Welsh election results 2021: How it happened
- Published
After two days of counting in the 2021 Welsh Parliament election, Welsh Labour has kept control in the Senedd.
Mark Drakeford, who is set to stay as first minister, has kept his Cardiff West seat with an increased majority.
Labour has been in power since the birth of devolution in 1999, but has never secured a majority.
It was just one seat short of creating history in Wales as the last result came in - but Mr Drakeford was happy winning half of the Senedd's 60 seats.
Labour has won 30 seats in the Senedd, giving the party half the seats in Welsh Parliament. It has been in power in Wales - either in coalition or as a minority - for the past 22 years.
Plaid Cymru had a disappointing two days, winning only 13 seats in the Senedd and losing key constituencies like Rhondda.
Turnout has been the highest in the Senedd's history at 46.6%, after long queues forming outside polling stations were thought to be caused by coronavirus restrictions.
Welsh Conservatives celebrated its best ever Senedd election, winning 16 seats.
The Liberal Democrats suffered another devastating election - losing its only constituency seat, one it has had since 1999, but picking up one on a list.
Health Minister Vaughan Gething was seen celebrating with his six-year-old son Isaac and wife Michelle, after winning the Cardiff South and Penarth constituency with 18,153 votes.
Plaid Cymru's former Leanne Wood lost her seat in the Rhondda in a crushing defeat to Welsh Labour, which clawed back the constituency it lost to Ms Wood in 2016. Ms Wood, who led Plaid Cymru between 2012 to 2018, will leave the Welsh Parliament after 18 years.
A number of Members of the Senedd (MSs) who were elected on Friday, including Welsh Labour leader Mr Drakeford, were sworn in to office on Saturday morning, but some were sworn in virtually.
No party has ever won a majority in the 60-seat Senedd, but Labour has come breathtakingly close, just one seat short of a 31-seat lead.
The Conservatives took the Vale of Clwyd from Labour and won Brecon and Radnorshire from Plaid Cymru.
The Conservatives had hoped to take Labour's "red wall" seats in the north east. But apart from the Vale of Clwyd, Labour held nearly all of them.
Plaid Cymru MP Ben Lake said a coalition deal with his party in the Senedd was now "a dead duck". He told BBC Radio Wales: "The people of Wales have sent a very clear message at the election."
For the first time, 16 and 17-year-olds were given the vote, but less than half registered to vote.
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