Greens celebrate best ever Senedd campaign

Wales Green Party is celebrating its best ever performance in the Senedd elections, despite coming up short in the quest to secure a first seat.

After finishing in fifth place in the constituency and fourth in the regional voting, the party beat its record vote share in every constituency bar one, and in every region.

The Greens also gained a higher vote share than the Abolish the Welsh Assembly Party nationally, despite Abolish being invited to take part in the BBC’s main election debate.

‘Change’

Wales Green Party leader Anthony Slaughter, who was lead list candidate in South Wales Central, said the “results demonstrate the appetite for change” across Wales.

“Across Wales, thousands of people voted Green for the first time because they believed in a greener and more equal future for Wales. We will carry that into the council elections next year, where things are looking good,” he added.

“Throughout this campaign, our message has been one of transformation for Wales. For breaking away from politics as usual. For rebuilding a Wales that is resilient and more equal. That message remains the same. If not this time round, we will see Greens in government in Wales.”

Amelia Womack, deputy leader of the Green Party and the Senedd candidate for South Wales East, said: “We seem to be getting votes from all of the parties and support on that regional list as people increase their knowledge of the voting system.”

“There are no no-go areas for the Green Party,” she told BBC Wales Today.

Each party’s percentage of the constituency vote:

Labour                 39.9%

Conservatives     26.1%

Plaid Cymru        20.3%

Lib Dems             4.9%

Greens                 1.6%

Abolish                 1.6%

Reform                1.6%

UKIP                     0.8%

Propel                  0.8%

Gwlad                   0.3%

And in the regional voting:

Labour                 36.2%

Conservatives     25.1%

Plaid Cymru        20.7%

Greens                 4.4%

Lib Dems             4.3%

Abolish                 3.7%

UKIP                     1.6%

Reform                1.1%

Propel                  0.9%

Gwlad                   0.6%