Parties weigh in on ‘historic’ by-election result

Local TV

Plaid Cymru have done what no party has been able to in over a century: beat Labour in Caerphilly. After a hostile by-election campaign, Welsh Labour now face a ‘very difficult fight’ in the run up to May’s full Senedd election.

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00:00The fallout from last week's Kefili by-election continues, a result that's being described

00:05as one of the most dramatic political shifts in Wales in recent years. Clyde Cymru took

00:10the seat with nearly 16,000 votes, ending Labour's 25-year hold on the constituency.

00:15The party's candidate, Lindsay Whittle, secured almost half of the vote, marking a swing of

00:1927% from Labour and a decisive majority of more than 3,800.

00:25It's a result that polling expert Sir John Curtis says leaves Clyde well-placed to provide

00:29Wales with its next First Minister and won the Shent shockwaves through both the Labour

00:33Party and Westminster.

00:35Labour's Cabinet Office Minister Nick Thomas-Simmons admitted that defeat was disappointing and

00:40said Labour faces a very tough fight in the run-up to the Senate elections next May.

00:44He said the result reflected a fractured political landscape across the UK and insisted the party

00:49would now redouble its efforts to regain voters' trust.

00:53Clyde Cymru's leader Sreenap Yodworth called the victory a sign that people are ready for

00:56new leadership, saying the results showed Clyde is now the real choice for Wales and able

01:01to challenge both Labour and Reform UK.

01:04Meanwhile, Reform's candidate Lly of Powell, who finished second with more than 12,000 votes,

01:09described the outcome as a breakthrough moment for his party.

01:12Reform had secured only 495 votes in Confilly four years ago, and while they fell short of

01:17victory this time, the result underlines their growing support in Wales.

01:22The by-election comes at a sensitive time for Welsh Labour.

01:24The loss of a seat it had held since the Senate's creation in 1999 leaves the government in an

01:29even weaker position ahead of the next budget vote.

01:32But with Plaid on the rise and Reform capitalising on national discontent, the political map in

01:37Wales is shifting, and the road to next May the Senate election looks even more uncertain

01:41than ever.

01:42James Beach Watkins, Boughton for Local TV.

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