney (Lab) 6,982 (23.88%); Thomas (PC) 5,459 (18.67%); Brookes (UKIP) 3,300 (11.29%); Overton (Ind) 1,638 (5.60%); Bradley (Green) 804 (2.75%); Cameron (LD) 699 (2.39%) 866 (Reform)