#plaidcymru — Public Fediverse posts

WELSH LABOUR: Ken Skates confirmed as leader — the morning after his nine MSs sank Plaid’s budget

Ken Skates has been confirmed as the permanent leader of Welsh Labour — hours after the party helped inflict the heaviest defeat yet on the Plaid Cymru government it now leads the opposition to.

Welsh Labour says all nine members of its Senedd group nominated Skates when nominations opened last Thursday, confirming his appointment without a wider contest.

Among the nine is Mike Hedges, the Gŵyr Abertawe MS and the region’s longest-serving Labour member in the Senedd.

His deputy is a Swansea MP. Carolyn Harris, the member for Swansea East, is deputy leader of Welsh Labour, and said Skates had her full backing.

“He has my full backing as he undertakes the big task ahead of him — listening, learning, rebuilding and doing that crucial job of holding Plaid Cymru, and Reform UK, to account in the Senedd,” she said.

A leader confirmed in a week of open warfare

The confirmation lands in the middle of the sharpest fight of the new Senedd term. The Plaid government’s £294m budget was voted down 49–44 on Tuesday night, with Labour among the parties that rejected it — and the government’s finance minister accusing Labour of destructive opposition.

The wreckage he inherits

Skates became interim leader in May, after Eluned Morgan lost her seat at the election and stood down as leader.

That election ended 27 years of Labour rule in Wales, with Rhun ap Iorwerth confirmed as the first Plaid Cymru First Minister — and Labour reduced to nine seats in the enlarged 96-member Senedd, having held 30 of 60 in the old chamber.

Lee Waters, the former Llanelli MS, said after the result that the party faces an “existential crisis” — conceding the 20mph policy he masterminded had come at a political price.

Two coronations in one year

The pattern is now familiar at both ends of the M4. At Westminster, Andy Burnham succeeded Keir Starmer as UK Labour leader without a contest — the man now tipped to be Britain’s next prime minister — and Skates’ confirmation makes it two Labour leaders installed unopposed this year.

Harris was on the losing side of the first. In May she publicly backed Starmer to stay, while Gower’s Tonia Antoniazzi joined the calls for him to go.

Four leaders in under three years

Skates is Welsh Labour’s fourth leader in under three years. Mark Drakeford’s departure triggered the last contested leadership election — and it turned on a Neath politician.

Jeremy Miles, then the Neath MS, narrowly lost that contest to Vaughan Gething in March 2024. Gething stood down within months, and Eluned Morgan took over that summer without a contest.

Morgan’s resignation after May’s election defeat brought Skates in as interim leader. His confirmation this week means three of the four leaders since Drakeford have been installed unopposed — the Miles-Gething race remains the only time the members have had a say.

Miles did not seek re-election to the Senedd in May.

The Skates record — and the Llanelli connection

Skates was first elected in 2011 and held several Welsh Government roles, including Transport Secretary and Economy and Infrastructure Secretary. He was re-elected in May for the new Fflint Wrecsam constituency.

His return to transport in 2024 came at the expense of a local figure. Skates took the brief over from Waters, then the Llanelli MS, whose time in the role produced two of the most contested policies of recent years — the default 20mph limit and the ban on most new road building.

Skates moved to soften both: announcing a route back to 30mph for some roads, and easing the government’s stance on new road schemes.

“I joined the party as a 14-year-old, and my belief still stands that no child’s future should be determined by their background,” he said of his appointment.

“The Labour movement for me is a movement for fairness, justice, security and liberty. It is a movement that seeks to empower people and communities, to fight against injustice, intolerance, nepotism and cruelty.”

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

BUDGET DEFEAT: Plaid government’s £294m spending plan voted down 49–44
Labour among the parties that rejected the new government’s first budget on Tuesday night.

SENEDD: Rhun ap Iorwerth confirmed as First Minister as Plaid Cymru makes history
The May vote that ended 27 years of Labour rule in Wales.

LEE WATERS: Architect of Wales’ 20mph law admits it ‘came at a price’
The former Llanelli MS’s warning that Labour faces an existential crisis.

ELECTED MAYOR: As Burnham promises to ‘rewire Britain’, could Swansea Bay ever get a powerful regional mayor?
What the new UK Labour leader’s devolution push could mean for this corner of Wales.

SWANSEA: Gower MP calls on Keir Starmer to step aside — as Swansea East’s Carolyn Harris backs him to stay
How Swansea’s two Labour MPs split over Starmer’s future in May.

BUDGET DEFEAT: Plaid government’s £294m spending plan voted down 49–44 — as schools funding row claims its first casualty

Wales’s new Plaid Cymru government has been defeated on its first budget, with the Senedd voting down its spending plans by 49 votes to 44 this evening.

Welsh Labour, Reform UK and the Conservatives combined against the supplementary budget — which the government says contained £294m of extra funding to cut NHS waiting times, expand childcare and extend free school meals.

The defeat caps a day of extraordinary pressure on the government, with Welsh Labour demanding the budget be withdrawn and the two school leaders’ unions declaring a formal trade dispute over pay and funding for children with additional learning needs.

At the heart of it is the row over that funding, known as ALN — and a pot of £247m in day-to-day spending that the budget left unallocated.

Labour wanted £100m of that unallocated money spent on ALN between now and next April. On Monday night, First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth wrote to the party with what he described as a final proposal: an extra £40m this year and in each of the next two.

Labour rejected it, and its finance spokesman Huw Thomas told the Senedd the government should have pulled the budget and negotiated with the unions.

In a bad-tempered debate, Thomas warned that any suggestion ALN money would be withheld until a later date was “pernicious,” “vindictive” — and would “lead to widespread industrial action.”

Cabinet Minister for Finance Elin Jones defended the plan, saying it “delivered £294m of extra funding to reduce NHS waiting times, expand childcare, and extend free school meals.”

“It contained no reductions to existing services,” she said. “It was about putting additional funding to work where it could make the greatest difference to the people of Wales.”

But she did not hide her anger at Labour, telling BBC Wales she was “flabbergasted” by the party’s “change of heart” — and accusing it of behaving as a “destructive opposition” with “a lot to learn in making deals.”

Welsh Labour’s interim leader Ken Skates called the result “deeply regrettable” — but insisted the funding offered for additional learning needs “simply wasn’t enough.”

“This isn’t the outcome we wanted,” he said, adding there was “still time to negotiate and bring back new proposals” — and that Labour welcomed much of the budget’s funding, “particularly for reducing NHS waiting lists,” and wanted to see it delivered.

Reform UK voted against throughout, saying none of its demands had been met — including a guaranteed job for newly qualified nurses and paramedics, ALN funding going directly to councils, and an end to overseas spending.

The party’s Senedd leader Dan Thomas said: “Rhun ap Iorwerth’s government has now lost the confidence of this Senedd on his own budget. It’s time he listened to the people of Wales rather than lecturing them.”

Conservative group leader Darren Millar said it was “bonkers” for the government to bring the budget to a vote without a deal in place: “The arithmetic in this Senedd means that Welsh government budgets, and Welsh government legislation, cannot be agreed without cross-party agreement.”

His party’s shadow finance minister, Sam Rowlands, said the budget had “the wrong priorities, offering the same tired approach we saw under Labour despite Plaid’s promises of change.”

Wales’s trade unions urged both sides back to the table. Laura Doel, general secretary of TUC Cymru, said: “The chronic underfunding of additional learning needs provision must be addressed in any future supplementary budget. Wales’ teachers and students deserve nothing less.”

The defeat — in the final week before the Senedd’s summer recess — does not bring the government down, and day-to-day spending continues while a new supplementary budget is drawn up.

Jones signalled the government will try again within months: “We remain committed to delivering these priorities and we will continue to engage constructively with other Senedd parties as we develop our spending plans in the Autumn.”

But for a minority administration less than 100 days old — elected in May after ending 27 years of Labour dominance — losing the vote on its own budget is by far its biggest setback yet, and the dispute with the teaching unions, now heading for the conciliation service ACAS, rolls on regardless.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

SWANSEA SCHOOLS: ‘Owed £11m’ for children with additional needs, says council leader
The build-up to tonight’s knife-edge vote.

TEACHERS’ PAY: Welsh Government to consult on 3.5% rise
The pay decision that triggered the unions’ trade dispute.

HEOL GOFFA ROW: Plaid accuses Labour of causing ‘unnecessary distress’
The parties’ earlier clash over ALN funding.

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SWANSEA SCHOOLS: ‘Owed £11m’ for children with additional needs, says council leader — as Plaid’s budget faces knife-edge vote tonight

Swansea’s schools are owed at least £11m this year to support children with additional learning needs, the city’s council leader has claimed — money he says Wales’s new government is holding back.

Rob Stewart, the Labour leader of Swansea Council, made the claim as a national row over school funding came to a head in the Senedd — with a knife-edge budget vote expected at around 7pm tonight, after a debate beginning at 6pm.

Writing on social media, Stewart said the Plaid Cymru government had been given £330m as a result of extra special educational needs spending in England — but was offering just £40m to Welsh schools this year.

That, he said, was “£290m less than they should have”, and he called on the government to “pass on the money they have been given to the schools and pupils who need it.”

The £11m is Stewart’s own calculation of the city’s share rather than a confirmed allocation — and it lands as Labour politicians at every level train their fire on the government’s handling of the fund.

The dispute centres on what is known as additional learning needs, or ALN — the support schools give to children with a range of extra needs, where demand has been rising faster than budgets — and it has become the flashpoint in the biggest test yet for a government less than 100 days old.

Nationally, the row has escalated on two fronts at once: the teaching unions and the Labour opposition are both piling pressure on the government in the same week.

The two unions representing Wales’s school leaders — NAHT Cymru and ASCL Cymru — have jointly declared a formal trade dispute with the government over pay and ALN funding, and requested talks through the conciliation service ACAS.

Their dispute follows the government’s decision to consult on a 3.5% pay rise for teachers, rejecting the 4.25% figure recommended by the Independent Welsh Pay Review Body.

Paul Whiteman, general secretary of NAHT, said ignoring the independent pay body “undermines the whole process”, and that the decision would “feel like a slap in the face” for teachers whose pay had fallen in value since 2010.

Pepe Di’Iasio, general secretary of ASCL, said schools were “on their knees” trying to support children with additional needs without adequate funding, and that the unions had registered the dispute “reluctantly and as a last resort.”

The actual figure, as reported by ITV Cymru Wales, is £327m — close to Stewart’s number, though the unions have put the sum at more than £500m. The government is not required to spend the money on ALN, and both the current Plaid administration and the previous Labour government have argued Wales faces different needs in the sector.

Into that fight has stepped Welsh Labour‘s interim leader, Ken Skates, who has written to the First Minister urging him to withdraw the supplementary budget — the revised spending plan due to be voted on tonight — altogether.

In his letter, Skates called the unions’ trade dispute “both unprecedented and deeply regrettable”, and said Labour could not back a level of ALN funding “that falls short of the scale of the need.”

Skates told ITV Cymru Wales the government was “now negotiating on multiple fronts” and described “quite frankly, a chaotic process of negotiations” — saying there was “no other option” but to withdraw the budget.

Welsh Labour’s council leaders across Wales issued their own joint statement backing the demand, warning that without the money, councils faced “impossible choices between ALN and other vital services.”

Plaid has hit back hard, insisting the government has already moved — and accusing Labour of walking away from the table.

The government’s offer has moved twice during the talks — first £80m over two years, and now £120m over three, according to ITV Cymru Wales. Labour has rejected both, holding out for £100m in the current financial year.

Plaid Cymru MS Kiera Marshall branded Labour’s rejection of the earlier offer “deeply irresponsible”, saying “parents, pupils and teachers will rightly question Labour’s commitment to this issue.”

Marshall also pointed to what else rests on the budget: £145m towards cutting NHS waiting lists, £55m for the expansion of funded childcare, £15m to roll out free school meals in secondary schools, and £20m for social housing.

A Welsh Labour spokesperson countered that “there wasn’t a penny on the table for additional learning needs until Welsh Labour fought for it” — and that £40m this year “falls far short of what children and young people with additional learning needs require.”

A Plaid Cymru source hit back, saying that by voting the budget down Labour would be “teaming up with the Tories and Reform” — and had “learnt nothing from their humiliating election defeat in May.”

It is the second time in months the two parties have clashed over ALN funding, after Plaid accused Labour of causing “unnecessary distress” over Ysgol Heol Goffa in Llanelli.

For Swansea, the stakes are immediate: Labour’s council leaders say demand for ALN support is growing — and any shortfall in this year’s settlement lands directly on the city’s schools.

A petition organised by NAHT Cymru calling for the full £500m to be ring-fenced for ALN has now passed 11,000 signatures — enough to be considered for a Senedd debate.

Reform UK and the Welsh Conservatives have both confirmed they will vote against, meaning that if Labour follows through, the government’s defeat tonight is all but certain.

Defeat would not bring the government down — finance minister Elin Jones could simply table a new supplementary budget — but it would be a bruising early blow for a minority administration less than 100 days old.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

TEACHERS’ PAY: Welsh Government to consult on 3.5% rise
Unions attacked the decision to reject the independent 4.25% recommendation.

LLANELLI: ‘£35m black hole’ row erupts over Ysgol Heol Goffa funding
The special school’s funding became a flashpoint between Labour and Plaid.

FREE SCHOOL MEALS: £15m to extend support to more Swansea Bay secondary pupils
The expansion is one of the measures riding on the supplementary budget.

TREBANOS: Rugby club stalwart wins by-election for Plaid — as Reform takes second and Labour slumps to fourth

A Trebanos RFC stalwart has won the village’s by-election, holding the Neath Port Talbot Council seat for Plaid Cymru with more than half the vote.

Jamie Watkins took 223 of the 436 votes cast on Thursday — 51% — in the Swansea Valley ward, which takes in Trebanos and Craig Trebanos near Pontardawe.

The by-election was called after former Plaid councillor Rebeca Phillips was elected to the Senedd in May, representing the new Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd constituency — a seat she contested as part of the candidate team Plaid unveiled last summer.

Reform UK’s Graeme Kerrison took second place with 88 votes — 20% — ahead of Welsh Liberal Democrat Hayley Davies on 77 votes (18%).

Welsh Labour’s Stephanie Rhian Everitt finished fourth with 37 votes — 8% of the total.

That marks a steep fall for Labour in the ward. In 2017, when Trebanos was a straight two-way fight, the party’s candidate polled 187 votes against Plaid’s 284.

Welsh Conservative Liz Hill O’Shea polled seven votes and Wales Green Party candidate Griff Miller four.

Turnout was 31%, with 437 ballot papers issued from an electorate of 1,415 and one paper rejected — down from 45% when the ward last went to the polls in a scheduled election in 2017.

Cllr Watkins is a familiar face in the village — a Pontardawe Town Councillor for Trebanos since 2021, an Openreach worker, and a long-serving figure at Trebanos RFC, where he has held a string of roles and now volunteers as a referee, officiating games with local schools.

His campaign focused on the everyday — parking, and helping residents hit by flooding — and carried the endorsement of the woman whose move to the Senedd triggered the contest, with Rebeca Phillips MS backing him during the campaign.

The result keeps Plaid’s grip on a ward it has held for years, in a county borough the party runs — and comes with the party now also leading the Welsh Government after May’s Senedd election.

All of Wales’ councils face full elections in May 2027, meaning Cllr Watkins will defend the seat within a year.

Second place will offer Reform some comfort after a bruising run of local contests since the party won its first Senedd seats in May.

Last month Plaid took the Llangennech seat on Carmarthenshire County Council from Reform — a seat vacated, like Trebanos, by a councillor elected to the Senedd, in that case Reform’s Carmelo Colasanto, now a Sir Gaerfyrddin MS. In Swansea, Reform missed out in both Morriston and Mumbles, where Labour clung on by 86 votes and the Conservatives gained a seat, and in May the Welsh Liberal Democrats took Fairwood from the Conservatives.

Across five council by-elections in the area since the Senedd election, Reform has yet to win a seat — and lost the only one it was defending. Two of those seats fell vacant the same way, with a sitting councillor bound for the Senedd: Plaid held its one, and Reform lost theirs.

Every seat in Wales goes back to the voters in May 2027, when the full council elections are held.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

LLANGENNECH: Plaid Cymru take council seat from Reform in by-election
The seat Reform gained — and lost within a year.

SWANSEA BY-ELECTIONS: Labour holds Morriston by 86 votes and Conservatives take Mumbles as Reform and Plaid miss out
June’s double contest in the city.

Plaid Cymru unveil Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd candidates ahead of 2026 Senedd election
Where Rebeca Phillips’ Senedd journey began.

FREE SCHOOL MEALS: £15m to extend support to more Swansea Bay secondary pupils from September

More secondary school pupils across Swansea Bay and Carmarthenshire are set to qualify for free school meals, under a £15m Welsh Government investment confirmed today.

The money will begin removing the strict income limit that currently shuts many families out, even when they are on Universal Credit.

At present, a secondary pupil only qualifies for free school meals if their family receives Universal Credit and earns less than £7,400 a year, excluding benefits.

The new funding starts the work of scrapping that cap, so that any secondary-age child in a household on Universal Credit can qualify, regardless of household income.

The change will be rolled out from September, starting with pupils in Years 7 and 8, whose parents will be able to apply for the new scheme.

The £15m is split into £10m of capital funding — to upgrade school kitchens and dining areas — and £5m to introduce and run the expanded scheme.

It forms part of the Welsh Government’s supplementary budget for 2026-27, due to be published on 23 June.

The move builds on the rollout of free school meals to all primary school children in Wales, which was delivered under the 2021 to 2024 co-operation agreement between the then Welsh Government and Plaid Cymru.

Education Minister Anna Brychan said the funding marked the first step in a wider commitment to extend the meals to more secondary pupils.

“This funding marks the first step in our commitment to extend free school meals to more secondary pupils, ensuring that support reaches families who need it most,” she said.

“By starting to invest, we are laying the foundations for a fair and sustainable expansion that will make a real difference in pupils’ daily lives.”

She said the policy was about removing barriers to learning, adding that access to nutritious food improved concentration, attainment and health.

“Building on the success of universal primary free school meals, we will ensure that as children move into secondary education those who need it most will continue to receive the support they need to thrive,” she said.

First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth said extending eligibility was an important step in tackling child poverty and reducing inequality across Wales.

“Starting this work is a key aspect of our 100 Day Plan and beyond — taking practical action by putting money back into families’ pockets and ensuring every young person has the opportunity to succeed, regardless of their background,” he said.

The expansion comes against a backdrop of stubbornly high child poverty in the region, with around one in four children in Swansea estimated to be growing up in poverty.

The Welsh Government said it was working with partners to deliver the scheme “at pace”, with further details promised shortly.

For families across the region, the practical question will be how and when to apply — with the first applications, for Years 7 and 8, expected to open in the autumn term.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Free school meals rolled out to all primary pupils in Wales
The earlier expansion this £15m secondary-school investment builds on.

Welsh Government pumps £55m into funded childcare
The new government’s earlier move to put money back into families’ pockets.

One in four Swansea kids in poverty
The scale of child poverty the latest measures are aimed at tackling.

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FUNDED CHILDCARE: Swansea families set to benefit as Welsh Government pumps £55m into expansion

Hundreds more two-year-olds across Wales will get funded childcare under a new cash injection — with Swansea already among the first areas to offer it.

Hundreds more families across Wales are in line for funded childcare after the Welsh Government announced a £55 million investment.

The money will speed up the rollout of 12.5 hours of funded childcare a week for all two-year-olds, delivered through councils including in Swansea.

Swansea was the second area in Wales to offer the scheme to every two-year-old, after Merthyr Tydfil, with Newport following soon after.

Wrexham has now joined that list, becoming the first North Wales authority to reach the milestone.

The £55m forms part of the Welsh Government’s First Supplementary Budget for 2026-27.

It includes £10m of capital funding to expand and improve childcare settings, aimed at boosting the quality and number of places available.

Ministers say the cash will help providers manage rising demand and stay afloat financially, while also supporting Welsh-medium childcare.

That ties into the long-standing target of reaching one million Welsh speakers by 2050.

The investment is a step towards the government’s wider promise of 20 hours of funded care a week for every child aged nine months to four years old.

At full rollout, ministers claim that offer will be the most generous anywhere in the UK.

Sioned Williams, the Plaid Cymru Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Minister for Social Justice and Equality, who holds the childcare brief, said the move showed the government was “accelerating our commitments to the families of Wales.”

“Childcare costs in Wales are the highest in the UK and I am determined to help families all over Wales, while also supporting children’s development,” she said.

She added that she was “particularly pleased” Wrexham was now expanding its offer, and that the government would keep working with councils to roll it out everywhere.

Research by Coram Family and Childcare last year found Wales had the highest holiday childcare costs of the British nations, lending weight to her claim.

A new expert steering group will advise on the next stages of the rollout, focusing on training enough staff, digital applications and improving access for families.

The funding lands just days after the policy behind it caused chaos in the Senedd.

Reform UK tabled a debate on 11 June demanding the new Plaid government publish full costings and a timetable for its childcare offer within its first 100 days.

But the motion was amended to point out that Reform’s own election manifesto contained no childcare commitments — and in a tangle that drew mockery, 11 Reform members ended up voting for the amended motion attacking their own party.

Reform has claimed the full childcare offer could cost between £388m and £710m a year, well above the roughly £400m figure Plaid has cited.

The latest announcement also marks a change of guard, with funded childcare milestones celebrated earlier this year by the then Labour government’s children’s minister, Dawn Bowden.

Welsh Labour lost power to Plaid Cymru at May’s Senedd election and now sits in opposition.

The party gave the funding a cautious welcome.

Lynne Neagle, Welsh Labour’s spokesperson for children, education and lifelong learning, welcomed the news that Wrexham would offer free childcare to all two-year-olds, and said she hoped more councils would follow.

She said the previous Welsh Labour government had worked to expand Flying Start provision across Wales, and that it was “great to see the government commit to our manifesto pledge and continue this work.”

But she said questions remained. “We await further information on the government’s supplementary budget, but as it stands there are still many unanswered questions around the funding commitments,” she said.

Flying Start is the Welsh Government’s flagship early-years programme, offering childcare, parenting support and health visiting to families with young children.

Funded childcare for two-year-olds is being expanded in phases, with the latest cash intended to widen access ahead of the next academic year.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

Swansea becomes second area in Wales to offer Flying Start childcare to all two-year-olds
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The Senedd debate that descended into confusion.

South west Wales politicians take key roles in first Plaid Cymru cabinet
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Free childcare scheme to expand across Swansea says council
What the funded hours mean for two- and three-year-olds in the city.

LLANELLI: MP pleads with Plaid government to honour £27m promise for new special school

Llanelli’s MP has urged the new Plaid-led Welsh Government to “honour” a £27m commitment for a long-promised new special school in the town.

Dame Nia Griffith says repeated delays to the £35m Ysgol Heol Goffa project have caused “huge consternation and anxiety” for current pupils, parents and families still waiting for a place.

She has written to Anna Brychan MS, the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Welsh Language, calling on her to give “early and full support” by committing to match-funding of 75 per cent for the school.

That figure matters. The usual Welsh Government contribution for a project like this is 65 per cent.

The previous Labour education minister, Lynn Neagle, had confirmed the new school would be eligible for the higher 75 per cent rate — subject to a satisfactory business case.

Dame Nia is now pressing the new Plaid administration to commit to that figure in full, rather than let it slip back to the standard rate.

Her intervention raises the stakes in a funding row that erupted at County Hall last week.

At a full meeting of Carmarthenshire County Council, Labour group leader councillor Deryk Cundy asked whether the authority’s 25 per cent share — roughly £9m — had been “ring-fenced” for the new school.

Plaid’s cabinet member for education, councillor Glynog Davies, replied: “It hasn’t been, well not yet.”

That answer angered Labour councillors, who pointed out that in December councillor Davies had told the same chamber the money “has been ring-fenced”.

“Which version of Glynog Davies’s answers are we, and the school community, to believe?” councillor Cundy said after the meeting.

He accused the administration of “dragging its heels”, asking why a business case would take 15 months when an independent report had already set out that the school needed to be expanded to meet legal requirements.

Lliedi councillor Shaun Greaney, a prominent campaigner for the school, said it was “disgraceful” that councillor Davies was now casting himself as its champion.

He said more than 9,000 people had signed a petition for a new school after what campaigners called Plaid’s “broken promises”, and accused the party of trying to “pull the wool over people’s eyes”.

Councillor Davies has firmly rejected that account. He has accused Labour of causing “unnecessary distress” and misrepresenting the process “for cheap political purposes”, insisting there is “no intention to pull out now”.

He has said the funding depends on a business case that has yet to be completed, and that the council is pressing ahead with plans for a larger school near Ysgol Penrhos.

A formal consultation on the £35m rebuild opened earlier this month, with responses running until 21 July, and the school earmarked to open in 2029.

The Welsh Government has been asked to confirm whether it will commit to the 75 per cent funding rate.

Related stories from Swansea Bay News

HEOL GOFFA ROW: Plaid accuses Labour of causing ‘unnecessary distress’ over special school claims
Carmarthenshire’s education cabinet member hit back at Labour’s “£35m black hole” claims, calling them unfounded.

LLANELLI: ‘£35m black hole’ row erupts over Ysgol Heol Goffa funding
A council meeting revealed the money behind the £35m plans is not yet signed off.

LLANELLI: Consultation opens on £35m Ysgol Heol Goffa rebuild
The formal process is under way at last, with responses open until 21 July.

LLANELLI: £35m new Ysgol Heol Goffa to open in 2029 — but funding question hangs over Plaid government
The project cleared a major hurdle, but councillors want Welsh Government funding protected.

HEOL GOFFA ROW: Plaid accuses Labour of causing ‘unnecessary distress’ over special school claims

Plaid Cymru’s education cabinet member has accused Labour councillors in Llanelli of causing “unnecessary alarm and distress” to parents and staff at Ysgol Heol Goffa — escalating the row over funding for the town’s promised £35m special school.

The row erupted after Wednesday’s full council meeting, when Labour claimed a “£35m black hole” sat beneath the plans after Cllr Glynog Davies confirmed funding for the project had not yet been formally committed by either the council or the Welsh Government.

In a statement issued on Friday, Cllr Davies branded the Labour claims “unfounded” — and said the suggestion that the new school may not go ahead was an insinuation made for political ends.

“They obviously don’t understand, or choose to misrepresent the process, for cheap political purposes,” he said.

“Work on designing the larger 150 pupil school on a new site is well advanced, so I can assure parents, staff and learners that there is no intention to pull out now. Changing government in Cardiff has no bearing on this, because government funding depends on presenting the full business case, which will happen shortly.”

The cabinet member reserved his sharpest words for Llanelli Labour town councillor Shaun Greaney — a longstanding campaigner on the school — over what Cllr Davies said was an accusation that Plaid councillors had “an old-fashioned attitude to children with special needs”.

“It’s quite shocking that Cllr Shaun Greaney, who seems to live in a constant state of outrage, should accuse Plaid councillors of having ‘an old-fashioned attitude to children with special needs’,” he said. “Moving ahead with a larger new school, costing tens of millions of pounds, disproves his allegations.”

And he linked Labour’s attacks to the party’s performance in last month’s Senedd election: “I appreciate that Labour must be in trauma after their devastating losses in the Senedd elections, but for them to cause unnecessary distress on this issue is reprehensible.”

Labour’s claims followed the chamber exchange in which Cllr Davies confirmed funding had not yet been signed off. Labour opposition group leader Cllr Deryk Cundy said afterwards: “Clearly, despite all the public fanfares, no money has been actually committed to the new Ysgol Heol Goffa. My biggest fear is that Plaid will claim again — at some point in the future — that it doesn’t have enough money to proceed with the new school, as they have in the past.”

Cllr Greaney had said the school community would be “devastated” if the funding position set out in the chamber was correct — adding: “Personally, I think they are a disgrace and should all resign.”

Under the Welsh Government’s Sustainable Communities for Learning programme, the council would pay a quarter of the cost of the new school with the government contributing 75 per cent — but the government’s share is only confirmed once the council submits a full business case, which Cllr Davies says “will happen shortly”.

The school for pupils with additional learning needs was first promised a replacement building a decade ago. The council scrapped the previous plans in May 2024 citing rising costs — prompting a petition of more than 9,000 signatures — before re-committing in 2025 to a £35m, 150-place school near Ysgol Pen Rhos, with a planned opening of September 2029.

The formal consultation on the proposals is open until Tuesday 21 July.

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LEE WATERS: Architect of Wales’ 20mph law admits it ‘came at a price’ as he warns Labour faces ‘existential crisis’

The former Senedd member who masterminded Wales’ default 20mph speed limit has admitted the policy “came at a price” as he warned that Welsh Labour now faces an “existential crisis.”

Lee Waters, who served as a Welsh Government transport minister and held the Llanelli seat for a decade, said watching his party’s collapse at last month’s election had been a “painful and frustrating experience.”

Labour was reduced to just nine seats on 7 May, finishing third behind Plaid Cymru on 43 and Reform UK on 34 — its worst result since Welsh devolution began in 1999.

Waters described it as a “slow-motion car crash,” and said the party had been “saved from wipe out” by the narrowest of margins.

“We came within 4,000 votes of the Conservatives, that’s how bad it was,” he told BBC Radio Wales’ Sunday Supplement.

The former minister said there was “no single reason why Labour collapsed,” but argued that confronting the scale of the defeat had to come first.

“This is an existential crisis and I think Labour now needs to go back to first principles and rethink what it is for,” he said.

It was Waters who, as deputy minister, drove through the law setting a default 20mph limit on Wales’ restricted roads — a policy that drew one of the largest petitions in Senedd history and became a lightning rod for opposition across the Swansea, Carmarthenshire and Neath Port Talbot areas.

Asked about its role in the defeat, he did not shy away from it. “There are things like 20mph that definitely took up a lot of political capital and caused a lot of difficulty,” he said.

“We took a hit for that, you know, I’m not denying that. It’s achieved great things, but it’s come at a price.”

Waters stood down at the election. His old Llanelli constituency was abolished under the new Senedd boundaries and absorbed into the enlarged six-member Sir Gaerfyrddin seat, which combines the Caerfyrddin and Llanelli Westminster areas and now covers the whole of Carmarthenshire. Plaid Cymru and Reform UK took all six seats there.

His warning echoes the reckoning already under way among Labour figures closer to home. Swansea MS Mike Hedges, one of the nine Labour members left standing, drew criticism after appearing to blame the media for the result, telling a reporter outside the Senedd they had “got the result you wanted.”

Hedges, who held the Gŵyr Abertawe seat, had earlier warned that Wales could face another election within a year as the party counted the cost of its historic defeat.

Waters also turned to the challenges now facing the new Plaid Cymru government, suggesting the move from opposition to power would force difficult choices.

He pointed to First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth’s pledge to tackle congestion on the M4 with a “roads-based solution,” after Labour shelved plans for an M4 relief road around Newport in 2019.

“Will it be easy to deliver? No, it won’t, nor will it be cheap,” Waters said, adding that in opposition a party is “not forced to confront the trade-offs” that come with governing.

A Welsh Labour spokesperson said the results had been “catastrophic” and that the party needed time to determine what went wrong.

“Voters raised serious issues about NHS access, roads, local services, cost of living and trust in politics,” the spokesperson said. “These are the issues people live with every day and they felt we weren’t doing anything to help. We can’t ignore that.”

Before entering the Senedd, Waters was head of the active travel charity Sustrans Cymru — a background that shaped his championing of walking, cycling and lower urban speeds throughout his time in government.

The 20mph law remains in force, though the new Welsh Government has faced continued pressure over its implementation.

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HOW WALES VOTES: Swansea MS Mike Hedges says new Senedd election system “does not work” — and “any system is better than the one we used”

Mike Hedges, the Labour MS for Gŵyr Abertawe — the constituency covering Swansea and Gower — has called for an open public discussion on the way Wales elects its Senedd Members, saying the new voting system “does not work.”

The May 2026 election was the first held under Wales’s reformed electoral system, which expanded the Senedd from 60 to 96 Members and introduced a fully proportional model based on 16 constituencies, each electing six Members from closed party lists.

Hedges, who was re-elected in Gŵyr Abertawe, says the system failed on its own terms.

“The new system does not work — it was meant to be proportional but it was not,” he said. “The electorate generally did not understand it.”

His central concern is tactical voting. Hedges argues the election effectively became a two-party contest between Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, and that this squeezed the vote going to everyone else.

“We did not have tactical voting — we had voters choosing between two parties, which depressed the votes of the other parties,” he said. “Those who thought they were voting tactically were actually not voting tactically. It did not work in five of the sixteen seats.”

He believes the effect was decisive in his own constituency, where he says fewer than 2,000 votes determined the final seat.

“Take 2,000 off one party and add it to another,” he said, expressing confidence in the figure. He argued that if Reform votes in the constituency had instead gone to the Conservatives, it would have produced a Conservative seat.

The criticism is notable coming from a Member elected under the very system he is attacking. Hedges took one of the six Gŵyr Abertawe seats, while Plaid Cymru took three and Reform UK two, as Labour‘s vote share across Wales fell to third behind both parties.

On the solution, Hedges is clear that change is needed — but stops short of backing the alternative favoured by the new Plaid Cymru government.

Asked whether he would support a move to the Single Transferable Vote — which Plaid committed in its 2026 manifesto to pursuing cross-party support for — he said he was open to reform but not to that particular model.

“We need an open discussion on the size of the Senedd and voting system,” he said. “I do not like STV, but any system is better than the one we used in the last election.”

It places him in unusual agreement with the Plaid government on the principle that the system should be reviewed, even as he rejects their preferred fix.

As a more immediate practical step, Hedges argues that better information would help voters navigate the system as it stands. “The most important thing next time is constituency polls,” he said — suggesting that seat-by-seat polling would give voters a clearer picture of the real contest in their area, rather than relying on national trends.

The new system was introduced through the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024, passed by the previous Labour Welsh Government. Supporters argued the closed-list proportional model would produce a chamber that more accurately reflected how people voted, and that the larger Senedd would improve scrutiny of Welsh laws.

Critics — now apparently including some within Labour’s own ranks — have questioned the closed-list element, which means voters choose a party rather than ranking individual candidates, and whether the public was given enough information to understand how it worked.

Whether Hedges’s call for a review gains traction may rest with the Plaid Cymru government, which has its own manifesto commitment to explore electoral reform — albeit by a different route to the one the Swansea MS would choose.

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BRITON FERRY: Two years on, the Wales Coastal Path closure on the estuary has become a political football — as 20 Labour councillors demand action over sinkholes that nobody will pay to fix

Twenty opposition Welsh Labour councillors from Neath Port Talbot have written to the new Welsh Government Cabinet Minister for Rural Resilience and Sustainability demanding urgent action and funding to reopen long-closed sections of the Wales Coastal Path through Baglan, Briton Ferry and Sandfields West — a stretch that has now been fenced off for more than two years over fears of subsidence and sinkhole collapse.

The letter, sent this week to Plaid Cymru MS Llŷr Gruffydd — who took on the newly created rural resilience portfolio when Plaid Cymru formed Wales’s first ever Plaid-led government earlier this month — lands at the heart of a long-running political dispute over who should pay to fix a deteriorating path on land owned by the Welsh Government and maintained, until 2023, by the council.

Campaign led by three local councillors

The campaign for the path’s reinstatement has been led by Cllr Josh Tuck (Baglan), Cllr Gareth Rice (Briton Ferry) and Cllr Rob Wood, whose wards either border or contain the closed section. This week’s letter to the Cabinet Minister has been signed by 17 of their Welsh Labour colleagues from across the borough.

Cllr Rice’s ward of Briton Ferry contains the stretch of path that runs alongside the Briton Ferry estuary — where the original closure was made in April 2023 after the path was deemed too dangerous to use.

Closed since April 2023

According to the council’s own official response to a 2024 enquiry from Aberavon and Maesteg MP Stephen Kinnock, the section was closed in April 2023 because of “subsidence connected to the formation of sinkholes, which unfortunately made the path hazardous to use.”

The same letter, written by NPT’s Head of Planning and Public Protection Ceri Morris, set out a longer history of problems. Repair schemes had been carried out approximately every four years since 2012 to fill or bridge the sinkholes that were continually forming in the area — but those works “did not address the wider problem that is affecting the adjacent land.”

By early 2023, the council said, officers had noticed new cracks opening up along the path. “The Authority considered it had no option other than to close the path on safety grounds,” the letter said.

Walkers were redirected along the cycle route from The Quays Offices, passing through the industrial estate to pick up the Wales Coast Path connection at Purcell Avenue.

Walkers using eroded unofficial route around closure

More than two years on, councillors say walkers are increasingly bypassing the official closure altogether and using an unofficial route through eroded ground alongside the fencing — raising fresh concerns that the closure may be creating new safety risks rather than removing them.

The letter from the 20 councillors describes the closures as “a visible symbol of neglect along a key part of our coastline” and says that despite repeated questions to Neath Port Talbot Council from elected members, no clear timetable has ever been provided for restoration.

March 2024: borehole testing

The council’s 2024 response confirmed that NPT had used Wales Coast Path funding in March 2024 to carry out “an extensive bore hole testing scheme to ascertain the extent of the issues in this area.” Officers were said to be reviewing the final report to ascertain whether the route remains feasible for future use as the Wales Coast Path.

But the council was clear that reopening depends on funding from above. “Whilst it was not the Authority’s intention to permanently close this section of the path, ultimately it comes down to whether funding becomes available from Welsh Government,” Mr Morris wrote.

The official council position has been that NPT itself cannot continue to fund repeated repair schemes indefinitely — and that even if it did, the underlying subsidence affecting the adjacent land would mean the path could only be reopened on a temporary basis without a wider intervention.

A funding dispute the council says rests with Welsh Government

The closure has happened entirely under the current Plaid Cymru-led rainbow coalition, which took control of Neath Port Talbot Council in 2022 — meaning the path has been fenced off for almost the whole of this administration’s time in office.

Council leader Cllr Steve Hunt has previously stated publicly that the path “has nothing at all to do with NPTCBC” because the underlying land is in the ownership of the Welsh Government — placing responsibility for any repair work with whoever forms that government.

David Rees, who served as Welsh Labour MS for Aberavon until losing his seat at the May 2026 Senedd election, said in 2024 that he had been told by NPT that the council needed money from Welsh Government to fix the path, while Welsh Government had stated that the council had already received maintenance funding. “It is unlikely to re-open until this is resolved as the argument of people’s safety will be dominant,” he said at the time. Two years on, his prediction has held: the path remains closed.

“A flagship national asset”

The Wales Coastal Path is an 870-mile route around the entire Welsh coastline, launched in 2012 as the first dedicated long-distance walking route to cover an entire country. It is jointly funded by the Welsh Government and Natural Resources Wales, with day-to-day maintenance delivered by local authorities. The Welsh Government also owns the adjacent land affected by the subsidence — making it both funder and landowner in the dispute.

The letter from the 20 councillors describes the path as “internationally recognised” and intended to be “a source of pride for Wales” — but says that large sections through Baglan, Briton Ferry and Sandfields West remain “inaccessible, fenced off and deteriorating.”

A cross-party political map

The letter has been copied to all six Members of the Senedd for the new Afan Ogwr Rhondda constituency, which covers the affected communities under the new D’Hondt voting system introduced for the May 2026 election.

Those six MSs are Sera Evans, Alun Cox and Elyn Stephens, all of Plaid Cymru; Benjamin Hodge McKenna and Steve Bayliss, both of Reform UK; and former Welsh Labour cabinet member Huw Irranca-Davies, who was elected Llywydd of the Senedd earlier this month and is now politically impartial.

Cabinet Minister Llŷr Gruffydd, MS for Clwyd, only took on the rural resilience brief on 13 May after First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth appointed his first cabinet. The portfolio includes responsibility for Wales’s outdoor and natural environment infrastructure.

‘We loved watching the birds and wildlife’

Baglan residents Gaynor and Graham, both members of the RSPB, said the loss of the path had stripped local people of a free, accessible community asset.

“The coastal path at Briton Ferry has always been a lovely, easy, flat walk for people of all ages,” they said. “Walkers from Neath and Port Talbot used it, not just residents of Baglan and Briton Ferry. It’s a local asset that’s free to use, and obviously helps people’s fitness, mental health and well-being. Apart from meeting people socially along the way, it really needs to be reinstated.

“For us personally, we loved watching the birds and wildlife as we are both members of the RSPB. In these challenging times it would be great to have somewhere that’s free to enjoy.”

Three areas of damage

The councillors set out three distinct impacts of the closures.

On health and wellbeing, the letter says the closures have cut off vital routes for walking, cycling and daily exercise relied upon by residents for years.

On active travel, the closures have severed key walking and cycling connections between Baglan, Briton Ferry, Sandfields and the wider Swansea Bay coastline.

And on local business and tourism, the councillors say visitors have been diverted away from the area’s seaside businesses, undermining wider Welsh Government ambitions around tourism and outdoor recreation.

“Unacceptable and unworthy”

Calling for a “clear programme for restoration and reopening,” the councillors describe the current position as “unacceptable for local communities and unworthy of a flagship national route such as the Wales Coastal Path.”

“Its continued closure damages confidence in public infrastructure and undermines wider Welsh Government ambitions around tourism, wellbeing and active travel,” the letter states.

The 20 signatories

Alongside Cllr Josh Tuck, Cllr Gareth Rice and Cllr Rob Wood, the letter is signed by Cllr Carol Clement-Williams (Baglan), Cllr Suzanne Paddison (Sandfields West), Cllr Sarah Thomas, Cllr Laura Williams, Cllr Mike Harvey, Cllr Lauren Heard (Neath East), Cllr Stephanie Grimshaw (Aberavon and Baglan Moors), Cllr Saifur Rahaman and Cllr Alan Lockyer (Neath North), together with the Welsh Labour ward councillors for Margam and Taibach and for Port Talbot.

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SWANSEA: Labour signed a deal to move Welsh Government offices from Penllergaer to the city centre. Plaid won’t say if they’ll honour it.

A pre-election agreement to base Welsh Government staff in Swansea’s new city centre public sector hub is hanging in the balance — after the incoming Plaid Cymru administration said it would review its office estate as a new government, with no decisions yet taken on any specific sites.

Swansea Council confirmed it had been in advanced talks with the previous Labour Welsh Government to secure a formal and physical presence for Welsh Government staff in the new five-storey hub being built at the former St David’s Shopping Centre site — and that letters of intent had been exchanged before the Senedd election.

A council spokesperson said: “We were engaging with the Welsh Government prior to the Senedd elections to look at options for them to have a formal and physical presence in Swansea city centre, which supports our regeneration activities and their investment in town and city centres. Now that a new government is in place we will open up this dialogue again with the hope of concluding discussions as soon as we are able to.”

The Welsh Government did not confirm the pre-election agreement, but said no decisions had been taken on future accommodation arrangements, including whether any specific sites would be used or how much space might be occupied.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “As a new administration, we will take the opportunity to review our office estate as part of good financial and asset management, and we are committed to doing so on a regular basis. As part of that work, a range of potential options will be explored with public sector partners, including different ways of using existing buildings. Any decision on the Welsh Government estate will be for Ministers.”

The proposed deal was understood to have involved the Welsh Government relocating staff from its existing offices near junction 47 of the M4 at Penllergaer to the new city centre hub, with the council potentially taking on the Penllergaer building as part of the arrangement.

That proposal drew pointed criticism from Cllr Chris Holley, the Liberal Democrat leader of the opposition on Swansea Council — and a man with direct experience of the building in question. Cllr Holley led the council between 2004 and 2012, and was at the helm when the Welsh Development Agency was abolished in 2006 and its Penllergaer office was transferred to the Welsh Government.

He said the building had struggled to attract occupants ever since, arguing it had become a liability for the Welsh Government following the WDA’s departure. He said he understood blue light services had already been approached about taking the space and had declined.

“Yes of course [I support Welsh Government jobs in the city centre] — but not at any cost,” Cllr Holley said. “They have lots of offices around Wales, yet we have to swap one for another.”

He also questioned the logic of the council taking on premises that a large organisation had been unable to fill. “If it didn’t work for the Welsh Government, how is it going to work for Swansea Council?” he said.

Welsh Government figures show around 400 staff have their location recorded as Penllergaer — but average daily attendance at the building was running at just 10% in March 2025, well below the two-days-a-week expectation for civil servants. Across its 20 sites in Wales, the Welsh Government employs around 5,700 people at a total annual cost of £24.5 million.

The Penllergaer site has its own complicated history. Swansea Council itself once had offices in the area — the former Lliw Valley Borough Council building, which the authority sold in 2016 partly to address a budget deficit. That site was sold to Carmarthenshire developer Enzo Developments, who later received planning permission for 80 homes and a preserved Grade II listed equatorial observatory — though Enzo’s Homes subsequently went into liquidation on a separate development in 2025.

The public sector hub at the heart of the proposed deal is the first building in the new Porth Copr district — the area that will eventually replace the former St David’s Shopping Centre car park, knitting together Copr Bay, St Mary’s Square and the Quadrant. Work on the site is already under way, with the hub designed to anchor public sector workers in the city centre and generate daily footfall for traders.

The council’s own commitment to the hub is separately driven by its planned departure from the seafront Civic Centre — which received a £20 million UK Government funding boost in March to support its redevelopment for housing, leisure and commercial uses.

Meanwhile, the Penllergaer business park has its own new chapter under way nearby — with a major logistics depot, understood to be an Amazon last-mile delivery hub, approved on an adjacent site in March, already raising questions about the capacity of junction 47 to absorb the additional traffic.

Council leader Rob Stewart was contacted for comment.

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SENEDD ELECTION: Mike Hedges warns Wales could face another election next year as Labour count the cost of historic defeat

Mike Hedges has warned that Wales could face another Senedd election within a year, as Labour Members of the Senedd began to count the cost of their historic defeat.

The veteran MS, who held on in the new Gwyr Abertawe constituency, said that if Plaid Cymru formed a minority government and their budget fell, an election could follow — just as Labour’s budgets had faced repeated challenges from Plaid in the outgoing Senedd.

“Let’s assume that Plaid form a government — when they bring their budget forward, well, the other parties will have the same chance to do to Plaid what Plaid have done to Labour consistently over the budget,” he told reporter Will Hayward at the count. “So if the budget falls, we might have an election.”

Rhun ap Iorwerth confirmed on Saturday that he will lead a Plaid minority government, working with other parties on a case-by-case basis rather than seeking a formal coalition. Plaid won 43 seats — six short of the 49 needed for a majority — with Labour reduced to just nine seats after a catastrophic night for the party.

Speaking with what he described as “disappointment,” Hedges said the scale of the Labour collapse had shocked him, revealing that one box he had expected to win over half the votes in had seen his party come third.

He said he had been canvassing on the doorstep until the day before the election and had been told by one voter — who he said had backed him for 30 years — that the man had not voted for him this time. “He apologised for it, but I can’t count apologies in the votes,” Hedges said.

Hedges was critical of the new large constituency system introduced for the expanded Senedd, saying that if he had been running Labour’s campaign he would “not have had this system” as a starting point.

He also called for legislation — originally championed by former Plaid leader Adam Price — to prevent politicians lying at election time, suggesting it would have changed the nature of the campaign. “If we’d got that through, we’d have had a different dialogue,” he said.

First Minister Eluned Morgan lost her seat and resigned as Welsh Labour leader on election night, with Ken Skates confirmed as interim leader on Saturday afternoon as the party began to assess its position. The defeat brought 27 years of Labour rule in Wales to an end.

On the prospect of working with the other parties in the new Senedd, Hedges was blunt, saying he had “great difficulty” working with either Plaid Cymru or Reform UK. He said Plaid’s independence agenda would cost Wales between £12 billion and £16 billion a year — roughly equivalent to the health budget — while Reform “want to turn us into West England.”

“But we’re going to all have to work together for the benefit of the people of Wales,” he added.

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SENEDD ELECTION 2026: Plaid Cymru largest party, Reform UK historic breakthrough, Welsh Labour reduced to nine seats — the new political map of Wales

Wales has woken up to a new political landscape this evening – one in which Plaid Cymru has emerged as the largest party in the Senedd, Reform UK has secured a historic breakthrough, and Welsh Labour has been reduced to nine seats after more than a quarter of a century in power.

The Senedd Election 2026 – the first to be held under the new D’Hondt voting system and with an expanded 96-seat parliament – has reshaped Welsh politics in ways that almost nobody predicted even a year ago.

The final picture, with all 16 constituencies declared, sees Plaid Cymru take 43 seats, Reform UK 34, Welsh Labour 9, the Welsh Conservatives 7, the Greens 2 and the Welsh Liberal Democrats 1.

The most striking individual story of the day was the defeat of First Minister Eluned Morgan in her Ceredigion Penfro constituency – a result that immediately triggered her resignation as Welsh Labour leader.

Morgan became the first ever serving Welsh First Minister to lose her seat at an election, and the first leader of any government in the United Kingdom to lose her seat while in office.

“I take responsibility for the Labour result in Wales,” she told the count from the stage at Ceredigion Penfro. “The age of two-party dominance is dead.”

Wales now faces an immediate Welsh Labour leadership contest and the prospect of a new First Minister – with Plaid Cymru leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, who held his Bangor Conwy Mon seat with ease, the most likely candidate to lead the next Welsh Government.

“It has become clear that Wales has demanded that change of leadership,” ap Iorwerth said after his re-election. “Plaid Cymru is ready to serve.”

The election produced a record turnout for a Senedd election – 51.65% across Wales, the first time the 50% benchmark has ever been broken at a Welsh parliamentary election.

That turnout had been forecast as a positive indicator for Reform UK, which had focused much of its campaign on mobilising voters who had not traditionally turned out at Welsh elections.

The forecast proved correct. Reform UK topped the poll in four constituencies – Casnewydd Islwyn, Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd, Sir Fynwy Torfaen and Clwyd – and won three seats in three more.

Welsh leader Dan Thomas, who became an MS himself after winning a seat in Casnewydd Islwyn, called Reform “the people’s army” of Welsh politics.

“In just five years, Reform has gone from winning 1% of the vote in the Senedd elections to being the main contender for government, smashing Labour in the process,” Thomas said.

For Plaid Cymru, the election represents a remarkable consolidation of support. The party topped the poll in 11 of the 16 constituencies and took three seats in nine of them – including a clean sweep of four seats in Gwynedd Maldwyn.

Among those returning to the Senedd for Plaid is former leader Adam Price, who was elected in Sir Gaerfyrddin from third place on his party’s list – itself a sign of how strongly Plaid performed in the constituency.

The constituency-by-constituency breakdown shows just how starkly the political map of Wales has been redrawn.

For Welsh Labour, the result is bleak. The party has been wiped out entirely in six constituencies – Sir Gaerfyrddin, Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni, Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd, Ceredigion Penfro, Clwyd and Gwynedd Maldwyn – and reduced to a single seat in most others.

Welsh Labour’s nine surviving Members of the Senedd are dominated by senior figures. Cabinet members Huw Irranca-Davies (Deputy First Minister), Sarah Murphy (Deputy Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing), Lynne Neagle and Ken Skates (Transport) all held their seats. Mike Hedges was returned in Gwyr Abertawe and Jayne Bryant in Casnewydd Islwyn.

The defeat of First Minister Eluned Morgan, however, is the headline loss – and brings to an end a century-long run of Welsh Labour electoral dominance dating back to 1922.

Welsh Labour’s collapse was particularly stark across south-west Wales. The party was wiped out entirely in Sir Gaerfyrddin and Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd, reduced to one seat in Gwyr Abertawe and Afan Ogwr Rhondda, and lost its First Minister in neighbouring Ceredigion Penfro.

Speaking after Mike Hedges’ re-election as the only Welsh Labour MS for Swansea, Council leader Rob Stewart – who was Labour’s number two on the Gwyr Abertawe list and was not elected – acknowledged the difficulty of the result.

“Obviously, this is not the result we worked for,” Stewart said. “Nationally, it has been a really difficult night for Welsh Labour and UK Labour.”

Stewart said the threat of Reform UK had loomed over the campaign. “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.

The Welsh Conservatives have ended the day with seven seats – a smaller party than at the last Senedd, but with three of their leaders past and present returned. Andrew RT Davies, the former Welsh Conservative leader, was re-elected in Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg. Current leader Darren Millar held his seat in Clwyd. And former Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Paul Davies returned to the Senedd via Ceredigion Penfro.

Conservative Senedd colleague Samuel Kurtz failed to be re-elected.

The Greens secured two seats in Wales for the first time – both in Cardiff. Anthony Slaughter, the party’s Welsh leader, took his seat in Caerdydd Penarth and called it a “historic breakthrough” for the Greens in Wales.

The Welsh Liberal Democrats secured a single seat – that of leader Jane Dodds, who held on in Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd. The party had hoped for a stronger result but its presence in the Senedd is preserved.

What now follows is coalition politics on a scale Wales has not seen since devolution began.

With 49 seats needed for an overall majority, Plaid Cymru is eight short of governing alone. Polling expert Sir John Curtice had projected the party would win between 41 and 46 seats – the final figure of 41 sits at the lower end of that projection.

The arithmetic of the new Senedd makes a Plaid Cymru-led coalition almost certain – but the question is who Plaid will choose to govern with.

A formal coalition with Welsh Labour would deliver a stable majority of 50 seats – though the politics of bringing the heavily defeated party of government into a new coalition would be difficult.

A confidence-and-supply arrangement with the Welsh Lib Dems and Greens would still leave Plaid three seats short of a majority, requiring further support from other parties.

A coalition with Reform UK would command a vast majority of 75 seats – but is politically inconceivable, with Reform’s positions on devolution and Welsh public services fundamentally at odds with Plaid’s.

The most likely outcome, observers suggest, is a Plaid-led minority government supported on a confidence-and-supply basis by smaller parties – or a formal coalition with Welsh Labour rebuilding from the wreckage of today’s result.

Either way, the next First Minister of Wales is very likely to be Plaid Cymru’s Rhun ap Iorwerth – a fundamental shift in Welsh political leadership for the first time since devolution began in 1999.

The election also marks Wales’ political landscape becoming significantly more fragmented. The new Senedd has six different parties represented – up from four after the 2021 election – reflecting both the new electoral system and the political reorientation that has taken place.

Welsh political expert Professor Laura McAllister told BBC Wales that Eluned Morgan had been dealt an impossible hand. “The odds were stacked so hard against her, she didn’t get an ounce of help from her UK party, or the Prime Minister,” she said.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer paid tribute to Morgan in a statement issued shortly after her defeat, calling her “a formidable First Minister and tireless champion for Wales” – though earlier in the day senior Welsh Labour figures had called for him to consider his own position over the scale of the party’s Welsh defeat.

The new Senedd will sit for the first time in the coming weeks, when its 96 Members of the Senedd will be sworn in and the process of forming the next Welsh Government will formally begin.

For now, however, the picture is clear. Wales has rejected its long-time governing party, embraced a populist insurgency, and elevated a nationalist alternative to the largest party in its parliament for the first time in history.

The age of two-party dominance, as Eluned Morgan said in her resignation speech, is dead. What replaces it begins now.

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.

Gwyr Abertawe: Plaid Cymru top the poll as Mike Hedges holds for Welsh Labour
The Swansea result and Council leader Rob Stewart’s reaction to a difficult day for the city’s Welsh Labour group.

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.”

Stewart 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?
Senior Welsh Labour figures have called for the prime minister to consider his position if the result is as bad as predicted.

ah no, they're back again, and giving a history lesson on the meaning of 'Fenian' and also a but of the old anti-colonialism there.
They intend to reclaim the word for Irish people, the ancient Fenians were a tribe of warrior giants and Kneecap wish to celebrate that rather than the English use of the word.

BBC Huw's Welsh ears have picked up on this, it's a big day in Wales today btw!

#Kneecap #Colonialism #AntiColonialism #PlaidCymru #Fenian #Mastodoine #BBC

SIR GAERFYRDDIN: Reform UK and Plaid Cymru take three seats each as Welsh Labour wiped out — Adam Price returns to the Senedd

Reform UK and Plaid Cymru have taken three Sir Gaerfyrddin seats each in a knife-edge result that ends Welsh Labour’s representation in Carmarthenshire entirely.

The result, declared this afternoon at the Carmarthenshire count, marks Reform UK’s first ever Senedd breakthrough in west Wales – and represents an historic collapse for Welsh Labour in a region it has long counted among its strongholds.

Plaid Cymru topped the poll with 36,160 votes, ahead of Reform UK on 27,542. Welsh Labour received 6,458 votes – a fraction of its previous performance in the area.

Plaid Cymru’s Cefin Campbell topped the poll, taking the first seat. Reform UK’s Gareth Beer took the second – becoming the first Reform UK Member of the Senedd ever elected in west Wales.

Plaid’s Nerys Evans took the third seat, with Reform’s Carmelo Colasanto taking the fourth.

The fifth seat went to Adam Price – the former Plaid Cymru leader and former MS for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr – marking his return to the Senedd.

The sixth and final seat went to Reform UK’s Sarah Edwards, after going to a recount with the margin understood to be around 140 votes.

Welsh Labour, the Welsh Conservatives and other parties failed to secure a single seat in the constituency.

The six new Sir Gaerfyrddin Members of the Senedd will be:

• Cefin Campbell (Plaid Cymru)
• Gareth Beer (Reform UK)
• Nerys Evans (Plaid Cymru)
• Carmelo Colasanto (Reform UK)
• Adam Price (Plaid Cymru)
• Sarah Edwards (Reform UK)

Adam Price’s return to the Senedd is one of the most significant individual stories of the day. The veteran Plaid politician, who previously served as MP for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr before becoming MS for the same area, stepped down as Plaid Cymru leader in 2023.

His return – via Plaid’s Sir Gaerfyrddin list – gives Plaid Cymru one of its most experienced political operators back at Cardiff Bay. Price had originally been selected third on Plaid’s list, meaning his election demonstrates just how strongly the party performed in the constituency.

The result is a significant moment for Reform UK in Wales. The party had targeted Sir Gaerfyrddin as a key constituency, with Welsh leader Dan Thomas visiting Llanelli during the campaign to push for what he described as a major breakthrough in west Wales.

That breakthrough has now been delivered.

For Plaid Cymru, the result represents both consolidation and concern – three seats in one of its traditional strongholds is a strong return, but the party will have hoped to push for four against a Labour vote that had collapsed.

The constituency recorded a turnout of 55.97% – significantly higher than the 47.8% recorded in Casnewydd Islwyn and the 47.7% in Blaenau Gwent Caerffilii Rhymni, both of which declared earlier in the day.

Higher turnout has been described throughout the campaign as a positive indicator for Reform UK, with the party having focused much of its strategy on mobilising voters who had not traditionally turned out at Welsh elections.

The pattern in Sir Gaerfyrddin echoes the result earlier this afternoon in Casnewydd Islwyn – where Reform UK and Plaid Cymru also took two seats each, with Labour reduced to a single seat and the Welsh Conservatives picking up the sixth.

It also echoes Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg, where Plaid topped the poll ahead of Reform but the same six-seat split of two Reform, two Plaid, one Labour and one Conservative was returned.

Across the south Wales results so far, Welsh Labour’s collapse from its previous position of dominance is unmistakable.

Sir Gaerfyrddin is the third constituency to declare today, with attention now turning to Gwyr Abertawe – where the count is expected to conclude shortly.

Other constituencies in our area are also expected to declare in the coming hours, including Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd, Ceredigion Penfro and Afan Ogwr Rhondda.

Reform UK leader Dan Thomas, who became an MS himself earlier today after winning a seat in Casnewydd Islwyn, said in his victory speech that “the Welsh Valleys have been ignored, let down and forgotten by the old parties of Wales” – a message that now appears to be resonating across rural and post-industrial Wales alike.

The Sir Gaerfyrddin declaration ends an era in Carmarthenshire politics – with the constituency returning no Labour MS to the Senedd for the first time since the institution was established in 1999.

The full picture of how the new 96-seat Senedd will look should become clear over the coming hours, with the latest declaration of the day expected from Fflint Wrecsam at around 5.30pm.

Polls open as voting underway across Wales for Senedd Election – live updates

(Image: ITV) Speaking on his podcast Political Currency, former Labour MP and minister Ed Balls said: “If, as…
#NewsBeep #News #UnitedKingdom #GB #GreatBritain #GreenParty #PlaidCymru #Politics #ReformUK #Seneddelection #UK #WelshConservatives #WelshLabour #WelshLiberalDemocrats
https://www.newsbeep.com/uk/571694/

https://www.europesays.com/uk/944521/ Polls open as voting underway across Wales for Senedd Election – live updates #GreenParty #News #PlaidCymru #Politics #ReformUK #SeneddElection #UK #UnitedKingdom #WelshConservatives #WelshLabour #WelshLiberalDemocrats

#WelshElections #Senedd2026, I’ll provide #media coverage on #Basque #radio. After #WelshLabour dominance, Wales may be entering a structural political transition: #PlaidCymru or #ReformUK are neck-and-neck.

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https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21681376.2024.2311099

#WelshElections #Senedd2026, I’ll provide #media coverage on #Basque #radio. After #WelshLabour dominance, Wales may be entering a structural political transition: #PlaidCymru or #ReformUK are neck-and-neck.

#UKpolitics #UK #Wales

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21681376.2024.2311099

#WelshElections #Senedd2026, I’ll provide #media coverage on #Basque #radio. After #WelshLabour dominance, Wales may be entering a structural political transition: #PlaidCymru or #ReformUK are neck-and-neck.

#UKpolitics #UK #Wales

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21681376.2024.2311099

#WelshElections #Senedd2026, I’ll provide #media coverage on #Basque #radio. After #WelshLabour dominance, Wales may be entering a structural political transition: #PlaidCymru or #ReformUK are neck-and-neck.

#UKpolitics #UK #Wales

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21681376.2024.2311099

https://www.europesays.com/britain/29457/ Final YouGov poll for Senedd Election released as one party jumps ahead #GreenParty #PlaidCymru #ReformUK #SeneddElection #UK #UnitedKingdom #WelshConservatives #WelshLabour #WelshLiberalDemocrats

https://www.europesays.com/uk/939841/ Final YouGov poll for Senedd Election released as one party jumps ahead #Britain #England #GreatBritain #GreenParty #News #NorthernIreland #PlaidCymru #ReformUK #Scotland #SeneddElection #UK #UnitedKingdom #Wales #WelshConservatives #WelshLabour #WelshLiberalDemocrats

https://www.europesays.com/uk/923308/ Leaked report exposes turmoil at failing mental health unit #Cardiff #ConservativeParty #employment #Health #Heath #LabourParty #MentalHealth #NHS #Penarth #PlaidCymru #Politics #Premium #UK #UnitedKingdom #ValeOfGlamorgan #WelshConservatives #WelshGovernment #WelshLabour

On this week’s Full Scottish, Huw Marshall and guests, Maureen Watt and Fiona Grahame discuss the weeks top Scottish and international news, including Ukraine, Gaza, an ex prince, #COP30, US Tariffs on Whisky and the SNP – Plaid Cymru agreement.

The post appeared first on Broadcasting Scotland.

Very disappointing news

No offshore wind projects were successful in the renewable energy auction, including Wales' first offshore floating wind farm, Erebus, because the government set the maximum price for generators too low

#RenewableEnergy #OffshoreWind #FLOW #FloatingOffshoreWind #WindFarm #Erebus #ContractsForDifference #Tories #Labour #GreenParty #PlaidCymru #WalesPol #UKPol

https://nation.cymru/news/uk-government-accused-of-setting-back-climate-action-as-wind-project-dealt-major-blow/