Elections in Wales

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There are four types of elections in Wales: elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elections to the devolved Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh: Senedd Cymru), local elections to community councils and the 22 principal areas, and the police and crime commissioner elections. In addition there are by-elections for each aforementioned election. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday. Three of these four types of elections are held after fixed periods; the exception is UK general elections, the timing of which is at the discretion of the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Senedd elections may be postponed to avoid elections to the UK parliament and Senedd coinciding with each other.

The two electoral systems used for elections in Wales are: first-past-the-post (for UK elections, police and crime commissioner elections and local elections, though individual local authorities are able to move to STV under recent Welsh legislation) and the Closed Lists (for Senedd elections). The supplementary vote system was previously used for police and crime commissioner elections, until the system was switched for those elections to first-past-the-post under provision made by the Elections Act 2022. The previous Additional Members System for the Senedd was replaced for Closed list by the e Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024.^[1]

There are elections to 22 unitary authorities across Wales every four years, most recently on 5 May 2022. The electoral system used is first-past-the-post. The largest unitary authorities in Wales are Cardiff, Newport and Swansea councils, which all lie in the southern coastal belt.

• The next Welsh local elections are scheduled for 2027
• Local election results 2022
• Local election results 2017
• Local election results 2012
• Local election results 2008
• Local election results 2004
• Local election results 1999
• Local election results 1995
• Local election results 1993

Police and crime commissioners were established in England and Wales, replacing the local police authorities, following the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement of 2010, with the first police and crime commissioners elected in 2012.

• 2024 England and Wales police and crime commissioner elections
• 2021 England and Wales police and crime commissioner elections
• 2016 England and Wales police and crime commissioner elections
• 2012 England and Wales police and crime commissioner elections

This section needs to be updated. The reason given is: Reform Act passing. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (July 2024)

There have been six elections to the devolved parliament of Wales, based in Cardiff Bay since 1999. These elections are held every five years to elect sixty Members of the Senedd (MSs; formerly Assembly Members, ASs). Voters have two votes: forty MSs are elected by the First Past the Post system in individual constituencies, and a further twenty MSs are elected by a regional top-up system in which voters vote by region. This system overall is called Additional Members System (AMS) and is a hybrid electoral system mixing both a plurality system (FPTP) and a proportional system (the party list system). The regions are: Mid and West Wales, North Wales, South Wales Central, South Wales East and South Wales West, whereas the constituencies are the same used for elections to the UK parliament. Each region elects four MSs, to achieve approximately proportional representation overall, with every individual in Wales being represented by five MSs in total, their local constituency MS and four regional MSs. Between its inception in 1999, it was known as the 'National Assembly for Wales'. Legislation was passed in 2020, for a name change on 6 May 2020 to its current name, 'Senedd Cymru' or the 'Welsh Parliament' (or simply 'Senedd') to fully reflect its constitutional status as a law-making and tax-setting parliament.^[2] It is based in Cardiff Bay, initially (as the Assembly) in Tŷ Hywel from 1999 to 2006, until it moved to the Senedd building, which opened on 1 March 2006, where the Assembly and now Senedd has been based since 2006. The elections were held every four years from 1999, but were increased to five years following the Wales Act 2014 for the 2016 election.

The 2021 Senedd election on 6 May 2021, was the first election to the devolved parliament since its name change. The election took place akin to previous elections when it was known as the National Assembly for Wales.

The Richard Commission report of 2004 suggested an increase of the number of Members to 80. That number was also suggested, as a minimum, by the 2014 report of the Silk Commission.^[3] Similarly, in 2013 and 2016, the Electoral Reform Society published reports making the case for an upsize of the Assembly.^[4][5] A 2017 report of an expert commission suggested an increase to between 80 and 90 Members, switching to single transferable vote (STV) and enforcing gender quotas.^[3]

A reduction in the number of Welsh MPs has been proposed for the next UK general alection. Under the proposals, the number of MPs would be reduced from 40 to 32 and new constituency boundaries have also been proposed.^[6] The boundary plans were published on 19 October 2022 and voters have four weeks to comment. The map of the new constituency boundaries would also be used as Senedd regions for the next Senedd election.^[7]

The Special Committee was set up on 6 October 2021.^[8] In May 2022, a joint position statement was published by First Minister Mark Drakeford and Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price,^[9] calling for a 96-Member Senedd, all elected through closed party list proportional representation (using the D'Hondt method) with mandatory "zipping" of male and female candidates in the list to ensure that for every party, half of the Members will be women.^[10]

The final report of the Special Committee was published on 30 May 2022 and recommended the system agreed to by the Labour and Plaid Cymru leaders.^[11]

In September 2023, the Welsh Government published its plans for electoral reform as part of the proposed Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill. The number of Senedd constituencies is set to fall to 16, with each constituency electing six MSs from a closed list under the D'Hondt method. Under the proposals, all candidates must live in Wales, and elections would take place every four years, rather than five.^[12]

Elections to the institution prior to 2020, with the last being in 2016, were done under the previous name the 'National Assembly for Wales' (see below). Following legislation in 2020, any subsequent elections, from the 2021 Senedd election will be under its new name.

The next Senedd election is expected to be held on Thursday 7 May 2026, under the provisions of the Wales Act 2014 where Senedd terms are five-year terms. This date can be postponed under circumstances including public health or safety emergencies, or an early UK parliamentary election (itself expected in 2024, but can be held prior).

It was the sixth general election since the establishment of the institution in 1999. It was held along with the other 2021 United Kingdom local elections and was the first election where 16 and 17-year-olds were allowed to vote in Wales, which is the largest extension of the franchise in Wales since 1969. Both changes were a result of the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill 2019.^[13]

Overall turnout: 46.5%

Elections to the then 'National Assembly for Wales' (or Welsh Assembly') occurred from its first election in 1999 up until the 2016 election (with any subsequent elections being as the 'Senedd'). This follows the 1997 devolution referendum where Welsh voters narrowly approved the formation of the devolved institution. The institution is now known as the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Welsh: Senedd Cymru) (see above).

Overall turnout: 45.3%

Overall turnout: 42.2%

Overall turnout: 43.7%

Overall turnout: 38.2%

A map showing the constituency winners (left) and additional members by electoral region (right) of the election by their party colours.

Overall turnout: 46%

Wales has been eligible to send MPs to Westminster since the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Between then and 1885, most constituencies were categorised as county or borough constituencies; each sent one MP to Westminster. As the Industrial Revolution took hold there were many calls for reform (particularly in towns such as Merthyr Tydfil). Parliament eventually^[when?] allowed the new towns to vote, and this introduced the first Labour MPs. The first leader of the Labour Party in Parliament, Keir Hardie, was one of the two MPs for Merthyr Tydfil. The following table shows the composition of Wales' Westminster MPs since 1885.

Party[14]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total	%	Change
	Labour	22	0	6	6	55	632,035	40.9	8.0
	Conservative	14	6[a]	0	6	35	557,234	36.1	2.5
	Plaid Cymru	4	0	0		10	153,265	9.9	0.5
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	0[b]		0	92,171	6.0	1.5
	Brexit Party	0	0	0		0	83,908	5.4	new
	Green	0	0	0		0	15,828	1.0	0.7
	Independents	0	0	0[c]		0	6,220	0.4	N/A
	Gwlad	0	0	0		0	1,515	0.1	new
	Cynon Valley	0	0	0		0	1,322	0.1	new
	Monster Raving Loony	0	0	0		0	345	0.0
	Christian	0	0	0		0	245	0.0	new[d]
	SDP	0	0	0		0	181	0.0	new[d]
	Socialist Alternative	0	0	0		0	88	0.0	new[e]
Total		40					1,544,357	Turnout	66.6

Party		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total	%	Change
	Labour	28	3	0	3	70.0	771,354	48.9	12.1
	Conservative	8	0	3	3	20.0	528,839	33.6	6.3
	Plaid Cymru	4	1	0	1	10.0	164,466	10.4	1.7
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	1	1	—	71,039	4.5	2.0
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	—	31,376	2.0	11.6
	Green	0	0	0	0	—	5,128	0.3	2.2
	Others	0	0	0	0	—	3,612	0.2	0.1
Total		40					1,575,814	Turnout	68.6

Party		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total	%	Change
	Labour	25	1	2	1	62.5	552,473	36.9	0.6
	Conservative	11	3	0	3	27.5	407,813	27.2	1.1
	UKIP	0	0	0		—	204,330	13.6	11.2
	Plaid Cymru	3	0	0		7.5	181,704	12.1	0.8
	Liberal Democrats	1	0	2	2	2.5	97,783	6.5	13.6
	Green	0	0	0		—	38,344	2.6	2.1
	Socialist Labour	0	0	0		—	3,481	0.2	0.2
	TUSC	0	0	0		—	1,780	0.1	0.1
	Others	0	0	0		—	10,355	0.7	0.5
Total		40					1,498,063

Party		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total	%	Change
	Labour	26	1	5	4	65.0	531,601	36.2	6.5
	Conservative	8	5	0	5	20.0	382,730	26.1	4.7
	Liberal Democrats	3	0	1	1	7.5	295,164	20.1	1.7
	Plaid Cymru	3	1	0	1	7.5	165,394	11.3	1.3
	UKIP	0	0	0	0	—	35,690	2.4	1.0
	BNP	0	0	0	0	—	23,088	1.6	1.5
	Green	0	0	0	0	—	6,293	0.4	0.1
	Christian	0	0	0	0	—	1,947	0.1	N/A
	TUSC	0	0	0	0	—	341	0.0	N/A
	Others	0	0	1	1	—	24,442	1.7	1.1
Total		40					1,466,690		64.9

Party		Candidates	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Labour		29	5	594,821	42.7	5.9
	Conservative		3	3	297,830	21.4	0.4
	Liberal Democrats		4	2	256,249	18.4	4.6
	Plaid Cymru		3	1	174,838	12.6	1.7
	UKIP		0		20,297	1.5
	Green		0		7,144	0.5
	Forward Wales		0		3,461	0.2
	Legalise Cannabis		0		1,772	0.1
	BNP		0		1,689	0.1
	Socialist Labour		0		1,605	0.1
	Veritas		0		1,437	0.1
	Respect		0		643	0.0
	Liberal		0		605	0.0
	Socialist Alliance		0		557	0.0
	Communist		0		440	0.0
	Yourself		0		284	0.0
	Bean Party		0		159	0.0
	Independent		1	1	28,888	2.3
Turnout:					1,392,719	62.4

Party		Candidates	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	40	34		666,956	48.6	6.1
	Conservative	40	0		288,623	21.0	1.4
	Plaid Cymru	40	4		195,893	14.3	4.4
	Liberal Democrats		2		189,254	13.8	1.5
	UKIP		0		12,552	0.9
	Green		0		3,753	0.3
	Socialist Labour		0		2,805	0.2
	Socialist Alliance		0		2,258	0.2
	ProLife Alliance		0		1,609	0.1
	Communist		0		384	0.0
	BNP		0		278	0.0
	Others				7,959	0.6
Turnout:				1,372,324	61.6

Party[15]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	34	7	0	7	85.0	885,935	54.7	5.2
	Conservative	0	0	8	8	—	317,127	19.6	9.0
	Liberal Democrats	2	1	0	1	5.0	200,020	12.4	0.1
	Plaid Cymru	4	0	0		10.0	161,030	10.0	1.1
	Referendum	0	0	0		—	38,245	2.4	New
	Socialist Labour	0	0	0		—	6,203	0.4	New
	Independent Labour	0	0	0		—	4,633	0.3	New
	Independent	0	0	0		—	2,258	0.2	N/A
	Green	0	0	0		—	1,718	0.1	0.3
	Other parties	0	0	0		—	3,087	0.2	N/A

Party[16]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	27	3	0	3	71.1	865,663	49.5	4.4
	Conservative	6	1	3	2	15.8	499,677	28.6	0.9
	Liberal Democrats	1	0	2	2	2.6	217,457	12.4	5.5
	Plaid Cymru	4	1	0	1	10.5	156,747	9.0	1.7
	Others	0	0	0		—	9,233	0.5	0.3

Party		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	24	4	0	4	63.2	765,209	45.1	7.6
	Conservative	8	0	6	6	21.1	501,316	29.5	1.5
	Alliance	3	1	0	1	7.9	304,230	17.9	5.3
	Plaid Cymru	3	1	0	1	7.9	123,599	7.3	0.5
	Others	0	0	0		—	3,742	0.2	0.2

Party		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
	Labour	20	0	3	3	52.6	603,858	37.5	9.4
	Conservative	14	3	1	2	36.8	499,310	31.0	1.2
	Alliance	2	1	0	1	5.3	373,358	23.2	12.6
	Plaid Cymru	2	0	0		5.3	125,309	7.8	0.2
	Other parties	0	0	0		—	7,151	0.4	1.9

Wales was a constituency in European Parliament elections. Following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union on 31 January 2020, Wales no longer elects representatives to the European Parliament.

European Election 2019: Wales[17][18]
List		Candidates	Votes	Of total (%)	± from prev.
	Brexit Party	Nathan Gill (1) James Wells (3) Gethin James, Julie Price	271,404 (135,702)	32.46	32.46
	Plaid Cymru	Jill Evans (2) Carmen Smith, Patrick McGuinness, Ioan Bellin	163,928	19.60	4.34
	Labour	Jacqueline Jones (4) Matthew Dorrance, Mary Wimbury, Mark Whitcott	127,833	15.29	12.86
	Liberal Democrats	Sam Bennett, Donna Lalek, Alistair Cameron, Andrew Parkhurst	113,885	13.62	9.67
	Conservative	Daniel Boucher, Craig Lawton, Fay Jones, Tomos Davies	54,587	6.53	10.90
	Green	Anthony Slaughter, Ian Chandler, Ceri Davies, Duncan Rees	52,660	6.30	1.76
	UKIP	Kristian Hicks, Keith Edwards, Thomas Harrison, Robert McNeil-Wilson	27,566	3.30	24.26
	Change UK	Jon Owen Jones, June Davies, Matthew Paul, Sally Anne Stephenson	24,332	2.91	2.91
Turnout			836,195	37.1	5.6

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	5	1	530,749	55.86	6.93
	Plaid Cymru	0		162,478	17.10	4.21
	Conservative	0		138,349	14.56	8.89
	Liberal Democrats	0		82,480	8.68	5.46
	Green	0		19,413	2.04	9.11
	Natural Law	0	–	6,081	0.64	–
	UKIP	0	–	5,536	0.58	–
	Independent	0	–	2,729	0.29	–
	Socialist Alliance	0	–	1,270	1.33	–
	Communist	0	–	1,073	0.11	–
Turnout:				950,158

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	4	1	436,730	48.93	4.40
	Conservative	0	1	209,313	23.45	1.91
	Plaid Cymru	0		115,062	12.89	0.69
	Green	0		99,546	11.15	10.64
	SLD	0		28,785	3.22	14.18
	SDP	0	–	3,153	0.35	–
Turnout:				892,589

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	3		375,982	44.53	2.83
	Conservative	1		214,086	25.36	10.98
	Alliance	0		146,947	17.40	7.79
	Plaid Cymru	0		103,031	12.20	0.41
	Ecology	0	–	4,266	0.51	–
Turnout:				844,312

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