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Former US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld famously once said: “There are things we know we know.

“We also know there are known unknowns; that is to say we know there are some things we do not know.

“But there are also unknown unknowns – the ones we don’t know we don’t know.”

And this was certainly true of the Senedd election.

Voters knew that Labour was on its way out, they also knew that Plaid Cymru and Reform UK would do well, but what was unknown was the extent of each parties’ success and failure.

A ‘known unknown’ was how the new proportional representation electoral system would play out – as it turned out, it was pretty harsh to a variety of candidates – not least former Blaenau Gwent Senedd Member Alun Davies.

Standing in the new constituency of Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni, Mr Davies was vying for one of six seats only to lose out to Reform’s Joshua Kim of Machen.

The battle for the sixth seat saw a dramatic recount, requested by Labour, as only 111 votes separated Mr Kim from Labour’s Alun Davies after the d’Hondt formula was applied.

Following the recount, that gap actually widened to 246 votes.

I spoke with Mr Davies during the recount and while obviously distraught, he still found time for a bit of humour.

I’d never properly met Mr Davies before so I introduced myself with that line, only for him to reply “and we’ll never meet again”.

Despite doing endless rounds of broadcast media interviews being asked to comment on Welsh Labour’s drubbing, Mr Davies remained sanguine in the face of defeat.

Political rival Delyth Jewell, who was elected that night for Plaid Cymru, was one of the first to console him once it became clear the recount wasn’t going in his favour.

During his time in the Senedd, Mr Davies has held government roles, covering briefs including agriculture, natural resources, Welsh language, and more recently local government and public services.

He has often been a thorn in the side for the Labour leadership in Cardiff Bay, and has openly criticised the Labour Welsh Government on numerous occasions.

Described by some as a ‘free-thinker’, Mr Davies was blunt in his response to Labour’s poor performance and described the party’s defeat as “being manufactured in Downing Street”, calling for the Prime Minister to resign.

Replacing Mr Davies in the Senedd is Machen’s Joshua Kim of Reform UK.

Third on his party’s list, Mr Kim told me he was so unsure of victory, he went to work as a supply teacher instead of heading to Caerphilly Leisure Centre for the count.

When he arrived, I made a quick beeline for him to grab a few words for our online election results and I was struck at how unprepared he was.

I asked if he was “shell-shocked” and he replied that was a good use to describe how he was feeling.

If he was surprised at his election, I was equally surprised by his answers to my questions.

I asked him what the priorities were now he was a Senedd Member, only to be told Reform would have a group meeting to decide. At first, he wasn’t even sure he was allowed to tell me that, looking to his left at party colleagues for guidance.

When pressed for local priorities he said: “We’ll have a discussion, I’m sure, with the other two candidates to come up with the best plan going forward.”

I put it to him that he must have had discussions on priorities for the area prior to the election, and he eventually replied: “Well, talking to voters, the issue of jobs always comes up, young people having to leave to go to England, because there are no quality jobs here.”

It all felt a bit ‘clutching at straws’ if I’m being totally honest.

Perhaps I’m being unfair, but it felt like this teacher had not done his homework.

He later got into a bit of a spat with a BBC Wales journalist after he refused an interview with them. A party minder, now on the scene, kept on using the refrain “he’s shell-shocked” – where had I heard that before?

After this interaction I couldn’t help but think that a politician of Mr Davies’ experience and critical thinking had been ousted by someone so unprepared for political life.

Politics is a brutal game.

A key message trotted out by Labour politicians throughout results day was that their party had lost touch with the working class and that people didn’t want to see ‘professional politicians’ representing them any more.

By that measure, voters have got what they wanted in Mr Kim and I wish him, and all elected members, good luck in helping turn Wales around.

Just remember to study hard.

Richard Gurner

Editor and Publisher of Caerphilly Observer