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Plaid Cymru has secured a historic by-election win in Caerphilly, seeing off Reform UK to take the vacant Senedd seat.
Veteran candidate Lindsay Whittle stormed to victory with a nearly 4,000-vote majority, sparking huge celebrations among the local Plaid faithful at Caerphilly Leisure Centre.
In his victory speech, Cllr Whittle – who said he will have to step down as a county councillor to take up his Senedd seat – said Wales was “at the dawn of a new beginning”.
“I look forward to playing my part for a new Wales and in particular, for the people of the Caerphilly constituency – I thank you with all of my heart,” he said.
Cllr Whittle said the win was “better than scoring the winning try for Wales against New Zealand in the Rugby World Cup”.
“This means everything to me – and the people of Caerphilly constituency, you mean everything to me,” he added. “I promise you, I will serve you all to the best of my ability.”
Party leader Rhun ap Iorwerth, who was at Caerphilly Leisure Centre for the count, said “the positive message of Plaid Cymru, carried by such a strong and warm character in Lindsay Whittle, has genuinely been embraced”.
“The division of Reform has been rejected, Labour has been swept aside – this is the story of Wales in 2025,” he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS).
Delyth Jewell, the party’s deputy leader and a Senedd member for the South Wales East region, said the Plaid victory “feels like the start of something really exciting and seismic in Welsh politics, and how wonderful that it would start to change in Caerphilly”.
Ms Jewell said she hoped this was the start of an upward surge for her party.
“We are ready to govern Wales,” she said. “We are ready to take Wales into the future and this is just the start.”
Mr ap Iorwerth added: “Everything we do is about preparing for government.”
“We know what Lindsay is and what he does – it’s no wonder they’ve dubbed him ‘Mr Caerphilly’ in this election,” he added, with a smile.
“And what a wonderful speech he gave after that result – he will do everything for this community, just as Plaid Cymru will do everything for Wales.”
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