{"id":101431,"date":"2025-10-24T12:16:08","date_gmt":"2025-10-24T12:16:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/101431\/"},"modified":"2025-10-24T12:16:08","modified_gmt":"2025-10-24T12:16:08","slug":"keir-starmers-labour-suffers-seismic-byelection-defeat-to-plaid-cymru-in-wales-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/101431\/","title":{"rendered":"Keir Starmer\u2019s Labour suffers seismic byelection defeat to Plaid Cymru in Wales \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Keir Starmer\u2019s<\/a> Labour party has suffered a seismic byelection defeat in a traditional Welsh stronghold, losing Caerphilly for the first time in a century<\/a> to the nationalist party Plaid Cymru.<\/p>\n

The 3,848-vote majority secured by Plaid Cymru\u2019s Lindsay Whittle in the Welsh Senedd assembly seat deals a blow to Starmer\u2019s leadership, and comes ahead of broader elections in Wales<\/a> in May.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want a better deal for every corner of Wales,\u201d Whittle said in his victory speech early on Friday. \u201cThe big parties need to sit up and take notice. Wales, we are at the dawn of new leadership; we are at the dawn of a new beginning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whittle, who had failed on 13 previous occasions to become either MP or Senedd member for Caerphilly, described Labour as a \u201cdying beast\u201d that was on its way out after 100 years of power in Wales.<\/p>\n

The result highlights how Labour is exposed on its left flank after tacking to the right on issues including immigration and crime in an attempt to counter the rise of Reform UK.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Labour’s stunning byelection loss in Wales shows parties who cannot adapt will be crushedOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Labour\u2019s popularity in Wales has also nosedived since former first minister Vaughan Gething stepped down last year after a scandal involving donations.<\/p>\n

Eluned Morgan, the current Welsh first minister, said: \u201cWelsh Labour has heard the frustration on doorsteps in Caerphilly that the need to feel change in people\u2019s lives has not been quick enough.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies argued that Labour could still \u201cbounce back\u201d from the defeat. \u201cI have to paraphrase Mark Twain: rumours about death are greatly exaggerated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\"ReformReform UK leader Nigel Farage with his party’s candidate Llyr Powell. Photograph: Ben Birchall\/PA <\/p>\n

The failure of Nigel Farage<\/a>\u2019s party to seize the seat came as some relief to Labour, as Reform maintains a double-digit lead over Starmer\u2019s party in national opinion polls.<\/p>\n

Farage had visited the constituency three times during the campaign and a poll last week had suggested his party was ahead of Plaid by four percentage points.<\/p>\n

Labour had represented the seat in the South Wales Valley for a century at Westminster and for more than 25 years \u2014 since devolution began \u2014 at the Senedd.<\/p>\n

The result was declared at 2.10am on Friday morning. Whittle took 47 per cent, with 15,961 votes, beating Reform candidate Ll\u0177r Powell into second place on 36 per cent, with 12,113 votes.<\/p>\n

Reform\u2019s Powell chose not to give a speech after failing to win the seat, which became vacant after the death of former Labour MS Hefin David in August.<\/p>\n

But Zia Yusuf, Reform\u2019s head of policy, said the party\u2019s result was \u201cremarkable\u201d, adding: \u201cThis is a historic realignment in Welsh and British politics.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Labour candidate, Richard Tunnicliffe, picked up just 3,713 votes in its former stronghold, or 11 per cent, down from 13,289 in 2021.<\/p>\n

The Tories\u2019 Gareth Potter received just 690 votes, or 2 per cent.<\/p>\n

The turnout of 50.43 per cent in the ballot was the highest in the history of byelections to the Welsh assembly.<\/p>\n

Luke Tryl, director of polling group More in Common, said there appeared to have been significant tactical voting by left-wingers to block Reform, with minimal voting for either the Greens or Liberal Democrats.<\/p>\n

\u201cVoters in this race knew it was a Plaid-Reform contest and voted accordingly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Rhun ap Iorwerth, leader of Plaid, said there had been an element of voters \u201cwanting to stop Reform\u201d.<\/p>\n

Whittle becomes Plaid\u2019s 13th member of the 60-strong Senedd in Cardiff Bay. <\/p>\n

Reform UK had been the bookmakers\u2019 favourite to win the contest after last week\u2019s small opinion poll lead.<\/p>\n

The defeat for Labour means the party has lost its effective majority in the Senedd, which it has previously sustained with the support of the assembly\u2019s sole Liberal Democrat member.<\/p>\n

Dropping from 29 to 28 seats in the 60-strong assembly now means Labour must turn to either Plaid or, possibly, one of the two independent members for support on Senedd votes.<\/p>\n

The byelection result will be seen as a significant omen ahead of local and regional elections in May, across Wales, Scotland and England.<\/p>\n

A defeat for Labour in the Senedd elections next spring could raise serious questions over Starmer\u2019s leadership barely two years into his premiership.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0Starmer\u2019s new Brexit line: it\u2019s a disaster – and Farage is to blameOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

But the feeble showing for the Conservatives will also ring alarm bells for that party\u2019s leader, Kemi Badenoch.<\/p>\n

Reform\u2019s Yusuf predicted: \u201cThe Senedd elections next May are now a battle between Reform and Plaid.\u201d<\/p>\n

– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2025<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Keir Starmer\u2019s Labour party has suffered a seismic byelection defeat in a traditional Welsh stronghold, losing Caerphilly for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101432,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[61793,42,1194,1193,43,17144,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-101431","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-conservative-and-unionist-party","9":"tag-headlines","10":"tag-keir-starmer","11":"tag-labour-party-uk","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-reform-uk","14":"tag-top-news","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topnews","17":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101431"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101431\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101432"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}