2007 Welsh Assembly Election.html



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National Assembly for Wales election, 2007 All 60 seats to the National Assembly for Wales
May 3, 2007
		First Party	Second Party
Leader		Rhodri Morgan	Ieuan Wyn Jones
Party		Labour	Plaid Cymru
Leader's seat		Cardiff West	Ynys Môn
Last election		30 seats, 75%	12 seats, 5.21%
Seats won		26	15
Seat change		-3	+3
Popular vote		314,925	219,121
Percentage		43.3%	25.0%
Incumbent First Minister Rhodri Morgan Labour First Minister-Elect Rhodri Morgan Labour

The 2007 National Assembly election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. It was the third general election. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland, and the Scottish Parliament election took place. This election was preceded by the previous Assembly election in 2003.

The election saw Plaid Cymru make gains at the expense of Labour, although Labour remain the largest party in the Assembly, as they have since it began. Plaid have stated they will make a referendum on devolving further powers to the National Assembly a condition for a coalition.¹ Wales reported that senior civil servants before the election were preparing for three possible coalition administrations: Labour/Liberal Democrat, Labour/Plaid Cymru or Plaid Cymru/Liberal Democrat/Conservative.

Major parties

The Labour Party before the election had 29 seats, Plaid Cymru had 12, the Conservatives 11, the Liberal Democrats 6, Forward Wales 1, with 1 independent (Trish Law). Mrs Law won her seat at a 2006 by-election, the seat having been won by Labour in the 2003 election. The one Forward Wales Assembly Member was elected as an independent before forming the party. Otherwise, the standings represent the 2003 results.

Electoral method

In general elections for the National Assembly for Wales, each voter has two votes in a mixed member system. The first vote may be used to vote for a candidate to become the Assembly Member for the voter's constituency, elected by the first past the post system. The second vote may be used to vote for a regional closed party list of candidates. Additional member seats are allocated from the lists by the d'Hondt method, with constituency results being taken into account in the allocation. The overall result is approximately proportional.

Electoral results

Wales

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Wales

Assembly Government First Minister: Rhodri Morgan Deputy First Minister: Ieuan Wyn Jones Welsh Ministers Counsel General: Carwyn Jones National Assembly Contemporary Welsh Law Measures list Legislative Competency Order Statutory Instruments Presiding Officer: Dafydd Elis-Thomas Chief Executive & Clerk: Claire Clancy Assembly Commission Members (AMs): 2007 Constituencies and electoral regions Elections: 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011 Wales in the UK Her Majesty's Government Secretary of State: Paul Murphy Wales Office Grand Committee Select Committee Government of Wales Act 2006 Schedule 5 Constituencies Acts Constituencies Elections: 1979, 1983, 1987, 1992,        1997, 2001, 2005, 2009/10 Wales in the EU European Parliament European Parliament constituency Elections: 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994,        1999, 2004, 2009 Local Government Subdivisions of Wales

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National vote

• Overall turnout - 43.7%

Forecasts

Predictions for the seat distribution following the election:

Constituency nominations

NB: candidates in BOLD text are the incumbent assembly members

• Trish Law has defended the seat she won in the 2006 by-election. Then and now, she is standing as an independent, but is affiliated with the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group.
• Ron Davies and John Marek stood as independents, but are members of and continue to play an active role in Forward Wales. Marek is the party's leader, while Davies is their Policy Director.⁸ Neither was elected on May 3rd.

Regional lists

Mid and West Wales

• RESULT: Labour - 2 seats; Plaid Cymru - 1 seat; Conservative - 1 seat

North Wales

• RESULT: Conservative - 2 seats; Plaid Cymru - 1 seat; LibDem - 1 seat

South Wales Central

• RESULT: Conservative - 2 seats; Plaid Cymru - 2 seats

South Wales East

• RESULT: Plaid Cymru - 2 seats; Conservative - 1 seat; LibDem - 1 seat
• Plaid Cymru's Mohammad Asghar is the first ethnic minority member of the Assembly.⁹

South Wales West

In South Wales West, there are also party lists from the Communist Party of Britain, Christian People's Alliance, RESPECT, Socialist Labour Party, Welsh Christian Party and two independents (Keith James and John Hudson Jenkins).

New members

Thirteen of the members elected to the Assembly in the election were not members of the previous Assembly; they include Gareth Jones, who sat in the Assembly from 1999 to 2003 but lost his seat in that election.

• Mohammad Asghar, Plaid Cymru, South Wales East
• Angela Burns, Conservative, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
• Alun Davies, Welsh Labour, Mid and West Wales
• Andrew R. T. Davies, Conservative, South Wales Central
• Paul Davies, Conservative, Preseli Pembrokeshire
• Nerys Evans, Plaid Cymru, Mid and West Wales
• Chris Franks, Plaid Cymru, South Wales Central
• Lesley Griffiths, Welsh Labour, Wrexham
• Bethan Jenkins, Plaid Cymru, South Wales West
• Gareth Jones, Plaid Cymru, Aberconwy (previously represented Conwy, 1999-2003)
• Darren Millar, Conservative, Clwyd West
• Nick Ramsay, Conservative, Monmouth
• Joyce Watson, Welsh Labour, Mid and West Wales

Defeated members

Nine sitting AMs were defeated at the polls.

• Glyn Davies, Conservative, Mid and West Wales
• Tamsin Dunwoody, Labour, Preseli Pembrokeshire
• Lisa Francis, Conservative, Mid and West Wales
• Christine Gwyther, Labour, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
• Denise Idris Jones, Labour, Conwy (defeated in Aberconwy)
• Laura Anne Jones, Conservative, South Wales East
• John Marek, Independent, Wrexham
• Alun Pugh, Labour, Clwyd West
• Catherine Thomas, Labour, Llanelli

Retiring members

Four sitting AMs did not offer themselves for re-election.

• David Davies, Conservative, Monmouth
• Janet Davies, Plaid Cymru, South Wales West
• Sue Essex, Labour, Cardiff North
• Owen John Thomas, Plaid Cymru, South Wales Central

National election, 2003

Due to boundary changes the composition of the outgoing Assembly will not reflect the Assembly that was elected in May 2003 (see National Assembly for Wales constituencies and electoral regions). The main changes are in the North west of Wales where the constituencies of Conwy, Caernarfon, and Meirionydd nant Conwy are replaced by Aberconwy, Arfon and Dwyfor Meirionnydd.

Political media outlets

• Dragon's Eye: A BBC Wales political current events show that "dares to breathe fire into Welsh politics and public life." (http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/dragonseye/ )
• Wales@Westminster newslog BBC Wales' Parliamentary correspondent David Cornock's diary on political life (http://davidcornock.blogspot.com/)
• BBC Wales Political On-line News Page (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/wales/default.stm)
• Betsan Powys, BBC Wales' political editor, blogsite (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/election07/wales/)
• Vaughan Roderick's Welsh language blogsite (http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/cymraeg/)
• Blamerbell Briefs (Welsh Assembly blogger)
• Wales Elects blogsite
• ICWALES National Website (http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/ )

See also

• Scottish Parliamentary Election, 2007 and United Kingdom local elections, 2007 the same day
• One Wales, the resultant coalition agreement.

Notes

External links

• The Electoral Commission's future elections timetable
• The Press Association's boundary change site

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