With elections to the Welsh Assembly due next year, the red lights should be flashing for Labour
With all eyes fixed firmly on Labour’s disastrous performance in Scotland and much of England, last night should set alarm bells ringing for the party in Wales.
In 2010, Welsh Labour suffered what was deemed to be a difficult evening. The results at the time said it all. The loss of four seats saw the party take 26 in Wales whilst the Conservatives picked up an additional five to secure eight Welsh seats in the House of Commons.
Labour’s proportion of the vote fell by 6.5 per cent whilst the swing from Labour to Conservatives was 5.6 per cent.
Going into this year’s election, all the talk had been of Labour making albeit modest gains in Wales. As the final Welsh Political Barometer prior to the polls opening indicated, Labour were supposed to be on course to bag an additional two seats in Cardiff Central and Cardiff North.
With all 40 seats declared in Wales however, the results make for sobering reading. In the only bit of the UK that has a Labour Government, led by Carwyn Jones, the party saw itself make a net loss of one seat in Wales, whilst the Conservatives picked up an additional three to return 11 Welsh MPs.
This all comes on the back of results in last May’s European Elections which put UKIP in second place in Wales, less than 1 per cent behind Labour in the popular vote.
With elections to the Welsh Assembly due next year, the red lights should be flashing for Labour in Wales with election results going in the wrong direction.
Ed Jacobs is a contributing editor to Left Foot Forward. Follow him on Twitter
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83 Responses to “The alarm bells should be ringing for Welsh Labour”
Leon Wolfeson
It’s complete nonsense. The policies were the problems. People on the left, in particular, don’t *care* about personality if the policies cross their red lines.
Ben Skipp
How did they appeal to Orange bookers?
Leon Wolfeson
Yes yes, of course your post does not exist. Nope, you never opened your mouth against a union elected rep, oh no!
Evidently, as your repeated denials show, you *really* hate and fear workers. Your entire argument is that being Pale Blue is not enough, that they should be even further right…
Leon Wolfeson
How didn’t they? You did read their main campaigning points, right? You did see them shift right to accommodate Gladstonian views? (The Orange bookers replacing a century of…let’s call it Georgite views and commitment among the LibDems)
Leon Wolfeson
You are, of course, ignoring the downward trend in the Labour vote. It was 356, and factually given the seat breakpoints for swings, Brown did *better* than a straight-line extrapolation from Blair’s trajectory suggested!
(Also, no, it was 356…your figures are not close to the reality)