Labour's historic bond with Wales has been shattered

Labour has lost its birthplace and its heartlands. 

For more than a century, Welsh politics and the Labour Party were inseparable. On Friday, that historic bond was shattered.

Wales was once the land of Labour giants: Keir Hardie, Aneurin Bevan, Michael Foot, James Callaghan and Neil Kinnock - all politicians who shaped both Welsh Labour and British politics for generations.

The Labour Party was deeply tied to Wales' industrial communities and mining valleys.

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Yet on Friday, those same former industrial towns delivered a devastating verdict. With a record turnout, Welsh voters backed Plaid Cymru and Reform UK in huge numbers, while support for Labour collapsed.

Labour secured just six of 42 seats across south Wales. Plaid Cymru won 19, while Reform UK took 13. Labour failed to win a single seat in Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni - the same valleys that once sent Mr Bevan and Mr Foot to Westminster.

For decades, the phrase "Labour Wales" barely needed explanation. Wales was Labour, and Labour was Wales. But on Friday, that political identity collapsed.

The electoral map of Wales has been dramatically redrawn. Plaid Cymru emerged as the dominant political force, winning 43 seats and becoming the largest party by a decent margin. Reform UK surged into second place with 34 seats. Labour, once the unchallenged party of Welsh government, was reduced to just nine seats.

First Minister Eluned Morgan warned that the Labour Party will need to take a hard look at itself.

"Welsh Labour has today suffered a catastrophic result. It ends a century of Labour winning in Wales, and the party will need to take a really hard look at itself and understand the depth of the challenge that we face," she said.

Despite disastrous results for Labour across Wales, Scotland, and England, Ms Morgan stopped short of calling for Sir Keir Starmer to resign. Instead, the Welsh Labour leader warned that Labour must "start to focus on the working class and the distribution of wealth".

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Inside Welsh Labour, the mood is bleak, with the party confronting a result few once believed possible.

The immediate question now is where the party goes next. Labour must first elect a new leader - Ms Morgan resigned almost immediately after being defeated in her own constituency.

Labour insiders told Sky News that the Labour MS for Flint and Wrexham, Ken Skates, is expected to be among the frontrunners to succeed her. Huw Thomas, the MS for Caerdydd Penarth, is another name being tipped.

Mike Hedges, the Labour MS for Gwyr Abertawe, is also understood to be considering a bid.

Former deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies has likewise been tipped as a potential contender.

Momentum within the party is believed to be behind Mr Skates, while Mr Irranca-Davies is widely expected to be considered for the role of Llywydd, the Senedd's presiding officer.

Ms Morgan's final words before leaving the count, the moment her political career effectively came to an end, were: "We know in the Labour Party we have tough days ahead, but we are confident that the sun will shine again."

But with Plaid Cymru and Reform UK making major gains across Labour's former heartlands, and with an increasingly unpopular prime minister in Westminster, the question facing Welsh Labour is whether that political sunshine will come at all.

(c) Sky News 2026: Labour's historic bond with Wales has been shattered