Latest news with #AfanOgwrRhondda
BBC News
12-06-2025
- Politics
- BBC News
Senior Labour figure comes third in selection contest
A senior Labour politician has come third in a selection for the new Senedd constituency of Afan Ogwr Rhondda, making it harder for him to return at the next Rees, who is the Welsh Parliament's deputy presiding officer, came last in a ballot of members to decide the order of the party's list in the Huw Irranca-Davies came first, while Rhondda's Buffy Williams was placed three of the six seats in any given area would require roughly around 36% of the vote - the most recent Wales-wide opinion poll put Labour at 18%. Rees told BBC Wales the group of three "strongly believe that it's possible to get three seats" in the constituency. Rees has been MS for Aberavon since 2011 and deputy presiding officer for the past four Labour have declined to comment on their party's selection procedures. The seat is one of 16 constituencies for the enlarged Welsh Parliament, spanning Port Talbot, the Rhondda and the Llynfi, Garw and Ogmore year's parliament will elect its politicians through a system of party lists. The better a party does, the more people on its list will become Members of the Senedd (MSs), with politicians elected in the order they are placed on that a party gets enough votes for three seats, then the three top placed individuals will be elected. If there's enough for two, then the two will become MSs. In total six MSs will be elected in each seat from across the parties drop in the polls since the general election has raised questions as to whether the party can win three seats in some of its Welsh heartlands, with both Plaid Cymru and Reform performing well in new system has also created a dilemma for all established Senedd political parties over whether to allow existing MSs privileged positions on party lists, and how exactly to do Labour, which had a large number of Senedd members elected under the old first past the post system, some politicians have been competing for prime spots on constituency Cymru fully opened its selection contests, leading to former leader Adam Price coming third in Sir Gaerfyrddin. Rees is a former school teacher, lecturer and assistant dean of faculty at the former Swansea Metropolitan University, and has chaired several committees in the Senedd."All three of us will be fighting very hard because we strongly believe it is possible to get three seats in that new constituency," Mr Rees told BBC Wales."We need to ensure that the message is given to people about how we are working on their behalf and what the Welsh government is delivering."Asked if the polling made that difficult, he said: "Yes, the polls today are not the same as what they were 12 months ago."We understand the changes people are seeing, the frustrations people have. But you still have 11 months to go - polls will change between now and then."Huw Irranca-Davies, who topped the list, is the current deputy first minister, leading the administration with Eluned Morgan as part of an uncontested "joint-ticket" last summer. The rural affairs secretary served as a UK government minister when he was an MP during the years that Gordon Brown was prime Williams won the Senedd seat of the Rhondda back from Plaid Cymru's Leanne Wood in sources indicated there would have been an angry reaction had Williams, one of Welsh Labour's most high-profile women, missed out in the posted a picture of the three smiling together on the social media network Bluesky. She wrote: "Communities across Afon, Ogwr, Rhondda, were built on hard graft and labour values - stronger together and united against injustice, so I'm pleased to be standing as part of a team who's life's work truly reflect these values in the 2026 Senedd election."Irranca-Davies added: "Looking forward to campaigning with Buffy and David." In Clwyd, it is understood that the former minister Hannah Blythyn has come first in a ballot for the seat of Clwyd, with North Wales MS Carolyn Thomas being placed had a significant role in the crisis around the former first minister Vaughan Gething last year, after he sacked her over a leak of text messages from the pandemic. Blythyn denied having anything to do with it, and went on to attack the then-first minister reporting by Elliw Gwawr
BBC News
02-06-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Senior Labour MSs face three-way selection fight
Welsh Labour risks losing at least one more big hitter at next year's Senedd election because of a three-way fight for selection in a south Wales for the new Afan Ogwr Rhondda constituency mean three significant figures are being pitched against each other, including the deputy first minister and the woman that won Rhonnda for Labour in Irranca-Davies and Buffy Williams will also face the deputy presiding officer David Rees in the party ballot to decide who will get the best spots on the area's Labour Labour said it would not comment on the selection battle. Labour is already facing a major shake-up after the next Senedd election, with more than a third of current Labour MSs having made the decision not to stand for re-election next first ministers Mark Drakeford and Vaughan Gething are among those standing down. Parties are currently in the process of drawing up lists for each of the 16 new constituencies for the next Senedd can nominate up to eight candidates per constituency, with parties to be rewarded with seats according to the percentage of the vote they Labour would expect to win two of the six seats available in Afan Ogwr Rhondda, it might struggle to win a three of the six seats in any given constituency would roughly require around 36% of the party members will now vote again to decide who will take the first, second and third place on the list in the constituency, with a result is expected in the coming are already indications from some within the party of a degree of anger were Williams, one of the party's highest profile women politicians – to miss would be "fury", said one source. Williams claimed one of the biggest scalps of the 2021 Senedd election, winning Rhondda back from the former Plaid Cymru leader Leanne Wood with a 19% vote previous year she had been awarded the British Empire Medal for services to communities in Welsh Labour said it was committed to a "diverse slate of candidates" in its selection across Wales's 16 new Senedd constituencies, the Welsh Labour government abandoned plans last September to force parties to ensure at least 50% of candidates were were concerns about their lawfulness and whether the Senedd had the power to make the MS Irranca-Davies has emerged as an important figure in the current government set up, taking on not only the duties of deputy first minister under the leadership of Eluned Morgan, but also the rural affairs brief in which he has sought to placate protesting said last November that he had "listened" after making changes to controversial tree-cover requirements to qualify for subsidies. A former MP, he has served as a minister at Westminster. Rees has been MS for Aberavon since 2011 and deputy presiding officer for the past four years. His current constituency contains the Port Talbot normal circumstances Labour would have realistic hopes of winning three seats in the constituency, but as another source put it: "These are not normal circumstances."Senior figures in Welsh Labour are very concerned about losing voters to Plaid Cymru, while some of the recent announcements from Reform leader Nigel Farage suggested they were now also turning their attention to wooing traditional Labour supporters. A poll last month suggested that Labour had fallen to third behind Plaid Cymru and polls had suggested the three parties were neck and neck. At the next election there will be 16 new constituencies made of up of mergers of existing seats and a system of proportional Ogwr Rhondda takes in the former Aberavon, Ogmore and Rhonnda constituency party of the three MSs are on the party ballot because they were nominated by their respective areas: Rees in Aberavon, Irranca-Davies in Ogmore and Williams in Rhondda. A Labour party spokesperson said: "Welsh Labour has committed to putting forward a diverse slate of candidates, including women, people from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic communities, those identifying as LGBTQ+, and Welsh speakers amongst other underrepresented communities."
