It was almost certainly the last ever by-election in Wales for the Senedd.

A new electoral system next year will mean they aren’t needed, but they have saved the most dramatic for last. Labour held the seat of Caerphilly at Westminster since 1918, and in Cardiff Bay since devolution in 1999.

That was swept away last night.

Last night, Labour collapsed to a poor third and although Reform surged to over a third of the vote, Plaid won.

All this with the highest ever turnout in a Senedd by-election.

For Welsh Labour it leaves them struggling to pass a budget and facing a historically bad result next May. For Keir Starmer it also poses difficult questions – can you be the “Stop Farage” party, when voters who want to stop Nigel Farage don’t like you very much?

Correspondent: Andy Davies

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