Plaid Cymru's leader Rhun ap Iorwerth says he is ready to run the Welsh government after a stunning Senedd election victory left his party the largest group in Wales' parliament.

The historic vote saw Reform UK come second, pushing Labour into third and ending a century-long run of election success in Wales.

Plaid fell short of a majority in the 96-member Senedd, but with 43 seats has a better chance than anyone of forming a government with the help of at least some opposition politicians.

Ap Iorwerth said he would begin the process of speaking to other parties, and that the pro-independence party would put him forward to be first minister.

The Senedd will need to confirm who will lead the Welsh government in a vote, which could happen as early as Tuesday.

The dramatic day of results saw the current first minister, Eluned Morgan, lose her seat and resign as Welsh Labour leader.

Labour has won every general election since 1922 in Wales and, until this week, every Cardiff Bay election since the Senedd's predecessor the National Assembly was established in 1999.

It had been in charge of the Welsh government for 27 years.

Ap Iorwerth will likely require the support of opposition Members of the Senedd (MSs) to get important votes through parliament.

No party has formally ruled out working with them, unlike Reform UK which Plaid, Labour, the Lib Dems and Greens have said they would refuse to assist.

Speaking to cheering party activists in Llandudno, the Plaid leader said the party was "ready to take the necessary steps to form the next government of Wales".

"We have won because we represent hope over division, credibility over chaos and progress over stagnation," he said.

"I now intend to reach out to others who can support these missions with the pace and seriousness they demand, and to find common ground where we can, for the common good.

"Plaid Cymru will press ahead with those conversations with urgency and put forward my name to be nominated as the next first minister. "

Plaid is pro-independence but tried to put the issue in the distance during the campaign.

It has ruled out pushing for a referendum on separating Wales from the rest of the UK in the first term of a government, but has said a commission would begin to build the case for an independent Wales.

Voters have elected a new larger Senedd for the first time, with the number of seats increasing from 60 to 96, elected in 16 large constituencies of six seats each.

But a new election system has seen smaller parties - including the UK's historic parties of government, Labour and the Conservatives - squeezed into single figures.

Plaid Cymru had appealed to voters to back them to stop Reform - a strategy cited by many in Labour as behind the party's success, and Labour's failure.

However some in the party have also blamed the UK government, including former minister Mick Antoniw, who has called for Sir Keir Starmer to resign.

Morgan, who took over Welsh Labour in 2024 after a period of turmoil in the party over her predecessor, is the first leader of a government in the UK to lose their seat while in office.

Speaking at her election count in Llandysul, Morgan said she would resign as Welsh Labour leader and took "full responsibility" for the result, and congratulated Plaid Cymru on "their momentous success".

She also called for the UK Labour government to "change course".

"It is clear that results across the whole of the United Kingdom have demonstrated deep frustration with the Labour Party. We need to go back to being the party of the working class," she said.

Sir Keir Starmer thanked Morgan for her service, saying she had been a "formidable first minister and tireless champion for Wales".

Welsh Secretary Jo Stevens said the result was "clearly disappointing for Welsh Labour, and I am sad not to see more of our candidates elected".

The gender balance in the new Senedd has slightly improved after the election.

Female members now make up 46% of the 2026 intake, compared to 43% in the old Senedd. There are now 52 male MSs and 44 female.

There are only two constituencies - Pontypridd Cynon Merthyr and Ceredigion Penfro - where female MSs outnumber male ones.

Only 29 MSs have returned from the last term - 70% of the new parliament are new.

Morgan was one of two sitting Labours minister to lose her seat, with the other being Jack Sargeant, minister for culture.

Many of the rest of their senior colleagues are standing down at this Senedd election.

Transport Secretary Ken Skates, Education Secretary Lynne Neagle, Local Government Secretary Jayne Bryant and Deputy First Minister Huw Irranca-Davies all held on to their seats.

Former minister Alun Davies lost in Blaenau Gwent Caerfilli Rhymni - a constituency which covers the part of Wales where NHS-founder Aneurin Bevan had been an MP.

In a concession speech, Davies said the defeat had been "manufactured in Downing Street" - blaming Sir Keir.

"It is clear to me from the conversations that I have had over last few months that Downing Street has walked away from the people that we seek to represent," he said.

The Greens gained their first seats to the Senedd, winning two in the Cardiff seats of Caerdydd Penarth and Caerdydd Fynnon Taf.

One of them was Welsh Green leader Anthony Slaughter, who said: "This is an historic moment for the party. Welsh politics has changed forever today and Wales Green Party will now be playing a key role in that."

The leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds returned to the Senedd, but like in 2021 she remains the Senedd's only Liberal Democrat.

She said it was a "great honour" to be back in the Welsh Parliament.

Reform's Welsh leader Dan Thomas will become an MS after he topped the poll in Casnewydd Islwyn - the seat that covers Newport and the valley between the city and Blackwood.

Appointed only in February by UK leader Nigel Farage, Thomas had suggested the party could win a majority.

The party largely had a standing start, having won no MSs at the last election in 2021. Two Tories politicians had joined the party in the last Senedd term.

Reform finished second with 34 MSs.

Thomas said: "In just five years, Reform has gone from winning 1% of the vote in the Senedd elections to being the main contender for government, smashing Labour in the process.

"It has taken Plaid Cymru decades to come anywhere near to the same. The momentum is with Reform, because we are the people's army."

Reform's Llyr Powell lost last year's Senedd by-election in Caerphilly, but will be a Reform MS after he was successful in the new constituency of Blaenau Gwent Caerfilli Rhymni.

Powell acknowledged expectations had been high for Reform, but said the campaign had been about "building from the ground up".

"It's like building an aeroplane mid-flight," he said.

"People were asking where the candidates were, where the manifesto was, where the leader was. But we've worked hard, people have come out for us, and they supported what we were saying."

He added that Reform's presence in the Senedd would now be about "building momentum" after a strong electoral showing.

Lindsay Whittle, the victorious Plaid Cymru candidate in the 2025 Caerphilly by-election, is also returning to the Senedd.

Welsh Conservative leader Darren Millar returned to the Senedd with a group of seven Senedd members.

Polls at various points during the campaign had suggested the party could face a wipe-out.

Millar said he looked "forward to putting my shoulder to the wheel, working with people in the Senedd to deliver lower taxes and end the government waste, better public services".

Presiding officer Elin Jones is now the longest-running member of the Senedd, having been elected in the first assembly election for Plaid Cymru in 1999.

She is expected to quit the role, which sees her chairing meetings of the parliament, when it meets for the first time after the election.

Labour sources told BBC Wales throughout the campaign that the prime minister came up negatively with voters on doorsteps.

Sources said that a "grudging" acknowledgement that he had handled the UK's response to the Iran war well had been soured by the Lord Mandelson saga.

Former Welsh counsel general Mick Antoniw told BBC Wales the election seemed to be "more about Downing Street and immigration than Wales".

Asked whether he thought Sir Keir could continue as prime minister, he said: "If the results are as bad as predicted then there will have to be a change of leadership.

"Not an immediate departure but a planned, orderly and open transition and an open and transparent contest."

Alex Barros Curtis, Cardiff West Labour MP, suggested blame may also lay with the Welsh government.

He said after 27 years "maybe the pendulum swings away from you. I don't deny that Westminster would come up a little bit, but I don't think it's anchored in Keir Starmer."

"The idea that Keir Starmer is coming out top on the conversation with the voters is for the birds."

Additional reporting by Mark Palmer, Steve Duffy and Shelley Phelps

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