Incumbent First Minister Eluned Morgan has lost her seat in the 2026 Senedd Election, making her the first head of government in UK history to lose her seat whilst in post.
Following her defeat, Ms Morgan announced she is standing down as the leader of Welsh Labour. It comes as Welsh Labour secured just nine seats overall.
She said: “Welsh Labour has today suffered a catastrophic result.
“It ends a century of Labour winning in Wales, and the party will need to take a really hard look at itself, and understand the depth of the challenge that we face.
“I’ve lost my seat here in Ceredigion Penfro and I will be standing down as leader of Welsh Labour. I take responsibility for the Labour result in Wales.”
Ms Morgan was standing as Welsh Labour’s top candidate in the Ceredigion Penfro constituency but failed to be re-elected as a Member of the Senedd.
SNP leader John Swinney, who retained his seat in Perthshire North, has said he is certain his party will be the largest in Holyrood when the final votes have been counted.
Swinney’s apparent certainty comes after his party made early gains, taking Shetland, which has been held by the Liberal Democrats since the start of devolution.
The SNP also won the Eastwood constituency outside of Glasgow from the Scottish Tories, although were arguably helped by the rise of Reform splitting the vote on the right of politics.
Despite this, Swinney’s party did see notable losses, losing seats in the centre of Edinburgh, its east, and south to the Greens, Liberal Democrats, and Labour respectively.
In the final polls conducted before people cast their vote on Thursday, the SNP was predicted to be on track to win its fifth consecutive election, but fell short of an overall majority – something they haven’t won since 2011.
• Subscribe to ITV News on YouTube: http://bit.ly/2lOHmNj
• Get breaking news and more stories at http://www.itv.com/news
Follow ITV News on TikTok https://www.tiktok.com/@itvnews?lang=en
Follow ITV News on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/itvnews/
Follow ITV News on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/itvnews/
Follow ITV News on X: https://twitter.com/itvnews
