Morgan vows to stay on after historic Labour Caerphilly loss

Wales’ First Minister Eluned Morgan has said she will shoulder her share of responsibility after Labour suffered a crushing defeat in the Caerphilly by-election.

Plaid Cymru’s Lindsay Whittle won with 15,961 votes and a 47% vote share, ending 100 years of Labour rule in the constituency. Labour finished third with just 11% of the vote, behind Reform UK on 36%.

The historic loss now threatens Labour’s ability to pass its upcoming budget through the Senedd.

Speaking to ITV Cymru Wales, Ms Morgan said: “I spoke to Keir Starmer today, he recognises this is a really difficult result for Labour, he’s committed to working with us. I made it clear that I expected more to be delivered from the UK Government.”

She added: “I think we’ve all got to take our share of responsibility, I’ll certainly shoulder my share. But what’s important now is that we look to the future, that we work out how we get out of this situation we’re in.”

The turnout of 50.43% was notably high compared to the 29.1% seen in the 2018 Alyn and Deeside by-election.

Despite the result, the First Minister remained defiant about her political future: “I do not intend to go down with this ship. My plan is to lead Labour into the next election with a brand new invigorated team of candidates with fresh ideas, looking to the future and making sure we are responding to the issues people were talking to us about on the streets of Caerphilly.”

Without a Senedd majority, Labour will now need to negotiate with multiple parties to pass their budget. Ms Morgan warned: “What we don’t want to see is mass redundancies, cleaners sacked, teachers being sacked, bin men being sacked, that is what is facing us if we can’t get out budget through.”