There’s no point going into any detail on this as you’ll all know what’s happened by now: Labour landslide and a Tory-free Wales.
As expected, there was a comfortable win for Labour in the new Bridgend constituency, notionally gaining it from the Conservatives. The Tories will have a tough time trying to get it back.
The only other thing of real note is the strong performance of Reform’s Caroline Jones – matching the second-place finishes by Reform across Wales. Assuming the momentum can sustain itself into 2026, then under the new Senedd voting system there’s the prospect of them doing very well.
Given that Independent candidates have never really done well in UK elections, retaining his deposit and pushing Plaid Cymru close for fourth place isn’t a bad result for Cllr. Mark John.
Debra Cooper has also had the best performance by a Green candidate in the Bridgend constituency, falling just short of a retained deposit.
No surprises in Aberafan Maesteg either.
A stronger Plaid Cymru performance than in Bridgend was expected, but it’s another even stronger showing by Reform.
Stephen Kinnock not managing to get over the 50% of the vote mark is also a bit of a surprise – Labour’s vote seemingly fell across Wales as a whole – even if it didn’t make any difference to the result.
The picture in Rhondda & Ogmore matched Bridgend and Aberafan-Maesteg. There was never any real doubt about whether Chris Bryant would keep his seat.
Plaid Cymru will probably be disappointed to have finished so far behind Reform, despite increasing their vote share.
