Reform UK, now the official opposition in the Welsh parliament (Senedd), has made a contentious debut with controversial statements from its Members (MSs), sparking tears, walkouts, and rebukes, amid concerns over their approach to democracy and parliamentary conduct.
Andy Burnham has emerged as a potential leader for the Labour party after a byelection victory in Makerfield, defeating Reform. His campaign highlighted his ability to connect with people and generate excitement, contrasting with Keir Starmer's perceived lack of warmth. However, Burnham faces challenges in translating his local success into a national project and clarifying his stance on key issues like immigration and economic policy.
The Welsh government announced an additional £55m to provide 3,300 new childcare places for two-year-olds, offering 12.5 hours weekly. This funding, part of Plaid Cymru's supplementary budget, aims to expand childcare access, with plans for a universal 20-hour offer by 2030.
The Welsh government will spend an additional £55m this year to expand childcare for two-year-olds, offering 12.5 hours per week and creating 3,300 new places. This funding is part of Plaid Cymru's flagship policy to provide universal childcare for children aged nine months to four years by May 2030, though specific timelines for younger babies and potential funding cuts remain unclear.
Labour lost its century-long hold on Wales in a Senedd election shock, with Plaid Cymru and Reform UK winning seats in former Labour strongholds like Tredegar. Voters expressed disillusionment with Labour, citing a disconnect from working people and concerns about the rise of Reform UK.
Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru is sworn in as Wales' first non-Labour first minister, promising a new era of governance and working constructively with the UK government for Wales' best interests.
Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru becomes Wales' first non-Labour first minister after historic election win, promising a government for all communities and vowing to address NHS waiting lists, education, and economic growth.
Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru becomes Wales' first minister after his party's historic election victory, promising a government for all communities
Appointment confirmed by plenary vote in Senedd after party ended 100 years of Labour rule in last week’s electionRhun ap Iorwerth has been voted first minister of Wales after Plaid Cymru’s Senedd electoral victory ended 100 years of Labour hegemony and held off Reform UK.Ap Iorwerth was confirmed after a plenary vote on Tuesday with the support of the 43 Senedd members of his party and two Greens. Continue reading...
Rhun ap Iorwerth says he hopes to work with other parties and press the UK government for extra powersUK politics live – latest updatesThe leader of Plaid Cymru, Rhun ap Iorwerth, has vowed to form a stable minority government in the Senedd and said he would seek out mature cooperation from all opposition parties.Ap Iorwerth said his administration would press the UK government for extra powers over policy areas such as policing and justice and focus on results rather than engaging in political rows with Westminster. Continue reading...
Rhun ap Iowerth says he hopes his party’s programme for government will get backing from across the SeneddUK politics live – latest updatesThe leader of Plaid Cymru is hoping to become Welsh first minister as early as Tuesday after his party won a historic victory in the Senedd elections, soundly beating Labour and holding off Reform UK.Plaid fell short of winning a majority in the Welsh parliament but Rhun ap Iorwerth said on Sunday he hoped that other parties would work with him and told UK Labour not to punish Wales over the result. Continue reading...
Disregard from UK Labour and struggling public services are just some of reasons behind ‘astonishing’ collapseBy Friday night, Keir Starmer and much of the Westminster Labour group were quietly relieved that the local election results in England hadn’t been quite as bad as feared. In Wales, however, Labour’s collapse in the Senedd was even more total than the most pessimistic predictions.For more than 100 years, Welsh Labour was the democratic world’s most successful election-winning machine, but the political behemoth limped into third place this week with just nine seats in a 96-seat parliament. A new chapter in Wales’s political and cultural history has opened: pro-independence Plaid Cymru is set to form a minority government. Continue reading...
Disregard from UK Labour and struggling public services are just some of reasons behind ‘astonishing’ collapseUK politics live – latest updatesBy Friday night, Keir Starmer and much of the Westminster Labour group were quietly relieved that the local election results in England hadn’t been quite as bad as feared. In Wales, however, Labour’s collapse in the Senedd was even more total than the most pessimistic predictions.For more than 100 years, Welsh Labour was the democratic world’s most successful election-winning machine, but the political behemoth limped into third place this week with just nine seats in a 96-seat parliament. A new chapter in Wales’s political and cultural history has opened: pro-independence Plaid Cymru is set to form a minority government. Continue reading...
Welsh Labour leader and first minister Eluned Morgan loses seat with party pushed into third place behind Plaid Cymru and ReformThis liveblog is now closed. Read the Guardian’s report on the elections here and find all our election coverage here.2026 election results: latest from local, Scottish and Welsh votes2026 elections mapped: how Labour lost ground in different directionsWe’re getting statements from some of the political parties now as we wait for results.For the Conservatives, party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said:We have run an energetic and positive campaign, showcasing that we have a clear plan to get Britain working again and that we have the team to deliver it... We know that so soon after a historic general election defeat and contesting wards won during the Party’s polling highs, that this will be a difficult set of elections for us. But we will continue to rebuild and to show the public that we have changed, to demonstrate that only this new Conservative party is a credible alternative.People are deeply disappointed with a Labour government that has been too timid to fix the country, but they are also appalled by the rise of Reform and Nigel Farage’s Trump-style politics. While those on the extremes of the right and the left want to burn everything down, Liberal Democrats want to fix what’s broken. Every Liberal Democrat local champion elected today will fight tirelessly for the communities they serve.I’ve travelled across England and Wales and I’m hearing the same everywhere I go – confidence that we will win more councillors than ever before. The news from the doorstep is that we will be taking seats from not just Labour but the Tories and Lib Dems too, from all across the country. Voters are responding to the fact that Greens are the only party taking the cost-of-living crisis seriously, with real plans to cut bills, reduce rents and provide genuinely affordable homes, as well as tackling the climate and nature crisis.Throughout this election, we have heard a clear appetite for change. People want a government that will stand up for Wales and focus relentlessly on the key issues affecting their lives. People have told us they have been inspired by Rhun ap Iorwerth’s leadership and driven by a desire for a positive alternative to Reform UK’s chaos and division. Continue reading...
Senior Labour MPs urge prime minister to step down within year as party suffers loss of hundreds of English council seats and humbling in WalesElection 2026 live: latest news updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesKeir Starmer is under pressure to set out a timeline for his departure after a crushing defeat in elections across Britain prompted senior Labour MPs to call for him to step down within a year.In a disastrous set of results, Labour lost hundreds of council seats in England, many to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK, which made big gains across the Midlands and the north as well as taking seats from the Tories in the South.Nigel Farage said a “truly historic shift in British politics” had occurred after Reform UK won hundreds of seats and control of more councils in England. The gains included Essex where the Tory leader, Kemi Badenoch, has her constituency and which the Conservatives held for 25 years.Plaid Cymru became the largest party in Wales, beating Reform into second place, after Labour admitted it was on course to lose control of the Senedd for the first time since devolution. Morgan, the first woman to lead the Welsh government, became the highest-profile casualty and called on Labour to “go back to being the party of the working class”.The SNP leader, John Swinney, declared victory in the Holyrood elections – though was expected to fall short of an outright majority. The Scottish Labour leader, Anas Sarwar, conceded defeat saying his party had failed to counter “national dissatisfaction” with Starmer.The Greens gained their first two directly elected mayors – in Hackney and Lewisham – although they missed out on some more ambitious targets in London, as their leader, Zack Polanski, declared Britain’s two-party politics “dead and buried”. They also won three councils: Norwich, Hastings and Waltham Forest.The Tories were on course to lose hundreds of seats – both to Reform and the Liberal Democrats – across the south of England. However, they won back the flagship Westminster council in central London, with Badenoch announcing it meant the party was “coming back”.Labour appeared to be struggling in its London stronghold, despite early indications that its vote was holding up, unexpectedly losing control of Brent. Party insiders were closely watching councils including Lambeth, Lewisham and Haringey. Continue reading...
Leader Rhun ap Iorwerth says he is ready to become first minister and form next Welsh governmentElection 2026 live: latest news updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesPlaid Cymru has won the Welsh Senedd elections, ending 100 years of Labour dominance in Wales and blocking the momentum of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.The leader of the centre-left Welsh nationalist party, Rhun ap Iorwerth, said he stood ready to become first minister and form the next Welsh government, taking over from Welsh Labour, who have governed in Wales since devolution began in 1997. Continue reading...
Welsh Labour leader and first minister Eluned Morgan loses seat with party pushed into third place behind Plaid Cymru and Reform2026 election results: latest from local, Scottish and Welsh votesWe’re getting statements from some of the political parties now as we wait for results.For the Conservatives, party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said:We have run an energetic and positive campaign, showcasing that we have a clear plan to get Britain working again and that we have the team to deliver it... We know that so soon after a historic general election defeat and contesting wards won during the Party’s polling highs, that this will be a difficult set of elections for us. But we will continue to rebuild and to show the public that we have changed, to demonstrate that only this new Conservative party is a credible alternative.People are deeply disappointed with a Labour government that has been too timid to fix the country, but they are also appalled by the rise of Reform and Nigel Farage’s Trump-style politics. While those on the extremes of the right and the left want to burn everything down, Liberal Democrats want to fix what’s broken. Every Liberal Democrat local champion elected today will fight tirelessly for the communities they serve.I’ve travelled across England and Wales and I’m hearing the same everywhere I go – confidence that we will win more councillors than ever before. The news from the doorstep is that we will be taking seats from not just Labour but the Tories and Lib Dems too, from all across the country. Voters are responding to the fact that Greens are the only party taking the cost-of-living crisis seriously, with real plans to cut bills, reduce rents and provide genuinely affordable homes, as well as tackling the climate and nature crisis.Throughout this election, we have heard a clear appetite for change. People want a government that will stand up for Wales and focus relentlessly on the key issues affecting their lives. People have told us they have been inspired by Rhun ap Iorwerth’s leadership and driven by a desire for a positive alternative to Reform UK’s chaos and division. Continue reading...
Welsh nationalist party able to form minority government in Wales, blocking momentum of Reform UKElection 2026 live: latest news updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesPlaid Cymru have won 42 seats in Wales’s Senedd election, putting the Welsh nationalists in position to form a minority government and ending more than 100 years of Labour hegemony.Polls consistently suggested Plaid Cymru and Reform UK were neck and neck in the race to become the biggest party under Wales’s new more proportional voting system. As in last year’s closely watched Caerphilly Senedd byelection, however, the contest was not as close as predicted. Reform has come in second, with 34 seats – up from 1% of the vote share in 2021’s election. Continue reading...
First time Welsh nationalist party has enough support to run Wales, while also blocking momentum of Reform UKElection 2026 live: latest news updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesPlaid Cymru is on course to declare victory in the Welsh Senedd elections, a result that would simultaneously end nearly 30 years of Labour dominance in devolved politics in Wales and block the momentum of Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.By early Friday evening, with 14 of 16 constituencies declared, the centre-left Welsh nationalist party appeared poised to win enough support to lead the nation, replacing Welsh Labour, which had won the largest vote share in every electoral contest in Wales for more than 100 years. Continue reading...
Plaid Cymru set to take power in Wales and SNP to retain it in Scotland, but Reform made big gains in both nationsElection 2026 live: latest news updatesFull results from England, Scotland and WalesThe polls were terrible, the predictions dire and even one of his predecessors as Labour leader, Ed Miliband, had reportedly told Keir Starmer he should set a timetable for his resignation.But for the prime minister, as polls closed in Wales, Scotland and many regions of England, there would be no consideration of such a course. “To all the Labour members and volunteers who have supported local campaigns across the country: thank you,” he posted on X late on Thursday. “Together we will build a stronger and fairer Britain.” Continue reading...
Tory leader tells Sun that there won’t be council tie-ups as Farage’s party is not ‘serious’ as votes under way in England, Wales and ScotlandAnd here is the eve-of-poll statement that Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru leader, issued yesterday.Service is a value which has always sustained Wales. It’s a value instilled in me from a young age by my parents, both teachers. It’s a value I’ve sought to pass on to my children - the gift of giving back to the people and places who gave us so much.Tomorrow is a chance for the people of Wales to choose who serves our nation for the next four years. It’s Plaid Cymru’s deep sense of service to Wales - focusing just on our needs and our future - that first drew me to politics.Today is Scotland’s opportunity to choose a better future by voting SNP for real action on the cost of living, to lock Nigel Farage out of power, and to secure a fresh start with independence. I urge people in every part of Scotland to unite behind the SNP to make it happen. The SNP is the only party that has set out a positive vision for Scotland’s future - and we are the only party with a serious plan to support people with the cost of living. We have set out our plans to bring down food costs, give families more support with the cost of childcare, lower the cost of your daily commute and provide more support for first time buyers. The SNP wants to lower your bills – but all the other parties want to do is stop us. They have no plan of their own and nothing to offer. They want you to vote for an opposition to stop things happening. I am asking people to vote for an SNP Government to get things done. By casting both votes for the SNP, Scotland can elect a strong majority SNP government that will always stand up for Scotland, prioritise the cost of living, and deliver that fresh start of independence that Scotland needs. That opportunity of a better future is now within touching distance. Let’s make it happen today by voting SNP. Continue reading...
Tory leader tells Sun that there won’t be council tie-ups as Farage’s party is not ‘serious’ as votes under way in England, Wales and ScotlandAnd here is the eve-of-poll statement that Rhun ap Iorwerth, the Plaid Cymru leader, issued yesterday.Service is a value which has always sustained Wales. It’s a value instilled in me from a young age by my parents, both teachers. It’s a value I’ve sought to pass on to my children - the gift of giving back to the people and places who gave us so much.Tomorrow is a chance for the people of Wales to choose who serves our nation for the next four years. It’s Plaid Cymru’s deep sense of service to Wales - focusing just on our needs and our future - that first drew me to politics.Today is Scotland’s opportunity to choose a better future by voting SNP for real action on the cost of living, to lock Nigel Farage out of power, and to secure a fresh start with independence. I urge people in every part of Scotland to unite behind the SNP to make it happen. The SNP is the only party that has set out a positive vision for Scotland’s future - and we are the only party with a serious plan to support people with the cost of living. We have set out our plans to bring down food costs, give families more support with the cost of childcare, lower the cost of your daily commute and provide more support for first time buyers. The SNP wants to lower your bills – but all the other parties want to do is stop us. They have no plan of their own and nothing to offer. They want you to vote for an opposition to stop things happening. I am asking people to vote for an SNP Government to get things done. By casting both votes for the SNP, Scotland can elect a strong majority SNP government that will always stand up for Scotland, prioritise the cost of living, and deliver that fresh start of independence that Scotland needs. That opportunity of a better future is now within touching distance. Let’s make it happen today by voting SNP. Continue reading...
Polls suggest Reform could win most seats in Senedd election but party is unlikely to be able to form governmentUK politics live – latest updatesOn a sunny but cold evening in a shopping centre car park on the outskirts of Merthyr Tydfil, Reform UK supporters enjoyed free pizza and loud music as they waited for what the party leader, Nigel Farage, said was his last big speech before Thursday’s Welsh Senedd, Scottish parliament and English local elections.Reform could win the most seats under Wales’s new more proportional voting system but it is unlikely to be able to form a government, as other parties have ruled out going into coalition with it. Yet Farage’s outfit is the first rightwing party with a shot at winning in Wales since the 1850s. The surge in support for a party that got 1% of the vote in the last Senedd election is impossible to ignore. Continue reading...
Will Reform take Sunderland, or the Greens take Hackney? Can Plaid Cymru take a historic victory in Wales, and will Labour be forced into third place in Scotland? We examine the possible outcomes for election nightThe Scottish, Welsh, and local English elections on Thursday 7 May are a huge test for all the main political parties – and may be existential for Keir Starmer as prime minister and Labour leader.The elections, two years into a Labour government, will see more than 30 million people across England, Wales and Scotland vote in the devolved administrations, in six mayoral races, and for more than 4,500 councillors in city and county councils. Continue reading...
