2007 National Assembly for Wales election

Major parties

The Welsh Labour Party before the election had 29 seats, Plaid Cymru had 12, the Welsh Conservatives 11, the Welsh Liberal Democrats 6, Forward Wales 1, with 1 independent, Trish Law. Law had won her seat at a 2006 by-election. The one Forward Wales Assembly Member was elected as an independent before forming the party. The standings were otherwise identical to 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.

Pre-election forecasts

Predictions for the seat distribution were made by a number of polls before the election:

Electoral results

• Overall turnout – 43.7% |- |- !rowspan=3 colspan=2 | Parties !colspan=10 | Additional-member system !rowspan=2 colspan=5 | Total seats |- !colspan=5 |Constituency !colspan=5 |Region |- ! Votes !! % !! +/− !! Seats !! +/− ! Votes !! % !! +/− !! Seats !! +/− ! Total !! +/− !! % |- |votes % = 32.2 |AMS votes % = 29.6 |Seats % = 43.3 |votes % = 22.4 |AMS votes % = 21.0 |Seats % = 25.0 |votes % = 22.4 |AMS votes % = 21.5 |Seats % = 20.0 |votes % = 14.8 |AMS votes % = 11.7 |Seats % = 10.0 |votes % = — |AMS votes % = 4.3 |Seats % = — |votes % = 1.8 |AMS votes % = 3.9 |Seats % = — |votes % = — |AMS votes % = 3.5 |Seats % = — |votes % = — |AMS votes % = 1.3 |Seats % = — |votes % = 3.0 |AMS votes % = 1.0 |Seats % = 1.7 |votes % = — |AMS votes % = 0.9 |Seats % = — |votes % = — |AMS votes % = 0.4 |Seats % = — |votes % = — |AMS votes % = 0.3 |Seats % = — |votes % = — |AMS votes % = 0.2 |Seats % = — |votes % = — |AMS votes % = 0.2 |Seats % = — |votes % = 0.2 |AMS votes % = 0.2 |Seats % = — |votes % = — |AMS votes % = 0.1 |Seats % = — |votes % = — |AMS votes % = 0.0 |Seats % = — |votes % = 0.3 |AMS votes % = — |Seats % = — |- | || Total || 978,132 || || || 40 || || 974,884 || || || 20 || || 60 || || |}

(source:)

Votes summary

Constituency nominations

NB: candidates in BOLD text were incumbent assembly members before the election

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

Regional lists

Mid and West Wales

|- ! colspan=2 style="width: 200px"|Constituency ! style="width: 150px"|Elected member ! style="width: 300px"|Result

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

[[North Wales (Senedd electoral region)|North Wales]]

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

[[South Wales Central (Senedd electoral region)|South Wales Central]]

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

[[South Wales East (Senedd electoral region)|South Wales East]]

• RESULT: Plaid Cymru – 2 seats; Conservative – 1 seat; LibDem – 1 seat
• Mohammad Asghar was the first ethnic minority member of the Assembly for Plaid Cymru but on 8 December 2009, he switched to the Conservatives.
• Veronica German succeeded Mike German as the Liberal Democrat AM following his appointment to the House of Lords.

[[South Wales West (Senedd electoral region)|South Wales West]]

In South Wales West, there were also party lists from the Communist Party of Britain, Christian Peoples Alliance, Respect Party, Socialist Labour Party, Welsh Christian Party in addition to 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, including Gareth Jones, who sat in the Assembly from 1999 to 2003 and lost his seat in that year's election.

• Mohammad Asghar, Plaid Cymru, South Wales East
• Angela Burns, Welsh Conservatives, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
• Alun Davies, Welsh Labour, Mid and West Wales
• Andrew R. T. Davies, Welsh Conservative, South Wales Central
• Paul Davies, Welsh Conservatives, 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, Welsh Conservatives, Clwyd West
• Nick Ramsay, Welsh Conservatives, Monmouth
• Joyce Watson, Welsh Labour, Mid and West Wales

Defeated members

Nine sitting AMs were defeated at the polls.

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

Retiring members

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

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

National election, 2003

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

References

References

1. [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/newspolitics/tm_headline=plaid-to-seek-devolution-referendum-after-election&method=full&objectid=18377596&siteid=50082-name_page.html Plaid to seek devolution referendum after election], Wales, 3 January 2007, accessed on 8 February 2007.
2. [http://icwales.icnetwork.co.uk/0100news/newspolitics/tm_headline=labour-set--to-lose-out-in-may%2Ds-wag-vote----%26method=full%26objectid=18461139%26siteid=50082-name_page.html Labour set to lose out in May's WAG vote], icWales, 2007-01-13, accessed on 2007-01-17.
3. Martin Shipton. (6 April 2007). "First poll thunders warning for Rhodri". walesonline.co.uk.
4. Shipton, Martin. (5 April 2007). "First poll thunders warning for Rhodri".
5. "BBC NEWS | Election 2007 | Welsh Assembly | Election Result: Wales". BBC News.
6. [https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/6330799.stm Davies to contest assembly seat], BBC News, 5 February 2007, accessed 8 February 2007.
7. "English Democrats Party:: News blog".
8. "Archived copy".
9. "National Assembly for Wales Election Results 2007-".
10. (4 May 2007). "First ethnic minority AM elected". BBC News.
11. (8 December 2009). "Plaid AM defects to Conservatives". BBC News.