IT was a Black Friday for the red rosettes of Labour in Barry Leisure Centre as the new electoral system for the Welsh Senedd was finally tested in the real world.
The theory, one suspects, was supposed to be different. The new Penybont Bro Morgannwg constituency, more or less made up of Bridgend and the Vale of Glamorgan – had two sitting Labour Members of Senedd – Sarah Murphy and Jane Hutt, although Ms Hutt was standing down.
So, No 1 on the list was Ms Murphy, and in No 2, Labour chose Huw David, who was the Leader of Bridgend County Borough Council (BCBC) until he stood down around 18 months ago. Now Huw is a pretty safe pair of hands – personable and popular and not gaffe prone. Only the most rabid Tory or Reform supporter would be likely to give him a kicking.
But, in the final week of the campaign, it was clear that Labour were worried. A rash of social media posts appeared in the Bridgend area, with friends of Huw passing on good things about him. There was even a visit from Labour’s King in the North – Andy Burnham – who revealed himself as a Huw fan.
It did no good.
When the votes were counted, it was a win for Plaid Cymru (27,407) with Reform in second (24,602). The Conservatives were third (12,464). This must have been a shock to Labour, who trailed in fourth with 9,518.
It was these four who would go on to contest the six seats on the list and, after the first five were decided, Labour were out in the cold. Two Plaid, two Reform and one Conservative. Seat number six – and there must have been quite a sigh of relief from the Labour ranks, went to Sarah Murphy.
Our headline says it could have been worse – and it could. How so?
Well, Plaid Cymru have quite a power base in Dinas Powys, which normally votes in the Vale. For this constituency, they were moved to Caerdydd – Penarth, where they did their bit, bolstering Plaid’s vote so that they took three seats there.
However, back in the Vale, Plaid must have rued their departure. When it comes to deciding who gets the sixth seat, the calculations can get messy but an extra 1,600 Plaid votes (I think) would have meant three Plaid Member of Senedd and no Labour.
The six Members are as follows:
Mark Hooper and Sarah Rees (Plaid).
Sarah Cooper- Lesadd and Gareth Thomas (Reform).
Andrew RT Davies (Conservative).
Sarah Murphy (Labour).
The turnout was 53.73% and the number of voters was 81,954.
This meant that The Green Party – with 4,320 – did retain their deposit as they cleared the five per cent hurdle.
It was a costly night for the Lib Dems (2,175). Under the rules, they lost £500 for the No 1 on the list, and £200 for each of the others on the list.
Other results (all losing their £500 deposit) were as follows:
Heritage Party – Gill White – 429.
Independent – William Jeffreys – 221.
Independent – Caroline Jones – 651.
Independent – Lucia Wyatt – 114.
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