Labour loses power in Wales for first time since 1999 devolution

LONDON: Britain’s Labour Party lost power Friday in Wales for the first time since its devolved assembly was created in 1999, as the nationalist Plaid Cymru won the most seats in local elections, the BBC reported.

With all 96 seats declared, Plaid Cymru won 43 — falling short of a majority — while anti-immigration Reform UK were second with 34 leaving Labour trailing in third winning just nine seats.

It represented a humiliating result in its traditional heartlands for centre-left Labour, the ruling party in London which has dominated Welsh politics for more than a century.

Its leader in Wales, Eluned Morgan, lost her seat and promptly announced she was standing down from the role, after becoming the first head of a government in the UK to lose her seat while in office.

“Welsh Labour has today suffered a catastrophic result,” she said shortly after the results were announced.