How will Welsh Labour elect a new leader?

After a devastating election loss, which saw the party reduced to just nine MSs in the Senedd, Welsh Labour will now have to elect a new leader.

Former First Minister Eluned Morgan announced her resignation as party leader after losing her seat in the Senedd, with Ken Skates being appointed as interim leader.

Although the Welsh Labour Executive Committee has yet to meet to decide the timetable of the contest, here are the details about how the election will be run and the requirements candidates will need to get on the ballot.

Requirements for nomination

Candidates vying to become Welsh Labour leader will first need to be a member of the Senedd, vastly reducing the eligible number of candidates. Potential candidates will then need nominations from either 20 percent of the party’s Senedd group (equating to two other members), ten percent of Labour MSs (one other member) and 20 percent of Constituency Labour Parties (equivalent to seven CLPs), or ten percent of MSs and three nominations from Welsh Labour affiliated organisations – which must include at least two affiliated trade unions.

The electoral arithmetic means that the maximum number of candidates who could make it to a ballot is four.

How the ballot of members works

Members have their say in a one-member-one-vote ballot, which uses a preferential ballot system, meaning that the successful candidate must win at least 50 percent of votes to win. Should no candidate cross that threshold in the first round, the lowest placed candidate is eliminated and their votes redistributed until one candidate reaches at least 50 percent of the vote.

What happened in the last election?

At the last leadership election, following Vaughan Gething’s resignation, Eluned Morgan was elected as Welsh Labour leader unopposed, meaning no ballot of members took place.

The last election which saw members have a say on the party leader was in spring 2024, when Vaughan Gething defeated Jeremy Miles in a knife-edge result.

The new leader will, for the first time, not be appointed as First Minister due to the party’s poor performance in the election.

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