Labour reign again!
Four pages of election coverage:
LABOUR’S Sarah Murphy is the new Member of the Senedd for Bridgend.
Ms Murphy won 12,388 votes over Rachel NugentFinn (Conservative) who took 8,324 votes. It was an emphatic win in a seat that had been a key target for the Conservatives.
Ms Murphy will replace former First Minister Carwyn Jones, who stood down at this election.
Emotional and over the moon at winning, she said: “Having just come off the stage now, it’s surreal, I can’t quite put it into words.
“I can’t believe how many people turned out to vote. I’m going to be the best member of the Senedd for Bridgend that I can possibly be.”
Talking about her plans for Bridgend, the 34-yearold said: “I want to see the Bridgend town regeneration.
“I’m most excited about the young person’s guarantee. I’m 34 myself, when I graduated from university we had the financial crash, I had 10 years of low-paid work, living back and forth with my parents. So to have a young person’s guarantee is absolutely huge, I think it’s going to make us really stand out as a nation.”
The turnout rate for the Bridgend constituency was 45.03% with 29,653 votes from an electorate of 65,874.
Labour equalled its best-ever Senedd election result by winning 30 seats – just one short of an outright majority.
First Minister Mark Drakeford said after the results: “We’ve demonstrated in the past that you can govern successfully with 30 seats, but my approach will be to work with other parties where there are policy ideas that we have in common.
“No party has a monopoly of good ideas. I’m much more interested in working with others where we think that will be to the betterment of Wales than I am in the sort of political fixing of things.
“I’m looking forward to working with anybody who thinks that by doing things together we can do things better.”
Mr Drakeford said the contrast between Labour’s election performance in Wales and England was down to the record of Welsh Labour governments over their 22 years in power.
“The public know that if we say something in our manifesto, then they can have confidence that it will be delivered,” he said.
Asked why he thought the Welsh public had so must trust in his leadership, Mr Drakeford said:
“What I hope people see is I am what I am. I’ve never believed in politics that you should pretend to be something that you’re not.”
Mr Drakeford vowed to be “radical” and “ambitious” in government.
Asked if he planned to continue his cautious brand of politics during a new administration, Mr Drakeford said: “Well, absolutely as far as coronavirus is concerned. The pandemic has not gone away.
“A government I lead will continue to follow the science to do what our medical advisers tell us we should do, and that does mean doing things in a way that continues to keep Wales safe.
“But on other matters, our manifesto is a radical manifesto with a host of ideas that are ambitious for Wales.”
He said his government’s post-pandemic priorities would be rebuilding the NHS, investing in the futures of young people and putting Wales’ economy on an “ambitious” path that uses the country’s strengths the basis of its future direction.
The final results meant that the Welsh Conservatives have 16 seats, while Plaid Cymru has 13 and the Liberal Democrats have one.
Plaid Cymru now has 13 seats in the Welsh Parliament, though high-profile former leader Leanne
Wood lost her Rhondda seat to Labour.
Labour’s Huw IrrancaDavies has been reelected as Member of the Senedd for Ogmore.
Mr Irranca-Davies, who was previously the MP for the seat covering the Bridgend valleys, won 12,868 votes, with a 52.54% share.
Plaid Cymru won 4,703 votes in second place, and the Conservatives won 4,579 votes.
Speaking after the result was announced, Mr Irranca-Davies said: “Delighted to be re-elected here within Ogmore after a long campaign.
“Now the job really starts, the work starts, it’s bringing that investment to Ogmore, creating those jobs, getting through the pandemic, where we are creating good livelihoods for people going forward. A lot of work to do and it starts tomorrow.”
All parties but the Greens lost votes compared to the election five years earlier.
The turnout rate was 41.95% (24,691) votes with an electorate of 58,509.
Before the election, Mr Irranca-Davies said: “For nearly 20 years I have championed the interests of the people of Ogmore: first as the Member of Parliament, and since 2016 as the Member of the Senedd, our Welsh Parliament.
“During this time up I have taken up thousands of individual cases for residents and fought for the things which really matter to them.
“I am 58, my wife Joanna works for the NHS, and we have brought our three children up here in these great communities. I am proud and honoured to have represented the people of Ogmore.
“We need a strong Welsh Labour government to steer us through this pandemic, and to rebuild a stronger, fairer Wales for this and future generations.
“Our top priorities should include creating high-quality jobs closer to home, investment in skills and retraining for all ages, good public transport, building new homes and making our older homes energy efficient, regenerating our towns and high streets, and protecting our NHS and public services. And we must tackle the climate change crisis in all we do.
“I will continue to champion the needs of local residents, taking up their causes, and making sure their voice is heard and answered in government and beyond.
Together we will create stronger, safer, and better communities which we are proud to live and work in, and proud to call our home.”
Jane Hutt was re-elected again in the Vale of Glamorgan constituency.
She said: “I’m absolutely thrilled that I’ve had the support. I really didn’t know what the outcome would be.”
The Labour MS added that she was proud to be able to serve her constituency of the Vale of Glamorgan for another term.
“I’m very devoted to the Vale of Glamorgan, living here, working here for 22 years, serving the Vale.”
The MS increased her majority and paid respect to the people of the Vale of Glamorgan after what she said was a long, exhilarating day.
“Getting stuck in and reaching out to those who need me,” was on the cards for her after this reelection.
“It’s a great vote of confidence and I respect that, it’s a great honour. Thanks so much to the people of the Vale of Glamorgan.”
She added that she did wonder if she wasn’t reelected what she would do: “I live in a lovely place in Barry, but there’s so much more we have to do.”
When asked if it was an approval of Mark Drakeford’s handling of the coronavirus crisis in the past year, the MS added: “Mark has made a huge impact, he’s been here many times and people came out of their house to thank him.
“His two key words have been trust and ambition.
“Trust in the way we’ve handled the pandemic, and I’ve been proud to be part of his government.
“But now we must move Wales forward to a sustainable recovery.”