Blitz Bureau
NEW DELHI:British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labour party suffered a by-election defeat in a traditional Welsh stronghold, losing Caerphilly for the first time to Plaid Cymru.
Lindsay Whittle secureda 3,848- vote majority in the Welsh Senedd assembly seat. Whittle took 47 per cent, with 15,961 votes, beating Reform candidate Llŷr Powell into second place on 36 per cent, with 12,113 votes.
“We want a better deal for every corner of Wales,” Whittle said in his victory speech.
“The big parties need to sit up and take notice. Wales, we are at the dawn of new leadership; we are at the dawn of a new beginning.” Whittle, who had failed on 13 previous occasions to become either MP or Senedd member for Caerphilly, described Labour as a “dying beast” that was on its way out after 100 years of power in Wales.
Labour candidate Richard Tunnicliffe got just 3,713 votes, or 11 per cent, down from 13,289 in 2021. The Tories’ Gareth Potter received 690 votes, or 2 per cent. The turnout of 50.43 per cent was the highest in the history of by-elections to the Welsh assembly.
