Eluned Morgan (Image: PA Images / Alamy)
Last Updated: 3 minutes ago
Eluned Morgan has conceded that her constituency seat in Ceredigion Penfro is “on a knife edge” – and turned to an unusual visual aid to rally Labour voters: a lineup of canned cocktails.
Cocktails and campaigning
In a social media video published on Thursday, the First Minister grabbed a selection of canned drinks to walk viewers through how the new Senedd voting system works in her constituency, where six seats are available.
Each party was assigned its own can – Labour represented by a strawberry daiquiri, Plaid Cymru by a mojito, the Conservatives by a raspberry daiquiri, Reform UK by an espresso martini, the Greens by a piña colada, and the Liberal Democrats by an Irn-Bru vodka martini.
A frank admission
Morgan accepted that Plaid Cymru would take “at least two seats, maybe even a third” in the constituency, framing the “real battle” as one between Reform, the Conservatives and Labour for the remaining places.
Pointing to a recent poll, she said it suggested she would secure one of the six seats but cautioned: “But it won’t necessarily stay that way unless you come out and vote Labour.”
She warned that the “real danger is that if you don’t come out, you don’t support Labour you’re going to get another Reform person”.
A caption alongside the clip described a crucial seat as being “on a knife edge and it could go to Labour or to Reform and the Tories.”
Polling pressure
The latest polling has painted a difficult picture for Labour, placing the party third behind both Plaid Cymru and Reform UK. Some surveys have raised the prospect of Morgan failing to win a seat at all, with Labour also at risk of losing its grip on the Welsh Government.
Party reactions
A Plaid Cymru spokesperson said that “even Labour’s own leader in Wales has now acknowledged the reality on the ground”.
They said: “Labour are on their way out. This is the scale of the choice facing Wales: a hopeful, ambitious future under Plaid Cymru, or more chaos and decline under Reform UK.”
A Welsh Conservative spokesperson said the “people of Wales have had enough” after 27 years of “Labour and Plaid’s failed policies”.
“Only the Welsh Conservatives offer a credible plan that will fix our NHS, improve standards in our schools and fire up our economy to get Wales working,” they added.
A Reform UK spokesperson said: “The only way to stop another Labour and Plaid coalition, and get real change for Wales, is to vote Reform.”
New electoral system
Wales is using a new system to elect its parliament, with the Senedd expanding from 60 to 96 members. Six representatives will be chosen in each of 16 newly drawn constituencies.
