Appointment confirmed by plenary vote in Senedd after party ended 100 years of Labour rule in last week’s election
Rhun ap Iorwerth has been voted first minister of Wales after Plaid Cymru’s Senedd electoral victory ended 100 years of Labour hegemony and held off Reform UK.
Ap Iorwerth was confirmed after a plenary vote on Tuesday with the support of the 43 Senedd members of his party and two Greens.
Plaid Cymru ended Labour’s century-long electoral dominance in Wales in last week’s elections, winning the most seats in the newly expanded 96-seat parliament. Reform, which had hoped to be the biggest party, won 34 seats, and Labour came third with just nine seats, marking a definitive end to the party’s grip on its birthplace.
The former Labour first minister Eluned Morgan lost her seat, triggering a leadership contest. Ken Skates, the Senedd member for Fflint Wrecsam and former cabinet secretary for transport, has taken over as interim leader.
