Election results: Mark Drakeford says Labor has ‘exceeded expectations’ as party prepares to win Senedd | UK News

Labor is ready to retain control of the Welsh government after the party struggles with challenges from the Tories at key ‘red wall’ seats.

With the final results still to come, Labor holds exactly half of the 60 seats in the Senedd, which equates to its best results.

So far, the results have seen Labor win 30, Tories 12, Plaid Cymru nine, and Liberal Democrats one.

Only one of Wales’ red wall seats – the Vale of Clwyd – has fallen into the hands of the Tories.

Wrexham, Clwyd South and Delyn have all been detained despite being targeted by the Tories after they ousted them from the Labor Party in the 2019 general election.

A poll at the start of the campaign suggested Labor was facing its worst result and stood to gain as little as 22 seats, a loss of seven from 2016, although later polls suggest a better performance.

After the vote closed at 10 p.m. on Thursday, Labor sources said retaining all of its seats in the Senedd remained “a tall order”.

Prime Minister of Labor Mark Drakeford, who extended his majority for his seat in Cardiff West by more than 10,000 votes, said he was delighted his party had “exceeded expectations”.

“Did I think we would be nearing the peak of the twenties? It was probably at the peak of what I thought was achievable, given the extraordinary circumstances of this election,” he said.

Mr Drakeford has said he will wait until all election results are known today before considering forming a new government.

“I want to sit down tomorrow [Saturday] when we have before us a full set of results to think about how we can achieve what we need here in Wales which is stable and progressive government. “

Commenting on the surprise turnaround, a Labor spokesperson said: “It is increasingly clear that the people of Wales have trusted Welsh Labor and Mark Drakeford to lead the next Welsh government and lead. .