Labour loses power in Wales for first time since 1999 devolution

“Britain’s Labour Party lost power on Friday (May 8, 2026) in Wales for the first time since its devolved Assembly was created in 1999, as the nationalist party Plaid Cymru won the most seats in local elections,” the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reported.

With all 96 seats declared, the Plaid Cymru won 43 — falling short of a majority — while anti-immigration party Reform UK were second with 34 leaving Labour trailing in third winning just nine seats.

It represented a humiliating result in its traditional heartlands for centre-left Labour, the ruling party in London which has dominated the Welsh politics for more than a century.

Its leader in Wales, Eluned Morgan, lost her seat and promptly announced she was standing down from the role, after becoming the first head of a government in the U.K. to lose her seat while in office. “Welsh Labour has today suffered a catastrophic result,” she said shortly after the results were announced.

“It ends a century of Labour winning in Wales, and the party will need to take a really hard look at itself, and understand the depth of the challenge that we face,” she noted.

She later said Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour party — in power in London but deeply unpopular and also humbled in Thursday’s (May 7, 2026) local elections in England and Scotland — needed to “change course”.

Plaid Cymru’s leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, said the election showed Wales wanted a “change of leadership”. “Plaid Cymru stands ready to take the necessary steps to form the next government of Wales,” he later added in a victory speech.

The Welsh Parliament was created 27 years ago after the former U.K. Prime Minsiter Tony Blair’s Labour government devolved power from London to new legislatures in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast in key areas including healthcare, transport and social policies.

The U.K. government sets policies for England, and retains control over countrywide issues such as foreign policy and defence.