#mikehedgesms — Public Fediverse posts
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‘Respect the democratic vote’: Rob Stewart backs Mike Hedges after anonymous Welsh Labour call for him to quit Senedd seat
Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart has publicly thrown his weight behind Mike Hedges – declaring his “full support” for the city’s only Welsh Labour MS and insisting voters’ democratic verdict at the ballot box must be respected.
The intervention comes less than 24 hours after Swansea Bay News reported that a senior Welsh Labour figure had urged Hedges to resign mid-term to make way for Stewart – meaning the Council leader could enter the Senedd without facing the electorate again.
Stewart – who was Welsh Labour’s second-placed candidate on the Gwyr Abertawe list and was not elected last week – publicly rejected that route in a statement posted to his Facebook account on Sunday afternoon.
“Let me be clear,” Stewart said. “As a democratic nation we should all respect the democratic vote and decision of the public.”
The Council leader said Hedges had been rightly elected at the top of the Welsh Labour list and had his backing.
“Each party ranks its candidates in the new list system and Mike was top of our list and was rightly elected,” Stewart said. “He has my full support.”
Stewart also pointedly underlined how the new D’Hondt voting system works – and the fact that any seat replacement would happen without a public vote.
“Under the new system any candidate stepping down is replaced by someone from the same party – the next on their list,” he said. “There are no by-elections in this system.”
The Council leader explained the reasoning behind that mechanic, saying voters had been asked to back a party rather than an individual.
“This is because it’s a PR system,” he said. “And in that system the voters are asked to vote for a party – not a person.”
The statement marks the most significant public intervention so far from any Welsh Labour figure in Swansea on the question of mid-term resignations – and effectively shuts down the suggestion that Stewart would accept a back-door route into the Senedd.
It comes after Swansea Bay News reported on Saturday that a senior Welsh Labour figure – speaking anonymously to Welsh political journalist Will Hayward – had urged Hedges and fellow long-serving Welsh Labour MS Lynne Neagle to resign mid-term to allow second-placed candidates on Welsh Labour’s lists to take their seats.
The same source had branded Welsh Labour “functionally broken” and called for a total overhaul of the party – accusing it of a decade-long failure to confront its own decline.
Stewart’s statement neither names the anonymous source nor responds directly to the wider criticisms levelled at the party – instead focusing on the specific question of Hedges’ position and the legitimacy of the democratic process.
The Council leader’s full backing of Hedges is significant. As the second-placed candidate on the Welsh Labour list, Stewart would be the direct beneficiary of any Hedges resignation – and his public rejection of that route effectively rules out one of the scenarios floated by the anonymous Welsh Labour source.
Hedges himself has not commented publicly on the anonymous call for him to step down.
The Welsh Labour party has not formally responded to either intervention.
Welsh Labour was reduced to just nine seats at last week’s Senedd election, down from 30 in the previous Senedd, with the party wiped out entirely in six constituencies. Mike Hedges is the only Welsh Labour Member of the Senedd for Swansea.
Plaid Cymru emerged as the largest party with 43 seats, with Reform UK securing a historic 34 seats. Plaid leader Rhun ap Iorwerth is expected to lead a minority government as Wales’ next First Minister.
Stewart – who has been Council leader since 2017 – will remain in his role at Swansea Council, where Welsh Labour holds an overall majority and is expected to face the city’s voters at the council elections next year.
Our Senedd Election 2026 coverage
Mike Hedges should quit Senedd seat for Rob Stewart, senior Welsh Labour figure says
The anonymous intervention that branded Welsh Labour ‘functionally broken’ and called for two MSs to make way for new talent.Mike Hedges warns Wales could face another election next year
The newly re-elected Swansea Labour MS on the prospect of an early Senedd election if Plaid’s first budget falls.Gwyr Abertawe: Plaid top the poll as Reform UK and Labour also take seats
How Swansea voted – and how Mike Hedges held on as the city’s only Welsh Labour MS.Rhun ap Iorwerth to lead Plaid minority government
What happens next as Plaid prepares to take power.Ken Skates appointed interim Welsh Labour leader
#CllrRobStewart #GŵyrAbertawe #MikeHedges #MikeHedgesMS #RobStewart #SeneddElection2026 #WelshLabour
Welsh Labour picks up the pieces after being reduced to nine seats. -
SWANSEA: Mike Hedges should quit Senedd seat for Rob Stewart, senior Welsh Labour figure says in scathing attack on ‘functionally broken’ party
Newly re-elected Swansea Member of the Senedd Mike Hedges should resign mid-term to make way for new talent – and his replacement could be Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart, walking into the Senedd without facing voters again.
That is the explosive demand from a senior Welsh Labour figure who has launched a scathing attack on the party’s record – declaring Welsh Labour “functionally broken” and accusing it of a decade-long failure to confront its own decline.
The intervention – first reported by Welsh political journalist Will Hayward – comes less than 48 hours after Hedges held on as the only Welsh Labour MS for Swansea following the party’s catastrophic election defeat.
The senior Welsh Labour source, who is not named, said it was “perhaps too much to hope” that Hedges and fellow long-serving Welsh Labour MS Lynne Neagle would realise they should resign mid-term to let “talented, second-place candidates” take their seats.
That second-place candidate in Swansea is Rob Stewart – meaning the leader of Swansea Council could enter Wales’ parliament without facing the electorate again, if Hedges were to step aside.
Under the new D’Hondt voting system used at this week’s election, when a sitting MS resigns mid-term their seat passes to the next eligible candidate on their party’s list – rather than triggering a by-election.
Stewart was not elected at this week’s election. Plaid Cymru topped the poll in Gwyr Abertawe with three seats, Reform UK took two, and Hedges held on as Welsh Labour’s number one candidate. Stewart, sitting in second place on the list, missed out as Welsh Labour’s vote collapsed across the city.
The senior figure’s broader assessment of the party was devastating.
Welsh Labour, the source said, “requires a total overhaul; it is functionally broken and will not be fixed overnight.”
The defeat had been “a decade in the making” – they argued – claiming Welsh Labour had repeatedly avoided an honest reckoning with its record in government and instead chosen “to paper over the cracks.”
The source took aim at Welsh Labour’s recent campaign messaging, dismissing slogans such as “partnership in power” and “two governments working together” as vapid – and arguing the party had abandoned its mantle as the party that would stand up for Wales.
Blame for the result, they said, lay across the party – with MSs who failed to step up in the Senedd, with MPs who spent years chasing Reform UK voters and with party factions and unions who had “treated leadership contests as personality contests” or “extensions of Westminster paranoia.”
The source argued that rushing into a permanent leadership contest would be a mistake – calling instead for potential candidates to be required to listen to voters first and present a concrete plan for the future.
The intervention also called for Welsh Labour to scrap the deputy leader role entirely, or fundamentally redefine it.
And in a striking line, the source warned others not to scapegoat party staff for the defeat. “Watch out for those who pin defeat mostly on the staff,” they said – “and then ask what their voter contact rate was.”
The intervention is the latest sign of significant internal turmoil within Welsh Labour following the historic election result, in which the party was reduced from 30 seats in the previous Senedd to just nine.
It comes only hours after Welsh Labour’s new interim leader Ken Skates – elected unanimously by the new Welsh Labour group on Saturday morning – acknowledged the scale of the defeat and admitted the party “got it wrong.”
Welsh Labour has not formally responded to the comments. Mike Hedges has not commented publicly on the suggestion that he should resign mid-term, and Rob Stewart has not commented on whether he would take a Senedd seat through such a route.
The new 96-seat Senedd will sit for the first time in the coming weeks, with Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth set to lead a minority government following his party’s election as the largest in the chamber with 43 seats.
Reform UK secured a historic 34 seats and Welsh Labour just nine, with the Welsh Conservatives on seven, the Wales Green Party on two and the Welsh Liberal Democrats on one.
Swansea Bay News will continue to cover developments as the new Welsh Labour leadership contest takes shape and the new Welsh Government is formed.
Our Senedd Election 2026 coverage
Mike Hedges warns Wales could face another election next year
The newly re-elected Swansea Labour MS on the prospect of an early Senedd election if Plaid’s first budget falls.Gwyr Abertawe: Plaid top the poll as Reform UK and Labour also take seats
How Swansea voted – and how Mike Hedges held on as the city’s only Welsh Labour MS.Rhun ap Iorwerth to lead Plaid minority government after historic victory ends 27 years of Labour rule
What happens next as Plaid prepares to take power.Ken Skates appointed interim Welsh Labour leader after historic Senedd defeat
Welsh Labour picks up the pieces after being reduced to nine seats.First Minister Eluned Morgan loses seat and resigns as Welsh Labour leader
#CllrRobStewart #featured #MikeHedges #MikeHedgesMS #RobStewart #SeneddElection2026 #WelshLabour
The historic moment Wales’ First Minister became the first leader of any UK government to lose her seat while in office. -
GWYR ABERTAWE: Plaid Cymru top the poll as Reform UK and Labour also take seats — Mike Hedges holds for Welsh Labour
Plaid Cymru has topped the poll in Gwyr Abertawe – taking three of the constituency’s six Senedd seats in a result that confirms the political shift now sweeping across south Wales.
Reform UK took two seats and Welsh Labour took the remaining seat – with veteran Swansea politician Mike Hedges holding on as the city’s only Labour Member of the Senedd.
The result was declared this evening at the Gwyr Abertawe count by Returning Officer Martin Nicholls.
Plaid Cymru topped the poll with 25,076 votes, ahead of Reform UK on 21,641. Welsh Labour received 11,195 votes – a fraction of its previous performance in Swansea.
The Welsh Conservatives received 7,523 votes, the Wales Green Party 6,383 and the Welsh Liberal Democrats 6,262. None won a seat in the constituency.
The six new Members of the Senedd for Gwyr Abertawe are:
- Gwyn Williams (Plaid Cymru)
- Francesca O’Brien (Reform UK)
- Safa Elhassan (Plaid Cymru)
- Mike Hedges (Welsh Labour)
- Steven Rodaway (Reform UK)
- John Davies (Plaid Cymru)
Mike Hedges’ re-election ensures Welsh Labour retains a presence in Swansea – but represents a significant reduction for a party that has long counted the city among its strongholds.
Hedges was Labour’s first-placed candidate in Gwyr Abertawe. Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart, who was Labour’s second-placed candidate, was not elected.
The result also marks the election of Reform UK’s first ever Members of the Senedd for Swansea – with Francesca O’Brien and Steven Rodaway both elected.
O’Brien had earlier today predicted on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast that Welsh Labour would collapse, describing the election as a referendum on First Minister Eluned Morgan and Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer.
Plaid Cymru’s three new MS – Gwyn Williams, Safa Elhassan and John Davies – represent a significant breakthrough for the party in a constituency where it has not historically been the dominant force.
The constituency recorded a turnout of 50.9% – just below the national average of 51.65%, which itself was a record for a Senedd election.
The Gwyr Abertawe electorate stands at 155,120, with 78,924 ballot papers issued. A total of 187 ballot papers were rejected and not counted.
In response to the result, Council leader Rob Stewart praised Hedges and said he was looking forward to him continuing to work for Swansea at Cardiff Bay.
“I want to thank everyone who voted for our Labour team in Gwyr Abertawe today,” Stewart said. “I am looking forward to Mike Hedges returning to the Senedd and continuing to work extremely hard for Swansea, as he has done since 2011.”
Eluned photographed with the Senedd candidates, credit: Jennifer Ann Photography L-R Rebecca Fogarty, Mike Hedges, Eluned Morgan, Rebecca Francis- Davies, Rob Stewart, Patience BentuStewart acknowledged the difficulty of the result. “Obviously, this is not the result we worked for,” he said. “Nationally, it has been a really difficult night for Welsh Labour and UK Labour.”
He paid tribute to Welsh Labour’s record in government. “I’m proud of what the Labour Welsh Governments have delivered for Wales over many years,” he said.
Stewart said the threat of Reform UK had been a major factor on the doorstep. “Clearly the threat of Reform has been at the forefront of many voters’ minds, and we heard on the door that when people could not give us their vote this time, they didn’t want to go to Reform and have clearly opted for Plaid Cymru,” he said.
He added that he had not detected significant enthusiasm for Plaid’s vision. “While I understand the voters’ logic, I haven’t detected any great love for Plaid’s vision for Wales,” Stewart said. “However, they appear to have done well, and we will respect that.”
Stewart said Welsh Labour had to listen carefully to voters. “We must also be prepared to reflect carefully and listen with humility to the people,” he said. “There must be no dodging, no deflection, just determination to put things right and redouble our efforts to deliver at all levels on the things we promised.”
The Council leader said his focus would now be on local delivery. “Here in Swansea, my work continues and will increase in pace,” he said. “The work Swansea Labour has been doing resonated with voters on the door, and clearly we will be standing on our record of delivery at next year’s elections.”
He pointed to investment in the city as the foundation for that record. “We’ll stand on the billion-pound investment in Swansea, the new homes, new schools, better jobs and opportunities, and our drive to keep building a better Swansea together,” he said.
Stewart said he would continue as Council leader. “As Leader of this great city, I will keep doing all I can to improve people’s lives and lead the delivery of that better Swansea,” he said.
He thanked party members and supporters. “My sincere and heartfelt thanks go to the volunteers, activists, members and supporters who gave everything to this campaign,” he said.
And he paid tribute to Eluned Morgan, who lost her own seat in Ceredigion Penfro this afternoon and resigned as Welsh Labour leader. “Special thanks also go to Eluned Morgan, who has led Welsh Labour with distinction, empathy and heart through a genuinely difficult time,” Stewart said.
Stewart also paid tribute to Rebecca Evans and Julie James, who stepped down at this election after long service in the Senedd. “I also want to wish Rebecca Evans and Julie James well in whatever they do next,” he said. “They have stepped down from the Senedd after long and distinguished service to Gower and Swansea West.”
The Gwyr Abertawe result follows a similar pattern to other south Wales constituencies declared earlier today – with Welsh Labour reduced to a single seat or wiped out entirely in the face of a Plaid Cymru and Reform UK surge.
Across Wales, polling expert Sir John Curtice has projected Plaid Cymru will win between 41 and 46 seats – short of the 49 needed for an overall majority – with Reform UK on 32 to 34.
That makes coalition negotiations almost certain to follow once all 16 constituencies have declared.
Two constituencies remain to declare this evening – Gwynedd Maldwyn and Fflint Wrecsam.
Our Senedd Election 2026 coverage
First Minister Eluned Morgan loses seat and resigns as Welsh Labour leader
The historic moment Wales’ First Minister became the first leader of any UK government to lose her seat while in office.Sir Gaerfyrddin: Reform UK and Plaid Cymru take three seats each as Welsh Labour wiped out
Adam Price returns to the Senedd as Reform UK secures its first ever west Wales breakthrough.Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd: Reform UK tops the poll as Jane Dodds holds on for the Welsh Lib Dems
Reform UK takes three seats in the upper Swansea Valley, Powys and Neath – with Welsh Labour wiped out entirely.Welsh Labour bracing for historic loss as counting begins
Our overnight roundup of the political mood as counting got under way across Wales.What does a Welsh defeat mean for Keir Starmer?
#CllrRobStewart #FrancescaOBrien #GwynWilliams #JohnDavies #MikeHedgesMS #PlaidCymru #ReformUK #SafaElhassan #SeneddElection2026 #StevenRodaway #WelshLabour
Senior Welsh Labour figures have called for the prime minister to consider his position if the result is as bad as predicted.