LIVE UPDATES AS THEY HAPPEN. REFRESH THE PAGE FOR LATEST

Read all the results of the Senedd elections as they come in – with key reactions as we get them…

Send us updates from where you are to [email protected]

18:20 FINAL SENEDD RESULT – Labour reduced to nine seats in Wales

Labour are reduced to just nine seats in Wales.

Plaid Cymru – 43 seats (+20)

Reform UK – 34 seats (+34)

Labour – 9 seats (-35)

Conservatives – 7 seats (-22)

Green Party – 2 seats (+2)

Liberal Democrats – 1 seat (+1)

18:18 Result: Gwynedd Maldwyn – Final Welsh constituency to be called

Labour lose three seats in the final Senedd constituency, as Plaid Cymru take four seats while Reform take two.

18:06 Ken Skates returned for Fflint Wrecsam

Wales’ Transport Minister, Ken Skates has been re-elected to the Senedd in the sixth seat for Fflint Wrecsam, despite earlier concerns about his position.

17:17 Starmer pays tribute to Morgan

Keir Starner has tweeted:

I want to thank @Eluned_Morgan for the over 30 years of service she has already given to our country and our party.

Eluned has been a formidable First Minister and tireless champion for Wales.

She broke barriers and has never stopped fighting for families in the communities…

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 8, 2026

17:15 Eluned Morgan resigns as leader of Welsh Labour

Eluned Morgan has resigned as leader, taking responsibility for the defeat in Wales.  Says Labour Govt must change course and return to its working class roots.

16:57 Labour’s First Minister Eluned Morgan has lost her seat of Ceredigion

This will automatically trigger a leadership contest for Welsh Labour.

16:26 Labour narrowly secured a seat in Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr

Vikki Howells becoming the party’s fourth MS to get elected via the final sixth seat. Plaid Cymru took three seats, while Reform UK secured two.

16:07 Mainstream reaction to Welsh election results

16:04 ‘Former cabinet minister Louise Haigh says the PM “cannot lead us into another election” if he does not deliver change.

Speaking to ITV, the Labour MP for Sheffield Heeley said: “But I think what is abundantly clear, is that unless the government delivers significant and urgent change, then the prime minister cannot lead us into another election.”

15:58 Labour has secured just one seat in Caerdydd Penarth

Cardiff council leader Huw Thomas has been elected to the Senedd.

15:47 Labour drops 11% and no seats in Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni

Reform and Plain Cymru get three seats each with Welsh Labour cabinet member Alun Davies losing out.

15:29 Labour hold only one seat in Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg 

Welsh Labour’s Current Deputy Health Minister Sarah Murray was first on the Labour list. Huw David, former leader of Bridgend council seems to have lost out.

15:19 Labour win one seat in Casnewydd Islwyn

Reform UK has the most votes with 23,571. Plaid Cymru came second with 23,069. Labour got 10,622 votes. Conservatives got 8,847. 

15:15 Unison: ‘Labour face oblivion’

Unison General secretary Andrea Egan has said “Labour faces oblivion because it is not delivering for the vast majority of people.”

She added “What must change is not just the leader but the entire approach: only a Labour Government which always puts the interests of workers before the wealthy can succeed.”

15:00 Unite: ‘Labour will die if it doesn’t fundamentally change course’

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham has warned that Labour will die if the party does not implement “fundamental, irreversable change”.

She said: “The writing is on the wall for this Labour government and it could be the beginning of the end for the party itself. The working class have been abandoned and have delivered their verdict.

“They have painted the ballot boxes of our towns and swathes of the Midlands and the North turquoise and even green. They have done so using the brush of decades of Labour failure.

“Labour ministers can loyally read out lists of their achievements, but no one is listening. If every one of those achievements were in stereo, they wouldn’t even touch the sides of the vision that is needed now.

“We are stuck in a rigged system where everyday people always, always pay.

“Only fundamental, irreversible change will stem the tide. If the party does not shift decisively towards the working class it is finished.

“It is change or die. Now or never.”

14:50 Three more MPs call for PM to go

Three more Labour MPs, Ian Lavery, Nadia Whittome and Apsana Begum, have called on the Prime Minister to resign or announce a timetable for departure.

14:25 Ken Skates in battle for re-election

Labour appear to be struggling in the Fflint Wrecsam constituency, with three seats going to Reform. Ken Skates, who tops the Labour party list, is apparently in a battle for the final seat with the Conservatives. Should Skates lose his seat, it would deprive Welsh Labour of an MS who has been touted as a potential interim leader.

14:20 Statement from Welsh Labour

This has undeniably been a very difficult election for Welsh Labour.

We now expect to lose several hardworking and respected members of the Senedd. We thank them for their service to their communities.

It is looking like Welsh Labour will return a group of around 10 MSs – which will at least allow a vocal Labour opposition, even though we are deeply disappointed about not being able to lead a government.

We expect Eluned Morgan to speak at the Llandysul later following her result. We do not have the final result but we’ve always known it was going to be a hard fight for Ceredigion Penfro.

Eluned will take responsibility for this result. She has been the heart and soul of this campaign, leading from the front and never shying away from a tough fight.

14:15 Labour around 100 votes away from final seat

A recount is taking place in Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni for the sixth and final seat, where Labour is battling with Reform. Labour’s Alun Davies is said to have been 111 votes short in the first count.

14:05 National equivalent vote so far

Sky News has tallied up votes across the nation – and has Reform’s national equivalent vote share falling compared to the local elections last year. Their model has Reform on 27 percent, down from 31 percent. Labour is languishing in third on just 16 percent, up one percent from 2025.

13:34 First Minister Eluned Morgan to lose seat

The BBC, citing multiple sources, has reported that First Minister Eluned Morgan will lose her seat in the Senedd. Morgan had admitted her seat was on a “knife edge” during the campaign. If Morgan does lose her seat, it will no doubt trigger a leadership contest for Welsh Labour.

13:22 Labour expecting to win ten seats in Senedd

A Labour source has told LBC that the party is looking at having just ten seats in the Senedd, down from 30 at the last election (when there were fewer seats up for grabs…)

13:15 Recount in constituency

Wales Online is reporting that a recount has been called in Blaenau Caerfilli Rhymni constituency – an area where Labour was concerned they may fall short of securing the sixth and final seat.

13:00 Veteran MSP ‘not confident’ of victory

Labour candidate Alun Davies, who has served as an MSP for 15 years, has said he is “not confident” of re-election. He told Wales Online: “It’s clear from verification in Blaenau Gwent last night, the Labour vote has collapsed, it’s clear from verification we have been struggling in that seat.

“It’s clear this seat continues to be on a knife edge, we may win a seat, for me that would be a good thing but we could lose all the seats.”

12:40 Labour slips to fourth in councillor count

With results still being counted in England, Labour have been pushed into fourth in terms of the total tally of councillors from the elections.

Reform are top on 468, followed by the Liberal Democrats on 291, the Conservatives on 283 and Labour on 258.

12.35 ‘Nobody should be launching a coup’

Former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell, who has previously called for Keir Starmer to go as leader, has said that the party needs a chance to have a thorough discussion about the results – and that now is not the time for a coup.

“Nobody should be launching a coup, we need to give party chance to have a thorough discussion about what has happened, why and what’s needed now but everything has to be on agenda.

“Keir will need to put party and country first in judging whether he is risking opening door to Farage.”

12:15 Blue Labour leader: ‘We have no answer for working class voters who’ve been left behind’

Dan Carden, Liverpool Walton MP and leader of the Blue Labour group in the Commons, has said Labour needs to think whether the party wants to represent working people at all in response to the local election results.

He said: “Labour is losing today because we are a party that won’t say Britain is broken – when it is, won’t challenge the rules of globalisation, and we are now a party defined only through tax, spend and welfare — and with no answer for working class voters who’ve been left behind.

“The question isn’t how to win them back. It’s whether Labour wants to represent them at all.”

12:10 ‘Next 24 hours crucial’

A Labour backbencher has told LabourList: “The next 24 hours will be crucial. Then we need to set out how we change people’s lives.”

11:57 ‘Entire governing project of Labour right has failed’

A soft left Labour source has been damning about the election results and told LabourList: “This is the logical conclusion of McSweeneyism- winter fuel, welfare, Mandelson. The entire governing project of the Labour right has failed.”

11:50 Senior Welsh Labour figure admits Labour will not form next Welsh government

When asked by the BBC whether he thinks Labour will form the next Welsh government. current Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies has said: “I don’t think we are going to be in that situation.”

11:30 Labour in difficulty in Wrexham constituency

Another Labour source has told LabourList that the party is struggling in Fflint Wrecsam and could face a battle with the Conservatives for the final seat.

10:50 Fabian Society: ‘Carrying on regardless is not an option’

Joe Dromey, general secretary of the Fabian Society, has described the election results so far as “devastating” for Labour – and said that “the scale of the losses show this is much more than mid-term blues”.

He said: “Carrying on regardless is not an option. We need to listen to the message the voters have sent, and to learn lessons.”

A statement on yesterday’s election results from Fabian Society General Secretary, @Joe_Dromey pic.twitter.com/wtTCCYaTOM

— The Fabian Society (@thefabians) May 8, 2026

10:35 ‘People want change’, says Compass

Campaign group Compass has reacted to the election results so far, calling for “a different economy, a different approach to the cost of living and a different politics”.

Neal Lawson, director of the cross-party group, said: “The overnight message is the one the country’s been saying for months now: people want change.

“Labour’s massive falls are almost directly related to strong Green performances all over the country, paving the way for Reform wins. It lays bare the systemic issues of our voting system and the fragmentation of the new progressive bloc.

“But both sets of voters need the case made to them. Labour’s economic record is simply not good enough – a different economy, a different approach to the cost of living and a different politics is needed.”

10:24 Labour could lose all seats in safest regions

A Welsh Labour source has told LabourList that the party could “potentially” lose all of the seats in the Blaenau Gwent Caerfilli Rhymni and Casnewydd Islwyn constituencies, traditionally safe Labour territory.

The source told LabourList that squeeze messaging by Plaid Cymru appears to have “worked better than even in their wildest dreams”.

10:10 TSSA: ‘We will work with other unions to oust Starmer’

General secretary of the Labour-affiliated TSSA Maryam Eslamdoust has repeated her calls for new leadership for the Labour Party – and said she would work with other trade unions to oust Keir Starmer.

She said: “Unions like the TSSA will not stand by in the wake of this electoral disaster and let Keir Starmer pave the way for a hard right government led by Nigel Farage.

“Joe Biden did exactly that in the US, and it’s clear from these results that we’re facing a similar catastrophe unless Labour changes leadership and direction. The TSSA will now seek to work with other unions to assert our political influence at all levels of the Labour Party to try to deliver that.

“At the last general election, the country didn’t vote simply to repaint the front bench red. People voted for meaningful change they could actually feel in their lives.

“That’s why Labour urgently needs a leadership election to allow members to pick a candidate who is much more responsive to the needs of working people and who can stop the very real danger of a far right government coming to power in this country.”

09:59 Labour vote ‘completely collapsed’ in party heartland

BBC Wales politics reporter David Deans, citing an unnamed Labour source, has said that Welsh Labour’s vote has “completely collapsed” in Blaenau Gwent Caerfilli Rhymni. Caerphilly saw Labour lose a by-election to the Senedd last year, being pushed into a distant third place behind Plaid Cymru and Reform with just 11 percent.

09:40 Watch – Keir Starmer’s response to election results so far

These are tough results for Labour. There’s no sugarcoating it. We’ve lost brilliant Labour representatives who’ve stood up for their communities.

People are still frustrated. Their lives aren’t changing fast enough. We haven’t offered enough hope or optimism for the future.

I… pic.twitter.com/fX70cmFKpQ

— Keir Starmer (@Keir_Starmer) May 8, 2026

09:15 ‘Labour no longer seen as party of working people’, former First Minister says

Former First Minister Carwyn Jones has told the BBC that Labour is “no longer seen as the party of working people” and that Labour needs to be “far more radical, far more confident in the message that we’re getting across”.

He said: “We’ve put ourselves in a position where we’re no longer seen as the party of the working people. It’s quite clear that a chunk of working class voters are not with us at the moment.”

However, when asked if Keir Starmer should resign as Labour leader, Jones said that simply changing the leader would not necessarily fix the challenge the party faces.

09:00 Counting underway

Counting is underway for the Senedd elections, where Welsh Labour is hoping to remain in control in Cardiff Bay and see off threats from Plaid Cymru and Reform.

However, shortly after polls closed Welsh Labour sources told broadcasters that the party was on track to lose power in the Senedd – marking the first time the party would have lost a national election in Wales for more than a century.

Become a friend of LabourList and join our community. Our friends support our vital non-factional work and get access to exclusive content and events. 

Subscribe here to our daily newsletter roundup of Labour news, analysis and comment– and follow us on TikTok, Bluesky, WhatsApp, X and Facebook. You can also write to our editor to share your thoughts on our stories and share your own. The best letters are published every Sunday.

• • SHARE: If you have anything to share that we should be looking into or publishing about this story – or any other topic involving Labour– contact us (strictly anonymously if you wish) at [email protected].
  • SUBSCRIBE: Sign up to LabourList’s morning email here for the best briefing on everything Labour, every weekday morning.
  • BECOME A FRIEND: If you enjoyed this, why not consider becoming a Friend of LabourList? Help sustain our journalism, and of course Friends do get benefits…
  • PARTNER: If you or your organisation might be interested in partnering with us on sponsored events or projects, email [email protected].
  • ADVERTISE: If your organisation would like to advertise or run sponsored pieces on LabourList‘s daily newsletter or website, contact our exclusive ad partners Total Politics at [email protected].