Elections in Wales

Wales has elections to three tiers of government: 22 unitary local authorities, the Welsh Parliament, and the United Kingdom Parliament.

Local government

The results of the most recent local elections, showing control party by council (left), and largest party by ward (right).

There are elections to 22 unitary authorities across Wales every four years, most recently on 4 May 2017. The electoral system currently used is First Past The Post. Key unitary authorities are Cardiff, Newport and Swansea councils, which all lie in the southern coastal belt.

• Local election results 2017
• Local election results 2012
• Local election results 2008
• Local election results 2004
• Local election results 1999
• Local election results 1995
• Local election results 1993

Welsh Parliament

On 6 May 2021 the first election to the newly titled Welsh Parliament will take place akin to the previous elections to the National Assembly.

2021

It will be the sixth general election since the establishment of the institution in 1999. It will be held along with the other 2021 United Kingdom local elections, and will be the first election in which 16 and 17 year olds are allowed to vote in Wales, which is the largest extension of the franchise in Wales since 1969. Both changes were a result of the Senedd and Elections (Wales) Bill 2019.[1]

Senedd Cymru

Elections to the National Assembly for Wales existed from 1999 until 2016, after Welsh voters narrowly approved it in the 1997 devolution referendum. It is now known as the Senedd Cymru and is based in Cardiff Bay, and there are elections every five years for 60 Members of the Senedd (MSs). Voters have two votes: 40 MSs are elected by the First Past the Post system in individual constituencies, and a further 20 MSs are elected by the Regional Top-Up system in which voters vote by region. The regions are South Wales East, South Wales Central, South Wales West, Mid and West Wales and North Wales. Each region elects four MSs, to achieve approximately proportional representation overall.

2016

Overall turnout: 45.3% 2007 Overall turnout: 43.7% 1999 Overall turnout: 46%

2011 Overall turnout: 42.2% 2003 Overall turnout: 38.2%

Past elections and referendums

UK Parliament

Map of the 2019 election results.

Map of the 2017 election results.

Wales has been eligible to send MPs to Westminster since the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Between then and 1885, most constituencies were categorised as county or borough constituencies; each sent one MP to Westminster. As the Industrial Revolution took hold there were many calls for reform (particularly in towns such as Merthyr Tydfil). Parliament eventually allowed the new towns to vote, and this introduced the first Labour MPs. The first leader of the Labour Party in Parliament, Keir Hardie, was one of the two MPs for Merthyr Tydfil. The following table shows the composition of Wales' Westminster MPs since 1885.

Year	Conservative	Labour	Liberal Democrat/ Liberal	Plaid Cymru	Independent	Liberal Unionist	Independent Labour	Others
1885	4	-	29	-	-	-	-	1
1886	6	-	26	-	-	1	-	1
1892	3	-	30	-	-	-	-	1
1895	8	-	24	-	-	1	-	1
1900	6	1	26	-	-	1	-	1
1906	-	1	28	-	-	-	1	-
Jan 1910	2	5	27	-	-	-	-	-
Dec 1910	3	6	26	-	-	-	1	-
1918	4	10	19	-	-	-	-	20
1922	6	18	2	-	-	-	1	9
1923	4	19	11	-	-	-	-	2
1924	9	16	11	-	-	-	-	-
1929	1	25	10	-	-	-	-	-
1931	6	15	5	-	-	-	1	9
1935	6	18	8	-	-	-	-	4
1945	3	25	7	-	-	-	-	1
1950	3	27	5	-	-	-	-	1
1951	5	27	3	-	-	-	-	1
1955	5	27	3	-	-	-	-	1
1959	6	27	2	-	-	-	-	1
1964	6	28	2	-	-	-	-	-
1966	3	32	1	-	-	-	-	-
1970	7	27	1	-	-	-	1	-
Feb 1974	8	24	2	2	-	-	-	-
Oct 1974	8	23	2	3	-	-	-	-
1979	11	22	1	2	-	-	-	-
1983	14	20	2	2	-	-	-	-
1987	8	24	3	3	-	-	-	-
1992	6	27	1	4	-	-	-	-
1997	-	34	2	4	-	-	-	-
2001	-	34	2	4	-	-	-	-
2005	3	29	4	3	1	-	-	-
2010	8	26	3	3	-	-	-	-
2015	11	25	1	3	-	-	-	-
2017	8	28	-	4	-	-	-	-
2019	14	22	-	4	-	-	-	-

2019

Party[2]		Seats					Votes
		Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total	%	Change
	Labour	22	0	6	6	55	632,035	40.9	8.0
	Conservative	14	6[lower-alpha 1]	0	6	35	557,234	36.1	2.5
	Plaid Cymru	4	0	0		10	153,265	9.9	0.5
	Liberal Democrats	0	0	0[lower-alpha 2]		0	92,171	6.0	1.5
	Brexit Party	0	0	0		0	83,908	5.4	new
	Green	0	0	0		0	15,828	1.0	0.7
	Independents	0	0	0[lower-alpha 3]		0	6,220	0.4	N/A
	Gwlad Gwlad	0	0	0		0	1,515	0.1	new
	Cynon Valley	0	0	0		0	1,322	0.1	new
	Monster Raving Loony	0	0	0		0	345	0.0
	Christian	0	0	0		0	245	0.0	new[lower-alpha 4]
	SDP	0	0	0		0	181	0.0	new[lower-alpha 4]
	Socialist Alternative	0	0	0		0	88	0.0	new[lower-alpha 5]
Total		40					1,544,357	Turnout	66.6

1. Not including Brecon and Radnorshire and Aberconwy, which the Conservative Party won in 2017 but did not control when parliament was dissolved.
2. Not including Brecon and Radnorshire, which the Liberal Democrats won in a 2019 by-election.
3. Not including Aberconwy, previously controlled by the independent Guto Bebb who lost the Conservative Party whip in 2019.
4. Party entered candidates in the 2017 general election but not in any Welsh seats.
5. Party has entered candidates in past general elections but not the 2017 general election.

Popular vote Labour   40.9% Conservative   36.1% Plaid Cymru   9.9% Liberal Democrats   6.0% Brexit Party   5.0% Greens   1.0%

Parliament seats Labour   55% Conservative   35% Plaid Cymru   10%

2005

Party		Candidates	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Labour		29	5	594,821	42.7	5.9
	Conservative		3	3	297,830	21.4	0.4
	Liberal Democrats		4	2	256,249	18.4	4.6
	Plaid Cymru		3	1	174,838	12.6	1.7
	UKIP		0		20,297	1.5
	Green		0		7,144	0.5
	Forward Wales		0		3,461	0.2
	Legalise Cannabis		0		1,772	0.1
	BNP		0		1,689	0.1
	Socialist Labour		0		1,605	0.1
	Veritas		0		1,437	0.1
	Respect		0		643	0.0
	Liberal		0		605	0.0
	Socialist Alliance		0		557	0.0
	Communist		0		440	0.0
	Yourself		0		284	0.0
	Bean Party		0		159	0.0
	Independent		1	1	28,888	2.3
Turnout:					1,392,719	62.4

2001

Party		Candidates	Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	40	34		666,956	48.6	6.1
	Conservative	40	0		288,623	21.0	1.4
	Plaid Cymru	40	4		195,893	14.3	4.4
	Liberal Democrats		2		189,254	13.8	1.5
	UKIP		0		12,552	0.9
	Green		0		3,753	0.3
	Socialist Labour		0		2,805	0.2
	Socialist Alliance		0		2,258	0.2
	ProLife Alliance		0		1,609	0.1
	Communist		0		384	0.0
	BNP		0		278	0.0
	Others				7,959	0.6
Turnout:				1,372,324	61.6

European Parliament

Wales was a constituency in European Parliament elections. Following the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union on 31 January 2020, Wales no longer elects representatives to the European Parliament.

2019

[3]

European Election 2019: Wales[4][5]
List		Candidates	Votes	%	±
	Brexit Party	Nathan Gill (1) James Wells (3) Gethin James, Julie Price	271,404 (135,702)	32.46	32.46
	Plaid Cymru	Jill Evans (2) Carmen Smith, Patrick McGuinness, Ioan Bellin	163,928	19.60	4.34
	Labour	Jacqueline Jones (4) Matthew Dorrance, Mary Wimbury, Mark Whitcott	127,833	15.29	12.86
	Liberal Democrats	Sam Bennett, Donna Lalek, Alistair Cameron, Andrew Parkhurst	113,885	13.62	9.67
	Conservative	Daniel Boucher, Craig Lawton, Fay Jones, Tomos Davies	54,587	6.53	10.90
	Green	Anthony Slaughter, Ian Chandler, Ceri Davies, Duncan Rees	52,660	6.30	1.76
	UKIP	Kristian Hicks, Keith Edwards, Thomas Harrison, Robert McNeil-Wilson	27,566	3.30	24.26
	Change UK	Jon Owen Jones, June Davies, Matthew Paul, Sally Anne Stephenson	24,332	2.91	2.91
Turnout			836,195	37.1	5.6

2019 opinion polls

Date(s)	Polling organisation/client	Sample	Lab	UKIP	Con	Plaid	Green	Lib Dems	Brexit	Change UK	Others	Lead
16–20 May 2019	YouGov/ITV	1,009	15%	2%	7%	19%	8%	10%	36%	2%	0%	17%
10–15 May 2019	YouGov/Plaid Cymru	1,133	18%	3%	7%	16%	8%	10%	33%	4%	0%	15%
2–5 April 2019	YouGov/ITV	1,025	30%	11%	16%	15%	5%	6%	10%	8%	1%	14%
22 May 2014	2014 EU election results	733,060	28.2%	27.6%	17.4%	15.3%	4.5%	4.0%	N/A	N/A	3.2%	0.6%

2014

European Election 2014: Wales
List		Candidates	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Derek Vaughan Jayne Bryant, Alex Thomas, Christina Rees[6][7]	206,332	28.15	+7.9
	UKIP	Nathan Gill James Cole, Caroline Jones, David Rowlands[7][8]	201,983	27.55	+14.8
	Conservative	Kay Swinburne Aled Davies, Dan Boucher, Richard Hopkin[7][9]	127,742	17.43	−3.8
	Plaid Cymru	Jill Evans Marc Jones, Stephen Cornelius, Ioan Bellin[7][10][11]	111,864	15.26	−3.3
	Green	Pippa Bartolotti, John Matthews, Chris Were, Rosemary Cutler[7][12][13]	33,275	4.54	−1.0
	Liberal Democrats	Alec Dauncey, Robert Speht, Jackie Radford, Bruce Roberts[7]	28,930	3.95	−6.7
	BNP	Mike Whitby, Laurence Reid, Jean Griffin, Gary Tumulty[7]	7,655	1.04	−4.4
	Britain First	Paul Golding, Anthony Golding, Christine Smith, Anne Elstone[7]	6,633	0.9	0.00
	Socialist Labour	Andrew Jordan, Katherine Jones, David Lloyd Jones, Liz Screen[7]	4,459	0.61	−1.2
	NO2EU	Robert Griffiths, Claire Job, Steve Skelly, Laura Picand[7]	2,803	0.38	−0.9
	Socialist (GB)	Brian Johnson, Richard Cheney, Ed Blewitt, Howard Moss[7][14]	1,384	0.19	0.00
Turnout			733,060	31.5	+1.1

2009

European Election 2009: Wales[15][16]
List		Candidates	Votes	%	±
	Conservative	Kay Swinburne Evan Price, Emma Greenow, David Chipp	145,193	21.2	+1.8
	Labour	Derek Vaughan Lisa Stevens, Rachel Maycock, Leighton Veale	138,852	20.3	−12.2
	Plaid Cymru	Jill Evans Eurig Wyn, Ioan Bellin, Natasha Asghar	126,702	18.5	+1.1
	UKIP	John Bufton David Bevan, Kevin Mahoney, David Rowlands	87,585	12.8	+2.3
	Liberal Democrats	Alan Butt Phillip, Kevin O'Connor, Nick Tregoning, Jackie Radford	73,082	10.7	+0.2
	Green	Jake Griffiths, Kay Roney, Ann Were, John Matthews	38,160	5.6	+2.0
	BNP	Ennys Hughes, Laurence Read, Clive Bennett, Kevin Edwards	37,114	5.4	+2.5
	Christian	Jeffrey Green, David Griffiths, Alun Owen, John Harrold	13,037	1.9	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Robert English, Richard Booth, Liz Screen, Judith Sambrook	12,402	1.8	N/A
	NO2EU	Robert Griffiths, Rob Williams, Laura Picand, Trevor Jones	8,600	1.3	N/A
	Jury Team	Paul Sabanskis, James Eustace, Neil Morgan, Steven Partridge	3,793	0.6	N/A
Turnout			684,520	30.4	−11.0

2004

European Election 2004: Wales[17]
List		Candidates	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Glenys Kinnock, Eluned Morgan Gareth Williams, Gwennan Jeremiah	297,810 (148,905)	32.5	+0.6
	Conservative	Jonathan Evans Owen Williams, Felicity Elphick, Albert Fox	177,771	19.4	−3.3
	Plaid Cymru	Jill Evans Jon Blackwood, Eilian Williams, Gwenllian Lansdown	159,888	17.4	−12.2
	UKIP	David Rowlands, Clive Easton, Elizabeth Phillips, Timothy Jenkins	96,677	10.5	+7.4
	Liberal Democrats	David John Williams, Alison Goldsworthy, Nicholas Tregoning, Nilmini Priyanga de Silva	96,116	10.5	+2.3
	Green	Martyn Shrewsbury, Molly Scott Cato, David Bradney, Dorienne Robinson	32,761	3.6	+1.0
	BNP	John Walker, Pauline Gregory, James Roberts, Mark Stringfellow[18]	27,135	3.0	N/A
	Forward Wales	Ron Davies, Wendy Paintsil, Janet Williams, Graham Jones	17,280	1.9	N/A
	Christian Democratic Party	Catherine Smith, Christine West, Joseph Biddulph, Robert Evans	6,821	0.7	N/A
	Respect	Helen Griffin, Huw Williams, Raja Gul Raiz, Taran O'Sullivan	5,427	0.6	N/A
Turnout			917,686	41.4	+12.4

1999

European Election 1999: Wales[19]
List		Candidates	Votes	%	±
	Labour	Glenys Kinnock, Eluned Morgan Joe Wilson, Gareth Williams, Jane Hutt	199,690 (99,845)	31.9	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Jill Evans, Eurig Wyn Marc Phillips, Susanna Perkins, Owain Llywelyn	185,235 (92,617.5)	29.6	N/A
	Conservative	Jonathan Evans Chris Butler, Owen John Williams, Robert Buckland, Edmund Hayward	142,631	22.8	N/A
	Liberal Democrats	Roger Roberts, Peter Price, Alistair Cameron, Juliana Hughes, John Dixon	51,283	8.2	N/A
	UKIP	Dai Rees, Niall Warry, Idris Richard Francis, Alan Barham, David Lloyd	19,702	3.1	N/A
	Green	Molly Scott Cato, Klaus Armstrong-Braun, Sue Walker, Rachel Kalela, John Matthews	16,146	2.6	N/A
	Pro-Euro Conservative	William Powell, Jennifer Harris, Antonio Fernandes-Vidal, Alan Morris, Christopher Hodgkinson	5,834	0.9	N/A
	Socialist Labour	Elizabeth Screen, Darren Hickery, Stephen Bell, Miriam Bowen, George Tafarides	4,283	0.7	N/A
	Natural Law	David Hughes, Brian Francis, Helen Evans, Andrea Jarman, John Ashforth	1,621	0.3	N/A
Turnout			626,425	29.0	N/A

1994

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	5	1	530,749	55.86	6.93
	Plaid Cymru	0		162,478	17.10	4.21
	Conservative	0		138,349	14.56	8.89
	SLD	0		82,480	8.68	5.46
	Green	0		19,413	2.04	9.11
	Natural Law	0	–	6,081	0.64	–
	UKIP	0	–	5,536	0.58	–
	Independent	0	–	2,729	0.29	–
	Socialist Alliance	0	–	1,270	1.33	–
	Communist	0	–	1,073	0.11	–
Turnout:				950,158

1989

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	4	1	436,730	48.93	4.1
	Conservative	0	1	209,313	23.45	1.91
	Plaid Cymru	0		115,062	12.89	0.69
	Green	0		99,546	11.15	10.64
	SLD	0		28,785	3.22	14.18
	SDP	0	–	3,153	0.35	–
Turnout:				892,589

1984

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	3		375,982	44.53	2.83
	Conservative	1		214,086	25.36	10.98
	Alliance	0		146,947	17.40	7.79
	Plaid Cymru	0		103,031	12.20	0.41
	Ecology	0	–	4,266	0.51	–
Turnout:				844,312

1979

Party		Seats	Seats change	Votes	%	% change
	Labour	3	–	294,978	41.70	–
	Conservative	1	–	257,029	36.34	–
	Plaid Cymru	0	–	83,399	11.79	–
	Liberal	0	–	67,962	9.61	–
	Independent	0	–	4,008	0.57	–
Turnout:				707,376

See also

• Elections in the United Kingdom
• Elections in Scotland

References

1. "16 and 17 year olds get right to vote - a historic day for democracy in Wales". National Assembly for Wales. Retrieved 2019-12-24.
2. "Results of the 2019 General Election in Wales". BBC News. Retrieved 2019-12-14.
3. Statement of Parties Nominated and Notice of Poll / Datganiad o’r Pleidiau a Enwebwyd a Rhybudd o Etholiad Cardiff City Council
4. "European election 2019: Brexit Party tops poll in Wales". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
5. "European Election 2019: UK results in maps and charts". www.bbc.co.uk. Retrieved 2019-05-27.
6. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 5 August 2013. Retrieved 5 August 2013.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
7. Parry-Jones, Bryn (24 April 2014). "Statement of Persons Nominated". Pembrokeshire County Council. Archived from the original on 11 January 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2014.
8. We announce regional MEP candidates for the Euro Elections UKIP Archived 10 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine
9. "Results of Ballot". conservatives.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
10. MEP Jill Evans tops list of Plaid Cymru's EU candidates Archived 22 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine BBC News
11. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 March 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
12. "The Wales Green Party has announced today that their Leader, Pippa Bartolotti, is their candidate for the upcoming European Elections to be held next May". Wales.greenparty.org.uk. 22 November 2013. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
13. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 February 2014. Retrieved 25 April 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
14. "Socialists to Stand in Euro-elections | The Socialist Party of Great Britain". worldsocialism.org. Archived from the original on 17 June 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
15. "Electoral Office of Wales". Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
16. "European Election 2009: Wales". BBC News. 8 June 2009. Archived from the original on 8 June 2009. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
17. "2004 Election candidates". UK Office of the European Parliament. Archived from the original on 4 October 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.
18. "walescand". 3 June 2004. Archived from the original on 18 February 2005. Retrieved 27 February 2014.
19. "1999 Election candidates". UK Office of the European Parliament. Archived from the original on 28 August 2009. Retrieved 4 June 2009.