13 hours ago
Winner Lindsay Whittle says Wales 'wants a better deal'
Steven Morris
In his acceptance speech, the winning Plaid candidate, Lindsay Whittle, joked he was not used to speaking first.
He asked people to remember the late Hefin David, whose sudden death led to the byelection. “He will be a hard act to follow. I will never fill his shoes but I promise I will walk the same path that he did.
“I hope this will be an exciting time for politics in Wales. I’ve been heartened by the number of young people who have been involved in this campaign.”
Whittle also said:
Listen Cardiff and listen Westminster. This is Caerphilly. And we are telling you we want a better deal. Wales is at the dawn of a new leadership, a new beginning.
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The Caerphilly result has shown how progressive tactical voting can be harnessed to block Reform UK, according to an analyst.
Luke Tryl of the polling group More in Common posted on X:
Scale of Plaid win in Caerphilly is significant, not least because of what it says about the potential for progressive tactical voting in (relatively) high turnout elections to block Reform. Voters in this race knew it was a Plaid-Reform contest and voted accordingly.
So will this be the case in more seats and more importantly whereas Labour were the party that was squeezed here, in contests where they are the main contender against Reform can they, even as incumbents, get disillusioned progressives to come back and back them tactically.
Plaid Cymru’s winning candidate has been quoted as telling Labour after his victory that it is “definitely a dying beast”.
“You’d better get back to the drawing board, I would suggest, and think again because you are on your way out.”
Lindsay Whittle made the remarks after being asked what message the Caerphilly result had sent the party, PA Media reports.
The constituency’s new member of the Welsh parliament also said:
You are on your way out after 100-plus years. The Labour party, I’m afraid, now is definitely a dying beast.
It is a dying beast. They can go and lick their wounds but most dying beasts peacefully leave us.
Plaid Cymru garnered a little over 47% of the vote in Caerphilly against Reform UK’s 36%, with Labour a distant third, says BritainElects.
In a post on social media the poll aggregator put the percentages at:
Plaid 47.4%
Reform 36.0%
Labour 11.0%
Conservatives 2.0%
Greens 1.5%
Liberal Democrats 1.5%
Gwlad 0.3%
Ukip 0.2%
Plaid’s byelection win comes as a vote on the Welsh government’s budget is ahead and causing concern for the Labour administration.
Now Labour it will have only 29 of the 60 seats in the Senedd and deals will have to be made to get the 2026-27 budget through.
When passing its last budget in March, the Welsh government needed the vote of an opposition member to get it passed by a slim margin.
As Steven Morris has reported, Labour’s standing in Wales has dropped off a cliff since Vaughan Gething stepped down as first minister last year amid a donations scandal.
His successor, Eluned Morgan, has tried – but so far failed – to draw a line between Welsh Labour and the increasingly unpopular UK party.
Returning to Lindsay Whittle’s acceptance speech after his big win, the Plaid Cymru candidate also said he had been “absolutely heartened” by the number of young people involved in the campaign.
Across the entire constituency, people not interested in politics have been – I’ve had selfies taken before, I’ve never had this.
At that point he addressed Cardiff and Westminster directly, saying “we’re telling you we want a better deal for every corner of Wales”.
Whittle, who will represent Caerphilly in the Senedd, said:
The big parties need to sit up and take notice. We’re at the dawn of new leadership, we’re at the dawn of a new beginning, and I look forward to playing my part for a new Wales.
And in particular, for the people of the Caerphilly constituency, I thank you with all of my heart. This is better than scoring the winning try for Wales against New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup.
Returning now to comments from Labor’s Huw Irranca-Davies, its most senior figure at the Caerphilly count also said the party needed to do “some really rapid reflection on the reasons” for its defeat.
I think we need to get back to focusing on those bread and butter issues, things such as cost of living, the money in people’s pockets, jobs and opportunities for young people here but also the quality of the towns, the environment.
Irranca-Davies, the deputy first minister of Wales, criticised Reform for focusing on immigration, saying the byelection campaign had been “characterised by messages of division and discord from one particular party”, and insisted Labour would fight back.
We’ve always been good at running an energetic election campaign. We have loyal volunteers who will come out and they will work the streets in a way that no other party will do. We’ll have the in-depth conversations.
Irranca-Davies also said Labour needed to remind people that Welsh Labour defended them when the Tories were in power in the UK government. Now Labor had “a compelling and serious forward offer here in Wales, helped by the UK government”, he said.
We’re starting to turn the corner. Our challenge is in the next six months saying to people, things will get better, hope, aspiration, and we can do it when we have two governments working together. And that’s our challenge, and it’s a big challenge.
Welsh Labour’s leader, Eluned Morgan, says it has “heard the frustration on doorsteps in Caerphilly” and that it takes its share of the responsibility for the byelection loss.
A statement from Morgan, the first minister of Wales, said:
This was a byelection in the toughest of circumstances, and in the midst of difficult headwinds nationally. I want to thank our candidate, Richard Tunnicliffe - a good man who stood because of his desire to serve his community.
I congratulate Lindsey Whittle on his victory tonight. He returns to the Senedd, continuing his many decades of elected service to people in Caerphilly.
Welsh Labour has heard the frustration on doorsteps in Caerphilly that the need to feel change in people’s lives has not been quick enough. We take our share of the responsibility for this result. We are listening, we are learning the lessons, and we will be come back stronger.
Plaid Cymru’s byelection win in south Wales is a dramatic result signalling a sharp realignment in Welsh politics with repercussions for the whole of Britain, writes Steven Morris in his full report on the win.
Rhun ap Iorwerth’s party, which wants Wales to become independent, seized the Senedd (Welsh parliament) constituency from Labour and resisted a fierce challenge from Reform UK.
“Listen Cardiff and listen Westminster,” Plaid’s Lindsay Whittle said after his win. “This is Caerphilly. And we are telling you we want a better deal. Wales is at the dawn of a new leadership, a new beginning.”
See the full report here:
Labour minister strikes defiant tone after loss
Steven Morris
The most senior Labour figure at the count, Huw Irranca-Davies – the deputy first minister of Wales – accepted the party would have to think deeply about the result but struck a defiant tone.
He said:
Some people are now writing us off. I have to paraphrase Mark Twain: rumours about death are greatly exaggerated. We are a formidable force and there are deep roots of Labour in these communities.
Going forward, what we need to do is actually be very bold, very brave and on the front foot and actually deal with the doom-mongers that only want to sow the politics of discord and discontent and get on the front foot again. Politics is always won by hope and aspiration and being on the side of people and saying you can have a better future.
Irranca-Davies also said:
There have been occasions before where Wales has lost seats that are deep red and on those occasions we’ve come back and we’ve bounced back. And the reason we’ve bounced back is we’ve come back having listened and come back with a compelling vision for people that is better than the doom and discord of people like Reform.
Reform is utter doom, utter misery, utter everybody else’s fault. And what we need to say to people is actually there is a different type of politics here. You’ve seen this not just within the UK over decades but internationally, the best leaders are the ones that can lift people’s heads up and say we can be better so much better than this. So it’s all to play for.
I have no difficulty being written off as my party as the underdog in this. Underdogs could bite back.
Steven Morris
The Plaid leader, Rhun ap Iorwerth, said the result meant his party was in the driving seat to take control of the Welsh government at next year’s Senedd elections.
He said:
We had a very clear message that we wanted to get across to people - the strength of our candidate, our commitment to this area where Plaid Cymru has roots going back so so many years and the fact that we as a party are in a place where we are setting sights on leading government from next year.
Plus also of course there was the element of wanting to stop Reform and showing that we could stop Reform here in Wales.
Ap Iorwerth said the party would now set its sights on winning power.
There is deep, deep disillusionment with Labour, both on a UK level and at a Welsh government level, and the people are looking for new leadership. A Plaid Cymru win here tonight is the clearest evidence yet of who is in the driving seat to lead government for next year. I want people to see Plaid Cymru as being that positive alternative.
We’ve known throughout this campaign that the results here would have a real bearing on how people would consider their options ahead of next May. This is about the future of Wales, about us, as a Plaid Cymru team, working with the people of Wales to change Wales forever.
Ap Iorwerth said Plaid had to show voters there was an alternative to Reform.
What we are trying to do is persuade them that there’s a positive alternative. We need parties with ideas, with the energy, with the drive, and a focus on the future of Wales. And I don’t think Reform have shown in anything that they’ve done that they are particularly interested in Wales. It’s all about getting Nigel Farage to Downing Street.
Steven Morris
The losing Reform candidate, Llŷr Powell, made no speech from the stage after the result was announced. Speaking to reporters, he said he was excited at what the party had built in Wales.
We decimated Labour. It’s a massive gain for us here.
Powell rejected the idea the result was a blow for Nigel Farage and said the party would continue to get more voters registered and would do well at next year’s full Senedd elections.
Steven Morris
The losing Labour candidate, Richard Tunnicliffe, said his party had run a positive campaign and had knocked on 75,000 doors.
He said Labour would campaign hard ahead of next year’s full Senedd elections.
Winner Lindsay Whittle says Wales 'wants a better deal'
Steven Morris
In his acceptance speech, the winning Plaid candidate, Lindsay Whittle, joked he was not used to speaking first.
He asked people to remember the late Hefin David, whose sudden death led to the byelection. “He will be a hard act to follow. I will never fill his shoes but I promise I will walk the same path that he did.
“I hope this will be an exciting time for politics in Wales. I’ve been heartened by the number of young people who have been involved in this campaign.”
Whittle also said:
Listen Cardiff and listen Westminster. This is Caerphilly. And we are telling you we want a better deal. Wales is at the dawn of a new leadership, a new beginning.
How each candidate polled
The vote numbers for the eight candidates in the byelection have come in at:
Plaid Cymru’s Lindsay Whittle – 15,961
Reform UK’s Llyr Powell – 12,113
Labour’s Richard Tunnicliffe – 3,713
Conservatives’ Gareth Potter – 690
Greens’ Gareth Hughes – 516
Liberal Democrats’ Steve Aicheler – 497
Gwlad’s Anthony Cook – 117
Ukip’s Roger Quilliam – 79
Whittle to Westminster: 'Don’t take us for granted'
Lindsay Whittle has said the message to Westminster from his byelection win is:
Don’t take us for granted. That’s what’s happened in the past.
More on this shortly.
Plaid beats challenge from Reform to win byelection
Plaid candidate Lindsay Whittle has been announced as the byelection winner.
White received 15,961 votes, it was announced at the counting centre, while Reform’s Llyr Powell received 12,113.
Whittle has spoken – we’ll bring you his comments in a moment.
“It’s 14th time lucky for Lindsay Whittle,” the audience at the counting centre is told of the candidate, who has been a local councillor for half a century.
The byelection candidates are being summoned to the stage at the Caerphilly leisure centre – a result could be immindent.
