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Elections in Wales

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Summary

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There are four types of elections in Wales: elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elections to the devolved Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ), local elections to community councils and the 22 principal areas, and the police and crime commissioner elections. In addition there are by-elections for each aforementioned election. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday. Three of these four types of elections are held after fixed periods; the exception is UK general elections, the timing of which is at the discretion of the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Senedd elections may be postponed to avoid elections to the UK parliament and Senedd coinciding with each other.

The two electoral systems used for elections in Wales are: first-past-the-post (for UK elections, police and crime commissioner elections and local elections, though individual local authorities are able to move to STV under recent Welsh legislation) and the Closed Lists (for Senedd elections). The supplementary vote system was previously used for police and crime commissioner elections, until the system was switched for those elections to first-past-the-post under provision made by the Elections Act 2022. The previous Additional Members System for the Senedd was replaced for Closed list by the Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Act 2024.

Local government elections

The results of the 2022 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 5 May 2022. The electoral system used can be either first-past-the-post or STV. The largest unitary authorities in Wales are Cardiff, Newport and Swansea councils, which all lie in the southern coastal belt.

The next Welsh local elections are scheduled for 2027
Local election results 2022
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

Police and crime commissioner elections

Main article: Police and crime commissioner

Template:Politics of Wales

Police and crime commissioners (PCCs) were established in England and Wales, replacing the local police authorities, following the Conservative–Liberal Democrat coalition agreement of 2010, with the first PCCs elected in 2012.

In November 2025, the UK government announced plans to abolish PCCs in 2028, upon the expiry of the terms of office of the PCCs elected in 2024. As a consequence, the scheduled 2028 PCC elections would be cancelled; the 2024 PCC elections will therefore likely be the last.

Devolved parliament elections

Politics of Wales

There have been six elections to the devolved parliament of Wales, based in Cardiff Bay since 1999. These elections are held every five years to elect sixty Members of the Senedd (MSs; formerly Assembly Members, ASs). Voters have two votes: forty MSs are elected by the First Past the Post system in individual constituencies, and a further twenty MSs are elected by a regional top-up system in which voters vote by region. This system overall is called Additional Members System (AMS) and is a hybrid electoral system mixing both a plurality system (FPTP) and a proportional system (the party list system). The regions are: Mid and West Wales, North Wales, South Wales Central, South Wales East and South Wales West, whereas the constituencies are the same used for elections to the UK parliament. Each region elects four MSs, to achieve approximately proportional representation overall, with every individual in Wales being represented by five MSs in total, their local constituency MS and four regional MSs. Between its inception in 1999, it was known as the 'National Assembly for Wales'. Legislation was passed in 2020, for a name change on 6 May 2020 to its current name, 'Senedd Cymru' or the 'Welsh Parliament' (or simply 'Senedd') to fully reflect its constitutional status as a law-making and tax-setting parliament. It is based in Cardiff Bay, initially (as the Assembly) in Tŷ Hywel from 1999 to 2006, until it moved to the Senedd building, which opened on 1 March 2006, where the Assembly and now Senedd has been based since 2006. The elections were held every four years from 1999, but were increased to five years following the Wales Act 2014 for the 2016 election.

The 2021 Senedd election on 6 May 2021, was the first election to the devolved parliament since its name change. The election took place akin to previous elections when it was known as the National Assembly for Wales.

Election reform

The Richard Commission report of 2004 suggested an increase of the number of Members to 80. That number was also suggested, as a minimum, by the 2014 report of the Silk Commission. Similarly, in 2013 and 2016, the Electoral Reform Society published reports making the case for an upsize of the Assembly. A 2017 report of an expert commission suggested an increase to between 80 and 90 Members, switching to single transferable vote (STV) and enforcing gender quotas.

A reduction in the number of Welsh MPs has been proposed for the next UK general alection. Under the proposals, the number of MPs would be reduced from 40 to 32 and new constituency boundaries have also been proposed. The boundary plans were published on 19 October 2022 and voters have four weeks to comment. The map of the new constituency boundaries would also be used as Senedd regions for the next Senedd election.

The Special Committee was set up on 6 October 2021. In May 2022, a joint position statement was published by First Minister Mark Drakeford and Plaid Cymru Leader Adam Price, calling for a 96-Member Senedd, all elected through closed party list proportional representation (using the D'Hondt method) with mandatory "zipping" of male and female candidates in the list to ensure that for every party, half of the Members will be women.

The final report of the Special Committee was published on 30 May 2022 and recommended the system agreed to by the Labour and Plaid Cymru leaders.

Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill

Main article: Senedd Reform Bill

In September 2023, the Welsh Government published its plans for electoral reform as part of the proposed Senedd Cymru (Members and Elections) Bill. The number of Senedd constituencies is set to fall to 16, with each constituency electing six MSs from a closed list under the D'Hondt method. Under the proposals, all candidates must live in Wales, and elections would take place every four years, rather than five.

as the Senedd

Anchor on same page

Elections to the institution prior to 2020, with the last being in 2016, were done under the previous name the 'National Assembly for Wales' (see below). Following legislation in 2020, any subsequent elections, from the 2021 Senedd election will be under its new name.

2026

Main article: Next Senedd election

The next Senedd election is expected to be held on Thursday 7 May 2026, under the provisions of the Wales Act 2014 where Senedd terms are five-year terms. This date can be postponed under circumstances including public health or safety emergencies, or an early UK parliamentary election (itself expected in 2024, but can be held prior).

2021

Main article: 2021 Senedd election

It was the sixth general election since the establishment of the institution in 1999. It was held along with the other 2021 United Kingdom local elections and was the first election where 16 and 17-year-olds were 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.

A map showing the constituency winners of the Election by their party colours.]]

Overall turnout: 46.5%

as the National Assembly for Wales (1999–2020)

Anchor on same page

Elections to the then 'National Assembly for Wales' (or Welsh Assembly') occurred from its first election in 1999 up until the 2016 election (with any subsequent elections being as the 'Senedd'). This follows the 1997 devolution referendum where Welsh voters narrowly approved the formation of the devolved institution. The institution is now known as the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ) (see above).

2016

Main article: 2016 National Assembly for Wales election

A map showing the constituency winners of the election by their party colours.]]

Overall turnout: 45.3%

2011

Main article: 2011 National Assembly for Wales election

A map showing the constituency winners of the election by their party colours.]]

Overall turnout: 42.2%

2007

Main article: 2007 National Assembly for Wales election

A map showing the constituency winners of the election by their party colours.]]

Overall turnout: 43.7%

2003

Main article: 2003 National Assembly for Wales election

A map showing the constituency winners of the election by their party colours.]]

Overall turnout: 38.2%

1999

Main article: 1999 National Assembly for Wales election

Overall turnout: 46%

Past elections and referendums

UK parliament elections

Map of the 2024 election results in the new 32 constituencies.

Map of the 2019 election results in the then 40 constituencies.

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	Labour	Liberal Democrat/
Liberal	Conservative	Plaid Cymru	Independent	Liberal Unionist	Independent Labour	Others
1885	-	29	4	-	-	-	-	1
1886	-	26	6	-	-	1	-	1

Detailed breakdowns

2024

Main article: 2024 United Kingdom general election, 2024 United Kingdom general election in Wales}}{{table alignment

Party	Seats	Aggregate votes	Total	Gains	Losses	Net	Of all (%)	Total
	27	+8	0	9	84.4	487,636	37.0	3.9
	0	0	−12	12	0.0	240,003	18.2	17.9
	0	0	0		0.0	223,018	16.9	11.5
	4	+2	0	2	12.5	194,811	14.8	4.9
	1	+1	0	1	3.1	85,911	6.5	0.5
	0	0	0		0.0	61,662	4.7	3.7
0	0	0		0.0	17,593	1.3	0.9
	0	Did not stand in 2019}}	0.0	1,545	0.1
	0	Did not stand in 2019}}	0.0	1,521	0.1
	0	Did not stand in 2019}}	0.0	1,041	0.1
	0	Did not stand in 2019}}	0.0	926	0.1
	0	Did not stand in 2019}}	0.0	600	0.0
	0	Did not stand in 2019}}	0.0	536	0.0
	0	Did not stand in 2019}}	0.0	532	0.0
	0	Did not stand in 2019}}	0.0	521	0.0
	0	Did not stand in 2019}}	0.0	439	0.0
	0	Did not stand in 2019}}	0.0	424	0.0
	0	0	0		0.0	393	0.0
	0	Did not stand in 2019}}	0.0	255	0.0
	0	Did not stand in 2019}}	0.0	104	0.0
	32	colspan="2"			1,319,471	56.0

2019

Main article: 2019 United Kingdom general election, 2019 United Kingdom general election in Wales

Seats	Votes	Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total	%
22	0	6	6	55	632,035	40.9	8.0
14	6	0	6	35	557,234	36.1	2.5
4	0	0		10	153,265	9.9	0.5
0	0	0		0	92,171	6.0	1.5
0	0	0		0	83,908	5.4	new
0	0	0		0	15,828	1.0	0.7
Independents	0	0	0		0	6,220	0.4	N/A
0	0	0		0	1,515	0.1	new
0	0	0		0	1,322	0.1	new
0	0	0		0	345	0.0
0	0	0		0	245	0.0	new
0	0	0		0	181	0.0	new
0	0	0		0	88	0.0	new

2017

Main article: 2017 United Kingdom general election, 2017 United Kingdom general election in Wales

Seats	Votes	Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total	%
28	3	0	3	70.0	771,354	48.9	12.1
8	0	3	3	20.0	528,839	33.6	6.3
4	1	0	1	10.0	164,466	10.4	1.7
0	0	1	1	—	71,039	4.5	2.0
0	0	0	0	—	31,376	2.0	11.6
0	0	0	0	—	5,128	0.3	2.2
Others	0	0	0	0	—	3,612	0.2	0.1

2015

Main article: 2015 United Kingdom general election, 2015 United Kingdom general election in Wales

Seats	Votes	Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total	%
25	1	2	1	62.5	552,473	36.9	0.6
11	3	0	3	27.5	407,813	27.2	1.1
0	0	0		—	204,330	13.6	11.2
3	0	0		7.5	181,704	12.1	0.8
1	0	2	2	2.5	97,783	6.5	13.6
0	0	0		—	38,344	2.6	2.1
0	0	0		—	3,481	0.2	0.2
0	0	0		—	1,780	0.1	0.1
Others	0	0	0		—	10,355	0.7	0.5

2010

Main article: 2010 United Kingdom general election, 2010 United Kingdom general election in Wales

Seats	Votes	Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total	%
26	1	5	4	65.0	531,601	36.2	6.5
8	5	0	5	20.0	382,730	26.1	4.7
3	0	1	1	7.5	295,164	20.1	1.7
3	1	0	1	7.5	165,394	11.3	1.3
0	0	0	0	—	35,690	2.4	1.0
0	0	0	0	—	23,088	1.6	1.5
0	0	0	0	—	6,293	0.4	0.1
0	0	0	0	—	1,947	0.1	N/A
0	0	0	0	—	341	0.0	N/A
Others	0	0	1	1	—	24,442	1.7	1.1

2005

Main article: 2005 United Kingdom general election, 2005 United Kingdom general election in Wales

Party	Candidates	Seats	Seats
change	Votes	%	%
change
		29	5	594,821	42.7	5.9
		3	3	297,830	21.4	0.4
		4	2	256,249	18.4	4.6
		3	1	174,838	12.6	1.7
		0		20,297	1.5
		0		7,144	0.5
		0		3,461	0.2
		0		1,772	0.1
		0		1,689	0.1
		0		1,605	0.1
		0		1,437	0.1
		0		643	0.0
		0		605	0.0
		0		557	0.0
		0		440	0.0
	Yourself		0		284	0.0
	Bean Party		0		159	0.0
		1	1	28,888	2.3
Turnout:	1,392,719	62.4

2001

Main article: 2001 United Kingdom general election, 2001 United Kingdom general election in Wales

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

1997

Main article: 1997 United Kingdom general election, 1997 United Kingdom general election in Wales

Seats	Votes	Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes
34	7	0	7	85.0	885,935	54.7	5.2
0	0	8	8	—	317,127	19.6	9.0
2	1	0	1	5.0	200,020	12.4	0.1
4	0	0		10.0	161,030	10.0	1.1
0	0	0		—	38,245	2.4	New
0	0	0		—	6,203	0.4	New
0	0	0		—	4,633	0.3	New
0	0	0		—	2,258	0.2	N/A
0	0	0		—	1,718	0.1	0.3
0	0	0		—	3,087	0.2	N/A

1992

Main article: 1992 United Kingdom general election, 1992 United Kingdom general election in Wales

Seats	Votes	Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
27	3	0	3	71.1	865,663	49.5	4.4
6	1	3	2	15.8	499,677	28.6	0.9
1	0	2	2	2.6	217,457	12.4	5.5
4	1	0	1	10.5	156,747	9.0	1.7
	Others	0	0	0		—	9,233	0.5	0.3

1987

Main article: 1987 United Kingdom general election, 1987 United Kingdom general election in Wales

Seats	Votes	Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes	% votes	Change
24	4	0	4	63.2	765,209	45.1	7.6
8	0	6	6	21.1	501,316	29.5	1.5
3	1	0	1	7.9	304,230	17.9	5.3
3	1	0	1	7.9	123,599	7.3	0.5
	Others	0	0	0		—	3,742	0.2	0.2

1983

Main article: 1983 United Kingdom general election, 1983 United Kingdom general election in Wales

Seats	Votes	Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total votes
20	0	3	3	52.6	603,858	37.5	9.4
14	3	1	2	36.8	499,310	31.0	1.2
2	1	0	1	5.3	373,358	23.2	12.6
2	0	0		5.3	125,309	7.8	0.2
0	0	0		—	7,151	0.4	1.9

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

2019 opinion polls

Date(s)	Polling organisation/client	Sample	Lab	UKIP	Con	Plaid	Green	Lib Dems	Brexit	Change UK	Others	Lead	Green Party of England and Wales}}; width:60px;"
16–20 May 2019	YouGov/ITV	1,009	15%	2%	7%	19%	8%	10%	36%	2%	0%	Brexit Party}}; color:white;"	17%
10–15 May 2019	YouGov/Plaid Cymru	1,133	18%	3%	7%	16%	8%	10%	33%	4%	0%	Brexit Party}}; color:white;"	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

Jayne Bryant, Alex Thomas, Christina Rees James Cole, Caroline Jones, David Rowlands Aled Davies, Dan Boucher, Richard Hopkin Marc Jones, Stephen Cornelius, Ioan Bellin

2009

Evan Price, Emma Greenow, David Chipp Lisa Stevens, Rachel Maycock, Leighton Veale Eurig Wyn, Ioan Bellin, Natasha Asghar David Bevan, Kevin Mahoney, David Rowlands

2004

Gareth Williams, Gwennan Jeremiah (148,905) Owen Williams, Felicity Elphick, Albert Fox Jon Blackwood, Eilian Williams, Gwenllian Lansdown

1999

Joe Wilson, Gareth Williams, Jane Hutt (99,845) Marc Phillips, Susanna Perkins, Owain Llywelyn (92,617.5) Chris Butler, Owen John Williams, Robert Buckland, Edmund Hayward

1994

Party	Seats	Seats
change	Votes	%	%
change
	5	1	530,749	55.86	6.93
	0		162,478	17.10	4.21
	0		138,349	14.56	8.89
	0		82,480	8.68	5.46
	0		19,413	2.04	9.11
	0	–	6,081	0.64	–
	0	–	5,536	0.58	–
	0	–	2,729	0.29	–
	0	–	1,270	1.33	–
	0	–	1,073	0.11	–
Turnout:	950,158

1989

Party	Seats	Seats
change	Votes	%	%
change
	4	1	436,730	48.93	4.40
	0	1	209,313	23.45	1.91
	0		115,062	12.89	0.69
	0		99,546	11.15	10.64
	0		28,785	3.22	14.18
	0	–	3,153	0.35	–
Turnout:	892,589

1984

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

1979

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

References

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(22 November 2013). "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.
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