Rhun ap Iorwerth has been voted first minister of Wales after Plaid Cymru\u2019s Senedd electoral victory ended 100 years of Labour hegemony and held off Reform UK.<\/p>\n
Ap Iorwerth was confirmed after a plenary vote on Tuesday with the support of the 43 members of his party in the Senedd and the two Greens, while Welsh Labour and the sole Liberal Democrat in the Siambr, the debating chamber, abstained.<\/p>\n
Reform UK\u2019s Dan Thomas, the new leader of the opposition, and the Conservative leader, Darren Millar, also put their names forward for first minister.<\/p>\n
Ap Iorwerth, who is pro-Welsh independence, received a standing ovation from his MSs and the public gallery as the ballot result was announced. He said: \u201cIt is the greatest privilege of my life to be elected first minister in a nation that means so much to me.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomething has stirred in the soul of Wales<\/a> \u2013 a new confidence, a new hope, a new broader horizon, never to be narrowed again by the naysayers with other priorities in other places.<\/p>\n \u201cMy promise to everyone is that I will lead without prejudice or presumption. I\u2019ll never take this privilege for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n Ap Iorwerth paid tribute to his predecessor, Labour\u2019s Eluned Morgan, saying she had governed \u201cwith resilience and determination\u201d and \u201csteered her government with enthusiasm and with pride at all times\u201d.<\/p>\n Plaid Cymru ended Labour\u2019s century-long electoral dominance in Wales<\/a> in last week\u2019s elections, winning the most seats in the newly expanded 96-seat parliament. Reform, which had hoped to be the biggest party, won 34 seats, and Labour came third with just nine seats, marking a definitive end<\/a> to the party\u2019s grip on its birthplace.<\/p>\n The Conservatives returned seven seats, the Liberal Democrats one, and the Green party gained two MSs for the first time.<\/p>\n Morgan lost her seat, triggering a leadership contest in Welsh Labour. Ken Skates, the Senedd member for Fflint Wrecsam and the former cabinet secretary for transport, has taken over as interim leader.<\/p>\n Thomas, of Reform Wales, told the Senedd that his party would be a \u201crobust opposition\u201d to Plaid Cymru<\/a> government. \u201cI would like to remind Plaid Cymru that this chamber has a pro-union majority \u2026 The future of a prosperous Wales lies within a successful United Kingdom and Reform will ensure that that union prevails,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people of Wales made that clear at the ballot box and Reform serves the people of Wales.\u201d<\/p>\n Under Wales\u2019s new and more representative electoral system, at least 49 seats are needed for a majority. No party was likely to win that, but Friday\u2019s results put Plaid Cymru in a comfortable position to form a minority government.<\/p>\n