The first election under the new closed-list system for 96 seats, with every figure labelled as the page gives it
Plaid Cymru 43, Reform UK 34, Labour 9: The Senedd Election of 7 May 2026, Read from a Wikipedia Page That Admits It Is Incomplete
The first election under the new closed-list system for 96 seats, with every figure labelled as the page gives it
By Carys Evans, current affairs and politics diarist
Thursday, Train to Cardiff, Window
Dear diary, I have a Welsh name and a Welsh grandmother, so I read the Senedd results as a family matter. I read the Wikipedia page on the 2026 Senedd election, and I must warn that the summary I got flags it as an incomplete extract, with truncated tables, a turnout discrepancy and sections cut off. Everything below is as the page gives it, and the official results should be checked.
I am going to try to be fair to every party, including the ones my family would not vote for.
The New System
The page says the election was held on 7 May 2026, alongside English local elections and the Scottish Parliament election. It was the first under the Senedd Reform Act: all 96 seats elected by closed-list proportional representation using the D’Hondt method, in sixteen six-member constituencies. Voters cast one ballot for a party or independent, not an individual candidate. The Senedd was previously 60 members, elected by an additional member system.
Closed lists mean parties decide the order of candidates, which is a feature that some admire and some dislike.
The Result
Majority is 49 seats. The page gives Plaid Cymru 43, up 30, Reform UK 34, up 34, Labour 9, down 21, Conservatives 7, down 9, Greens 2, up 2, and Liberal Democrats 1, unchanged. Turnout is given as 51.6 percent of 2,433,921 registered voters, though the page’s introduction gives 51.72 percent and does not resolve the difference.
It is a big change on any reading. Labour’s fall is the largest in the table.
The Aftermath
According to the page, Rhun ap Iorwerth of Plaid Cymru was elected First Minister on 12 May with 44 votes, supported by Plaid and the Greens, with Labour and the Liberal Democrats abstaining. Eluned Morgan lost her own seat and resigned as Labour leader, and Ken Skates became interim leader. Plaid is forming a minority government, six seats short of a majority, and ap Iorwerth said the party preferred a cooperative approach to a coalition.
I note that a seat loss by a party leader is a hard thing to put in a diary, and I do it carefully.
The Caveats
The page itself looks unfinished. Constituency tables are truncated or inconsistent, and it has citation markers and a turnout figure that conflict with the results table. I have not checked the numbers against another source, and a reader quoting them should go to the Senedd or the Electoral Commission.
I would rather say that than pretend a draft page is a ruling.
The Other View
Supporters of the result would say it shows Wales wanting change and a new, home-grown leadership. Critics, including those who voted Labour, would say it reflects anger rather than a plan. Reform supporters would say their 34 seats show a new opposition with a mandate. The page gives numbers and not arguments, and I will not invent a quote from any of these groups.
A history student knows an election result is where an argument begins.
My Drawer
I like that the new system makes smaller parties count. I am wary of closed lists that make candidates count for less. I hold both thoughts and I write them down to see which one survives the night.
My grandmother would tell me to put the kettle on.
Night
The train is crossing the Severn. The window is a mirror. The page is open on my phone.
Goodnight, diary. Check the Senedd site.
A Note on Names
The page gives the winning party as Plaid Cymru and its leader as Rhun ap Iorwerth. I have spelled the names as the page does. Welsh names carry diacritics that I have left out because this diary is typed in plain letters, and I mean no disrespect by it.
If you can read the Senedd site in Welsh, please do. It will be better than my summary.
Division Bell
At the pub quiz, somebody always has the paper. Ours had the Cebu condo slump in it: empty showrooms in Manila News, paperwork for British pensioners in the London Prat (at https://prat.uk/cebu-estate-agents-demand-character-references/) and long showings in Bohiney. More where that came from: prat.uk and bohiney.com.
Diarist note: Carys Evans is a house diarist character created for this network. Her opinions are a character’s, not the network’s, and where a claim comes from a prediction market, a Wikipedia page or a partisan outlet, the diary says so.
Note: Philippine authorities are examining unproven allegations about Thomas Markle Sr., who lived in Cebu until earlier this year, as GMA News and the Guardian have reported. No charges have been filed. Child protection is a serious matter; the jokes here are about a property market and the paperwork.
For the lighter side of the news, try The Daily Squib, and the rest of the lot at NewsThump, NewsBiscuit and The Daily Squib.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/cebu-realtor-cant-sell-beachfront-listings/