Plaid loses Llanelli

We are socialist - our manifesto is rooted in socialist principles

Catherine Thomas
Labour, Llanelli

Labour claimed traditional red seat Llanelli from Plaid Cymru by the narrowest of margins in the Welsh assembly elections.

Sitting AM Helen Mary Jones lost by just 21 votes to Catherine Thomas after a dramatic recount in the town.

She was defending a majority of just 688 from the inaugural 1999 election, when Plaid gained the seat, traditionally held in Westminster by Labour.

Her constituency gone, Plaid leading light Ms Jones - who appeared nervous for much of the night - had to rely on her place on the regional list to make a return to the assembly in Cardiff Bay.

'Excruciating'

Catherine Thomas took 9,916 votes ahead of Ms Jones' 9,895 in a result she described as "excruciating". The turnout was 40.9%.

I suggest she doesn't get too comfortable because we'll be back in four years time

Helen Mary Jones

They were followed by another slim gap - Conservative Gareth Jones' 1,712 votes edging Liberal Democrat Ken Rees' 1,644.

Ms Thomas promised to work with the constituency's veteran Labour MP Denzil Davies to deliver a "strong socialist agenda".

"Twenty-one has just become my favourite number," she said on hearing the result.

"[This is all about] making things better for the people of this constituency and for Wales...

"Because we are socialist and our manifesto is rooted in socialist principles and I am very proud of that."

Emphatic

Election night saw Labour regain a swathe of the south Wales seats turned green by Plaid four years ago.

But the party's surge in fortunes in seats elsewhere was far more emphatic than its victory in Llanelli.

Ms Jones said of Ms Thomas: "I suggest she doesn't get too comfortable because we'll be back in four years time.

"We're going to have to have a good long hard look and see what happens next.

"Perhaps we shouldn't have taken the 1999 result for granted."

She brushed off suggestions she could challenge for Plaid's leadership.

"It's much too early for us to start talking about that yet," she added.

"We all need to have a look at what we got right and what we got wrong."