Labour suffers historic by-election defeat in Wales

LONDON

The Labour Party has suffered a major setback in Wales, losing the traditional Welsh stronghold Caerphilly seat for the first time in a century.

Caerphilly, a town and county borough in south Wales, lies just north of the capital Cardiff.

Lindsay Whittle of Plaid Cymru, a center-left Welsh nationalist party, won the by-election with a majority of 3,848 votes in the Welsh Senedd seat, a result seen as a serious blow to British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s leadership ahead of wider elections in Wales in May.

“We want a better deal for every corner of Wales,” said Whittle in his victory speech early Friday. “The big parties need to sit up and take notice. Wales, we are at the dawn of new leadership. We are at the dawn of a new beginning.”

Whittle, who had previously failed 13 times to become either an MP or Senedd member for Caerphilly, described Labour as a “dying beast” that was on its way out after 100 years of power in Wales.

Right-wing populist party Reform, which won just 495 votes four years ago, surged to second place with 36% of the vote.

Party leader Nigel Farage visited Caerphilly on Thursday to campaign alongside local candidate Llyr Powell.

Powell said he believed Reform would form the next Welsh government.

“Our ground campaign is going to get better,” he said. “We’ve got more people turning out to vote now when they’ve got a party they believe in.”

He also criticized Labour’s campaign, saying the party “deserved to be in the gutter like their campaign belonged” after it deleted social media posts following a legal challenge from Reform.