The First Minister of Wales has lost her seat in the Senedd and resigned as Welsh Labour leader as the party loses control in the country for the first time amid mounting pressure on Sir Keir Starmer. The Telegraph has more.
Baroness Morgan of Ely failed to cling on in the Ceredigion Penfro constituency on Friday, becoming the first sitting Welsh leader to lose an election in the Welsh Parliament.
In a parting broadside at the Prime Minister, she warned that Sir Keir’s Government needs to “change course”.
Welsh Labour is set to lose control of the Senedd for the first time, with Plaid Cymru forecast to become the biggest party, as Labour suffers an electoral mauling in its heartlands.
Labour has led Wales since the Senedd was first established as the National Assembly for Wales in 1999, and has been the largest party in the country for more than a century.
Union bosses and Labour backbenchers are now calling on Sir Keir to resign, warning that the party faces “oblivion” unless the Prime Minister steps down.
Earlier on Friday, Sir Keir insisted that he was “not going to walk away”.
Follow the Telegraph‘s live coverage as results continue to come in here.
Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar has also conceded defeat at Holyrood, saying the party has “lost the argument”. He joins a chorus of Labour figures blaming the Prime Minister and calling on him to step down. The Mail reports.
Meanwhile, the Greens have dealt a hammer blow by taking the mayoralty in deep-red bastion Hackney – signposting more misery to come in London later. The Labour leader in Camden – Sir Keir’s own council – has been defeated by Zack Polanski’s candidate.
Reform has taken control of Sunderland, Gateshead and Barnsley from Labour in three stunning results, and looks set to smash another stronghold with Birmingham described as a “bin fire” by insiders.
With Labour’s national vote share estimated at a record low of 15% – a figure that could doom nearly 300 current MPs at a General Election – the clamour has been growing in Sir Keir’s ranks for him to consider his position.
Veteran MP Graham Stringer said the premier was “despised on the doorstep”, and ex-Cabinet minister Louise Haigh said Sir Keir “cannot lead us into another election” unless the Government “urgently” changes.
In evidence that the revolt is spreading beyond the usual suspects, Anneliese Midgley and Sarah Owen delivered the same ultimatum – and Connor Naismith said bluntly “we need new leadership”. Stroud MP Simon Opher warned “if we go into the next election with him, we are going to get slaughtered”, and Sheffield Hallam MP Olivia Blake called for an “orderly transition”.
The head of the Labour-affiliated TSSA union has called for a new leader who can prevent a “catastrophe” for the party. Unison said “not just the leader but the entire approach” must be overhauled. Unite, another key donor, said the party must “change or die”.
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Smarmer said on several occasions when on the campaign trail he wanted Welsh Labour to be the model for his government. Wonder what he thinks now?
Problem for Wales is that Plaid are a party of brain dead, whackos that will do an even worse job.
The Welsh obviously need to suffer more to come to their senses.
All of these MP’s must accept their large share of the blame, they are the ones who rebelled against welfare reform, thus making welfare spend higher than tax receipts. They are the ones who have refused tougher action on immigration.
They are theones calling for higher taxes, and spending on public sector wages. Change the hideous Starmer will change nothing, because the back benchers remain the same.
Very true. The only change these retards are calling for is more Far Left than Starmer so far which has been a disaster for their support. If change meant for example replacing the office temp at the Treasury with somebody competent in economics their fortunes could change but I not seen anybody in their ranks that fits that description. And Rache has no shame in her part of driving the economy to wall given her snivelling post result X post.
That’s not the Welsh first minister, that’s Harry Enfield in drag
Apart from the major wins for Reform, there seems to have been an increase in the number of No Overall Control (NOC) councils in England. In some of them, such as Swindon, it is probably more likely for the Tories and Labour to co-operate so as to keep the R party out of the process as much as possible.
19 more NOCs will see some curious bedfellows…
I thought in many places not all seats were up for grabs. If every seat had been holding an election this time around, Reform would control a lot more councils.
The pundits don’t seem to be taking this into account when predicting the next general election result, either.
Yes, that is the reason for many of the NOC’s. Somewhere in the NE Reform won all the seats being voted on but it is NOC.
Watch Labour elect Miliwatt as their leader.
Or Shabana Mahmood
It’s a house of horrors
The Labour members would favour Miliband if he stood for leader.
Loving the smell of commie blood in the water!
Rejected by the electorate, but embedded deeper than a tick in the HoL.
Have they? What really is the difference between Plaid Cymru and Labour? Both Marxist-Socialist nuts.
And Plaid don’t have a majority. Will they pal up with Reform UK? Doubt it. So they’ll climb into bed with Labour who as king-maker will call the shots.
What is needed is an independent Wales and Scotland so that England is Free. Free at last!
Frēo Englaland – Englalond a toweardan.
Hear, hear! Summon the Witenagemot to decide!
And don’t forget to bring your weapons, because it was strictly “No Weapon, No Vote”. That’s where raising your hand to vote at meetings, or to be allowed to speak, originated: you had to raise your arm up and brandish your weapon at the Anglo-Saxon Witenagemot, or Witan, in order to vote or to speak.
“Many historians considered the Witan to be a proto-parliament, an institution both democratic and representative, and in substance an ancestor of the Parliament of England.”
I like the souns of that!
And an independent Protestant Northern Ireland as well, with a new name.
The strange thing is that N Ireland is the most fiercely patriotic for Britain. At the start of the road races the marshals stand, doff caps, for the National Anthem.
Yes, and the appalling thing is that the Protestant Northern Irish people’s fierce patriotism and loyalty to the rest of the “United Kingdom” is not reciprocated, especially by the English People.
That’s why Rupert Lowe’s RESTORE BRITAIN’s new logo is so brilliant, because it dares to include Northern Ireland as an integral part of the United Kingdom:
Same with SNP. All globalist woke socialists that hate England, including Labour.
To be fair to Starmer… I know, I know… since devolution, he has little to do with the car crash that is Welsh Labour.
Ditch Devolution it’s a Disaster
“Baroness Morgan of Ely?” These socialists love to be enobled, while they nobble the country.
What Ely, Cambridge? Centre of the ancient cathedral and elite King’s public School? Couldn’t they find somewhere more fitting for a socialist whose policies include the destruction of such educational systems?
Labour do like giving out honours like confetti, don’t they.
As usual the DT is unable to write accurately. She did not fail to “hang on” she was utterly rejected, trashed.
Why can journos no longer write. Was the report a cut and paste job from Labour PR?
The great news is that Wales can replace their current “Health Ambassador”:
(Courtesy of David Gregory over on Guido Fawkes)
Pass the sick bag, Alice
Well, you’re right that it looks a bit like the caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland, but you’ll soon remember that it’s supposed to be Jabba the Hutt from Star Wars. So it’s pass the sick bag, Luke & Leia! 🙂
Ive never seen starwars…wow, what does that make me?
Same as me I guess. Never seen Grease either but did watch Close Encounters recently.
At the moment the BBC News app has eight reports on the election with the only one featuring Reform saying the party welcomes scrutiny of its candidates… How is the BBC allowed to get away with this?
It marks its own homework while the OFCOM stasi force GB News to feature Far Left tossers for balance.
Like Nigel Nelson who would prefer to tax wealth (a pile of bricks) than “work” (he means profitable transactions). Economic illiteracy beloved by socialists.
That is fantastic news! I’m sure she will step down gracefully, unlike North Korea’s Krazed Kommie Kim, who has just changed the constitution to prevent such a thing:
North Korea will launch a nuclear weapon if Kim Jong Un is assassinated under new rules drawn up by the dictator | Daily Mail Online
One public commenter said: “I don’t think so — they’ll be too busy partying!”
Looks to me like the man is pretty rational, even if at the same time a horrible despot.
I mean, the US has set a new blueprint for taking on adversary countries
Step 1. Take out leadership.
Step 2. “Negotiate” with whoever is left for country to become US vassal.
Step 3. If negotiations don’t yield desired results, carry out bombing campaign.
Step 4. Go back to Step 2.
In a way, what Kim is doing really is trolling the Iranians, reminding them of the power of a nuclear weapon. The irony of it all.
“Rational”? “Trolling”?
Blasted with anti-aircraft guns, torched with flamethrowers and choked with pebbles: The horrific execution methods Kim Jong-un uses to spread fear among North Koreans | Daily Mail Online