By Sam Pilling 16 July 2021 Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament elections 2021 Summary 1 Introduction 2 Parties 3 Candidates 4 Results 5 Turnout 6 Appendix commonslibrary.parliament.uk Number CBP 9282 Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament elections 2021 Contributing Authors Roderick McInnes; Carl Baker Image Credits Cover page image attributed to: Senedd/Welsh Parliament, Cardiff Bay by (WT-shared) Cardiff at wts wikivoyage image cropped. Disclaimer The Commons Library does not intend the information in our research publications and briefings to address the specific circumstances of any particular individual. We have published it to support the work of MPs. You should not rely upon it as legal or professional advice, or as a substitute for it. We do not accept any liability whatsoever for any errors, omissions or misstatements contained herein. You should consult a suitably qualified professional if you require specific advice or information. 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If you have general questions about the work of the House of Commons email [email protected]. 2 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 July 2021 Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament elections 2021 Contents 1 Introduction 7 The electoral system 7 The political context 7 2021 election results 7 Composition of the Senedd 9 2 Parties 11 2.2 Conservative 14 2.3 Plaid Cymru 16 2.4 Liberal Democrats 18 2.5 UK Independence Party 20 2.6 Other parties 21 3 Candidates 22 4 Results 23 4.1 Welsh Parliament elections summary, 2021 23 4.2 Welsh Parliament elections summary, 2016 24 4.3 Percentage share of the vote, by party, 2016 and 2021 25 5 Turnout 26 6 Appendix 28 6.1 Constituency results 29 6.2 Regional results 38 6.3 Members of the Senedd 45 3 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 July 2021 Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament elections 2021 Summary In the elections to Senedd Cymru / the Welsh Parliament in May 2021 the Labour Party won half the seats (30 out of 60) with 38.0% of the vote (up from 33.1% in 2016). 1 Labour gained one more Member of the Senedd (MS) than in 2016. The Conservatives gained the second largest share of the vote (25.6%) winning 16 seats, five more than in 2016. They took second place in terms of vote share and seats from Plaid Cymru, whose vote share fell slightly to 20.5% (from 20.7% in 2016) but who still gained one seat compared with 2016 (up from 12 to 13). The Liberal Democrats’ vote share fell to 4.6% from 7.1% in 2016. They won one seat – the same as in 2016. The seat gains for Labour, the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru were all at the expense of UKIP, who won seven seats in the 2016 election but none in 2021. The turnout was 46.5% in both the constituency and regional list ballots, slightly higher than in 2016 (when the average turnout was 45.4%). The highest constituency turnout was in Cardiff North, where 58.1% of the electorate cast valid ballots. The lowest was in Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (34.8%). Following the election, the composition of the Senedd was 35 men and 25 women, the same as in 2016. There are currently three known minority ethnic Assembly members. 1 In this briefing, Welsh Labour, the Welsh Conservatives, and the Welsh Liberal Democrats are referred to as Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats respectively. 4 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 July 2021 Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament elections 2021 Senedd Cymru / Welsh Parliament Election 2021: Results in brief combined constituency and regional results Votes 2016 2021 Labour 673,061 33.1% 844,817 38.0% Conservative 406,443 20.0% 568,362 25.6% Plaid Cymru 420,922 20.7% 455,537 20.5% Liberal Democrat 143,669 7.1% 102,419 4.6% Green 55,413 2.7% 66,531 3.0% Abolish the Welsh Assembly 44,286 2.2% 59,548 2.7% UKIP 259,176 12.7% 25,927 1.2% Others 31,153 1.5% 99,484 4.5% Total 2,034,123 100% 2,222,625 100% Seats 2011 2016 2021 Change Labour 30 29 30 +1 Conservative 14 11 16 +5 Plaid Cymru 11 12 13 +1 Liberal Democrat 5 1 1 0 UKIP 0 7 0 -7 Turnout 41.4% 45.4% 46.5% +1.1% Members of the Senedd Women 24 25 25 0 Men 36 35 35 0 5 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 July 2021 Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament elections 2021 Senedd seats and votes by party, 1999 to 2021 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Labour 50% Labour Seats 28 30 26 30 29 30 40% Constituency 27 30 24 28 27 27 30% Regional 1 0 2 2 2 3 20% Share 36.5% 38.3% 30.9% 39.6% 33.1% 38.0% 10% Constituency 37.6% 40.0% 32.2% 42.3% 34.7% 39.9% 0% Regional 35.4% 36.6% 29.6% 36.9% 31.5% 36.2% 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Conservative 50% Conservative Seats 9 11 12 14 11 16 40% Constituency 1 1 5 6 6 8 30% Regional 8 10 7 8 5 8 20% Share 16.2% 19.6% 21.9% 23.8% 20.0% 25.6% 10% Constituency 15.8% 19.9% 22.4% 25.0% 21.1% 26.1% 0% Regional 16.5% 19.2% 21.5% 22.5% 18.8% 25.1% 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Plaid Cymru 50% Plaid Cymru Seats 17 12 15 11 12 13 40% Constituency 9 5 7 5 6 5 30% Regional 8 7 8 6 6 8 20% 10% Share 29.5% 20.5% 21.7% 18.6% 20.7% 20.5% 0% Constituency 28.4% 21.2% 22.4% 19.3% 20.5% 20.3% Regional 30.5% 19.7% 21.0% 17.9% 20.8% 20.7% 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Liberal Democrat 50% Lib Dem Seats 6 6 6 5 1 1 40% Constituency 3 3 3 1 1 0 30% Regional 3 3 3 4 0 1 20% 10% Share 13.0% 13.4% 13.3% 9.3% 7.1% 4.6% 0% Constituency 13.5% 14.1% 14.8% 10.6% 7.7% 4.9% Regional 12.5% 12.7% 11.7% 8.0% 6.5% 4.3% 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Green 30% Green Seats 0 0 0 0 0 0 20% 10% Share 0.1% 1.8% 1.7% 1.8% 2.7% 3.0% 0% Constituency 0.1% 0.0% 0.0% 0.2% 2.5% 1.6% Regional 2.5% 3.5% 3.5% 3.4% 3.0% 4.4% 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Abolish the Welsh Assembly 30% Abolish Seats - - - - 0 0 20% 10% Share - - - - 2.2% 2.7% 0% Constituency - - - - 0.0% 1.6% Regional - - - - 4.4% 3.7% 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 UK Independence Party 30% UKIP Seats - 0 0 0 7 0 20% Regional - 0 0 0 7 0 10% 0% Share - 2.9% 2.9% 2.3% 12.7% 1.2% Constituency - 2.3% 1.8% 0.0% 12.5% 0.8% 1999 2003 2007 2011 2016 2021 Regional - 3.5% 3.9% 4.6% 13.0% 1.6% 6 Commons Library Research Briefing, 16 July 2021 Senedd Cymru/Welsh Parliament elections 2021 1 Introduction The sixth set of elections to the Senedd Cymru / Welsh Parliament (the Senedd) took place on Thursday, 6 May 2021, on the same day as elections to the Scottish Parliament, elections for many English local authorities-metro mayors and the Greater London Authority and Mayor, and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales. The electoral system Regional seats are assigned as follows: The system for electing members to the Senedd is known as the Additional Member System. Voters are The votes for each party given two ballots. The first is used to elect each of 40 are summed and then constituency Members of the Senedd (MSs) under the divided by the number of traditional first-past-the-post system. seats the party has already gained in the The second ballot paper is used to elect four MSs from constituencies plus one. each of five electoral regions. These 20 additional The first seat is then members are elected so that the total representation awarded to the party with from each geographical area, including those the most votes. The members elected under first-past-the-post, process is repeated, corresponds more closely to the share of the votes taking the newly assigned cast for each political party in the region. seat into account until all regional seats are filled. The political context The sixth Senedd elections were the first to take place since the UK left the European Union.