Senedd Election: Reaction
Labour is on course to keep control of the Welsh Government, as the final votes are counted today.
Last updated 8th May 2021
They've got half of the seats at the Senedd equalling their best-ever results...and need one more for a majority.
Speaking after extending his Cardiff West seat’s majority by more than 10,000 votes, Mark Drakeford said: “No party has ever won a majority in the Senedd. It’s very hard to find those extra couple of seats.
“But we will be far closer to it than I think anybody imagined we would be.
“I will want to sit down tomorrow when we have a full suite of results in front of us to think about how we can achieve what we need here in Wales, which is a stable and progressive government.”
Vaughan Gething said indications of a strong Senedd election result for Welsh Labour showed the UK party that it can win elections by listening to the public.
Asked if he had a message for Sir Keir Starmer about the direction of the Labour Party, Mr Gething said: “The message for all of us is keep on listening to what the public are saying.
“Don’t tell the public they’re wrong when they vote, try to understand why they’ve chosen to vote in a different way. Listen and do the right things that are consistent with our values.
“You can’t simply assume that people will continue to vote for you as a result of old tribal loyalty.”
The Welsh Conservatives have 14 seats. Party leader leader in the Senedd Andrew RT Davies said his party’s taking of Vale of Clwyd from Labour was a “brilliant result” but suggested his party may not have done enough to take other Labour-held target seats in North Wales.
Mr Davies told the PA news agency: “It does seem from other seats that have been declared in other parts of Wales that the Labour voters have come home to it after the, shall we say, Brexit election of 2019.
“We wait to see what the results are that come in over the next couple of hours and we look forward to seeing where the final numbers settle.”
Plaid Cymru have eleven seats. The big shock of the evening was Leanne Wood losing Rhondda to Labour, with a 19 percent swing.
Welsh Liberal Democrats have one seat after their party leader Jane Dodds was elected MS for Mid and West Wales.Speaking after her declaration Jane Dodds MS said: "The challenges facing Wales as we emerge from the pandemic must be met by a Senedd that focuses on the needs of communities across Wales.
"My commitment to everyone, whether you voted for the Welsh Liberal Democrats or not, is that we will work constructively and do everything we can to put recovery first.
"Wales needs a recovery for our communities with a plan to support jobs, small businesses and high streets.
"We need a recovery that has a plan to tackle the climate emergency and a recovery that prioritises mental health and wellbeing.
"The next Welsh Government can, and must act on these issues.
"Now more than ever politicians need to focus on our communities and people’s needs. We need more light, and less heat in our political debate. More unity and less division.
"We need plans that meet the real fears that people feel, with genuine hope, and optimism, for the future."