Senedd elections 2026

I could vote again! There were elections all around the UK. Local elections in England, and senate (and equivalent) elections in Scotland and Wales. And I can vote in the Welsh one. 

The electoral system has changed since the last time I did. My constituency is a lot bigger now; Anglesey, Conwy, Bangor. And we had six seats to divide. It was widely reported to be a two horse race between Plaid Cymru and Reform. Labour was expected to be obliterated.

In my constituency, polls suggested that of these 6 seats, 3 would go to Plaid, 2 to Reform, and it would be a battle between Tory and Lib Dem for the 6th.

Normally, I vote first thing in the morning (if I get to vote, that is). Then whatever ever happens in the rest of the day, that is done! But with all the stress of the dissertation module, this year I ended up voting in the evening. I got home, I started dinner, put it in the oven, and while it was looking after itself, I popped to the polling station. 

I had been struggling to make up my mind what to vote. My natural colour is Green, and they were indeed standing in my constituency. So that would make sense. But wouldn't Plaid be in a better position to keep Reform out? That's very important too. Or should it be Lib Dem, in an attempt to keep the Tories out of the last seat? I had to make up my mind on the very day.

With polling card

Polling station in old school

In England, the counting started a lot earlier than in Scotland and Wales, so that's where I had my attention first. It was scary! Reform was making such big gains. Hopefully, they will screw up a lot of local politics, and people will not be so keen on voting for them in the next general election. I'm still nervous about that! But I'm afraid that national elections might not be that heavily influenced by what's going on at the constituency level. 

Then, through the day, Welsh and Scottish results were also coming in. Plaid was, as expected, in the lead. And my constituency was the first northern one that declared. It had been true about the three seats for Plaid and two for Reform. The last one had gone to the Conservatives. The Lib Dems even got fewer votes than Labour. Only about a third of what Labour got! Predictions don’t always come true.

When the results were still coming in

 

Later on Friday the full results were in. There were 43 seats for Plaid, when they need 49 for a majority. What will they do now? My hunch is, a minority government rather than a coalition, but we'll see.

One thing that might change a bit is that with Plaid the biggest party, and the party leader being from Anglesey, there may be a bit more attention for the north in Cardiff from now on. As a northern resident, or a Gog, I think that's a good thing!