The 2007 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 3 May 2007 to elect members to the National Assembly for Wales. It was the third

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

. On the same day local elections in England and Scotland, as well as the

Scottish Parliament election Scotland has elections to several bodies: the Scottish Parliament, the United Kingdom Parliament, local councils and community councils. Before the United Kingdom left the European Union, Scotland elected members to the European Parliament. ...

took place. This election was preceded by the previous Assembly election in 2003. The election saw Plaid Cymru make gains at the expense of

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

, although Labour remain the largest party in the Assembly, as they have since it began. Plaid stated they would make a referendum on devolving further powers to the National Assembly a condition for a coalition. Wales reported that senior civil servants before the election were preparing for three possible coalition administrations: Labour/Liberal Democrat, Labour/Plaid Cymru or Plaid Cymru/Liberal Democrat/Conservative. Discussions between Plaid Cymru, the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats to form a "Rainbow" Coalition broke down, and a coalition was eventually agreed between Labour and Plaid Cymru.

Major parties

The Welsh Labour Party before the election had 29 seats, Plaid Cymru had 12, the Welsh Conservative Party 11, the Welsh Liberal Democrats 6, Forward Wales 1, with 1 independent, Trish Law. Law had won her seat at a 2006 by-election. The one Forward Wales Assembly Member was elected as an independent before forming the party. The standings were otherwise identical to the 2003 results.

Electoral method

s for the National Assembly for Wales, each voter has two votes in a mixed member system. The first vote may be used to vote for a candidate to become the Assembly Member for the voter's constituency, elected by the first past the post system. The second vote may be used to vote for a regional closed party list of candidates. Additional member seats are allocated from the lists by the d'Hondt method, with constituency results being taken into account in the allocation. The overall result is approximately

proportional Proportionality, proportion or proportional may refer to: Mathematics * Proportionality (mathematics), the property of two variables being in a multiplicative relation to a constant * Ratio, of one quantity to another, especially of a part compare ...

Pre-election forecasts

Predictions for the seat distribution were made by a number of polls before the election:

Electoral results

*Overall turnout - 43.7% , - , style="background-color:white" colspan=15 , Welsh assembly election 2007

, - !rowspan=3 colspan=2 , Parties !colspan=10 , Additional member system !rowspan=2 colspan=5 , Total seats , - !colspan=5 , Constituency !colspan=5 , Region , - ! Votes !! % !! +/− !! Seats !! +/− ! Votes !! % !! +/− !! Seats !! +/− ! Total !! +/− !! % , - , - , , , Total , , 978,132 , , , , , , 40 , , , , 974,884 , , , , , , 20 , , , , 60 , , , , (source:)

Votes summary

Constituency nominations

NB: ''candidates in'' BOLD ''text were incumbent assembly members before the election'' * Trish Law has defended the seat she won in the 2006 by-election. Then and now, she is standing as an independent, but is affiliated with the

Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group The Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group was a political party based in the Blaenau Gwent area of Wales. The party was formed in the aftermath of the election to the House of Commons of Peter Law as an independent Member of Parliament, beating t ...

. * Ron Davies and John Marek stood as independents, but are members of and continue to play an active role in Forward Wales. Marek is the party's leader, while Davies is their Policy Director. Neither was elected on 3 May.

Regional lists

Mid and West Wales

, - ! colspan=2 style="width: 200px", Constituency ! style="width: 150px", Elected member ! style="width: 300px", Result * RESULT: Labour - 2 seats; Plaid Cymru - 1 seat; Conservative - 1 seat

North Wales

* RESULT: Conservative - 2 seats; Plaid Cymru - 1 seat; LibDem - 1 seat

South Wales Central

* RESULT: Conservative - 2 seats; Plaid Cymru - 2 seats

South Wales East South Wales East () is an electoral region of the Senedd, consisting of eight constituencies. The region elects 12 members, eight directly elected constituency members and four additional members. The electoral region was first used in 1999, wh ...

* RESULT: Plaid Cymru - 2 seats; Conservative - 1 seat; LibDem - 1 seat *

Mohammad Asghar Mohammad Asghar (30 September 1945 – 16 June 2020), known as Oscar, was a Welsh politician who was a Member of the Senedd for South Wales East (National Assembly for Wales electoral region), South Wales East. He was a member of the Welsh Con ...

was the first ethnic minority member of the Assembly for Plaid Cymru but on 8 December 2009, he switched to the Conservatives *

Veronica German Veronica Kathleen German, Baroness German (''née'' Hopkins; born 12 February 1957) is a Welsh Liberal Democrats, Welsh Liberal Democrat politician who was a Member of the Welsh Assembly (AM) for the South Wales East (National Assembly for Wale ...

succeeded Mike German as the Liberal Democrat AM following his appointment to the House of Lords.

South Wales West

In South Wales West, there were also party lists from the Communist Party of Britain, Christian Peoples Alliance, Respect Party, Socialist Labour Party,

Welsh Christian Party The Christian Party (also the Scottish Christian Party and Welsh Christian Party ()) is a minor political party in Great Britain. History The party originated as Operation Christian Vote, founded by George Hargreaves, a Pentecostal minister and ...

in addition to two independents, Keith James and John Hudson Jenkins.

New members

Thirteen of the members elected to the Assembly in the election were not members of the previous Assembly, including Gareth Jones, who sat in the Assembly from 1999 to 2003 and lost his seat in that year's election. *

, Plaid Cymru,

South Wales East South Wales East () is an electoral region of the Senedd, consisting of eight constituencies. The region elects 12 members, eight directly elected constituency members and four additional members. The electoral region was first used in 1999, wh ...

* Angela Burns,

Welsh Conservative The Welsh Conservatives ( cy, Ceidwadwyr Cymreig) is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second-large ...

, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire * Alun Davies, Welsh Labour,

Mid and West Wales Mid and West Wales or Mid and South West Wales refers to an ambiguous region of Wales that is sometimes used, consisting broadly of the preserved counties of Dyfed and Powys, sometimes Swansea and sometimes parts of Gwynedd. It is also used ...

* Andrew R. T. Davies,

, South Wales Central * Paul Davies,

Preseli Pembrokeshire Preseli Pembrokeshire (, ; cy, Preseli Sir Benfro) was one of six local government districts of Dyfed in West Wales from 1974 to 1996. Until 1987 the name of the district was Preseli. The district took its name from the Preseli Hills. Creation Th ...

Nerys Evans Elizabeth Gwendoline Nerys Evans (born 1980) is a Welsh politician. She was a member of the National Assembly for Wales representing Plaid Cymru in the Mid and West Wales region. She contested the Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire seat f ...

, Plaid Cymru,

Chris Franks Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nige ...

, Plaid Cymru, South Wales Central *

Lesley Griffiths Susan Lesley Griffiths MS (born 1960), known as Lesley Griffiths, is a Welsh Labour politician serving as Trefnydd of the Senedd since 2021. She worked as a secretary to John Marek and the constituency assistant to Ian Lucas, successive Member ...

, Welsh Labour, Wrexham *

Bethan Jenkins Bethan Sayed (née Jenkins, born 9 December 1981) is a Welsh politician. She represented the South Wales West Region for Plaid Cymru as a Member of the Senedd from 2007 to 2021. Early life and education Sayed was born in Aberdare, the dau ...

, Plaid Cymru, South Wales West * Gareth Jones, Plaid Cymru, Aberconwy (previously represented Conwy, 1999–2003) *

Darren Millar Darren David Millar (born 1976) is a British politician who has served as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Clwyd West since 2007. He is a member of the Welsh Conservatives. Political career From 2000 to 2001, Millar was mayor of the townsh ...

, Clwyd West *

Nick Ramsay Nick Ramsay (born 10 June 1975) is a British politician who served as the Member of the Senedd (MS) for Monmouth from 2007 to 2021. Originally a member of the Welsh Conservatives, he served as Shadow Minister of Finance under Conservative Leader ...

Monmouth Monmouth ( , ; cy, Trefynwy meaning "town on the Monnow") is a town and community in Wales. It is situated where the River Monnow joins the River Wye, from the Wales–England border. Monmouth is northeast of Cardiff, and west of London. I ...

Joyce Watson Elizabeth Joyce Watson (born 1955) is a Welsh Labour politician who has been a Member of the Senedd (MS) for Mid and West Wales since 2007. Career Watson was educated at Manorbier School, Cosheston School and Cardigan Comprehensive before goin ...

, Welsh Labour,

Defeated members

Nine sitting AMs were defeated at the polls. * Glyn Davies,

* Tamsin Dunwoody, Welsh Labour,

* Lisa Francis,

* Christine Gwyther, Welsh Labour, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire * Denise Idris Jones, Welsh Labour, Conwy (defeated in Aberconwy) *

Laura Anne Jones Laura Anne Jones (born 21 February 1979) is a Conservative politician who has been the Member of the Senedd (MS) for the South Wales East electoral region since July 2020, having previously held the same seat as an Assembly Member (AM) in the Nat ...

* John Marek, Independent, Wrexham * Alun Pugh, Welsh Labour, Clwyd West *

Catherine Thomas Catherine Thomas (born in 1963) is a Welsh politician and former Labour Welsh Assembly Member for the constituency of Llanelli. She narrowly beat Helen Mary Jones of Plaid Cymru at the 2003 Assembly election with a majority of 21. Helen Mary Jo ...

, Welsh Labour, Llanelli

Retiring members

Four sitting AMs did not offer themselves for re-election. * David Davies,

* Janet Davies, Plaid Cymru, South Wales West *

Sue Essex Sue Essex (born 29 August 1945 in Cromford, Derbyshire) is a Welsh Labour politician who was the Member of the National Assembly for Wales for Cardiff North from 1999 to 2007. She was the Welsh Assembly Government Minister for Finance, Local Gov ...

, Welsh Labour, Cardiff North *

Owen John Thomas Owen John Thomas (born 3 October 1939) is a former Plaid Cymru politician who was a Member of the Welsh Assembly (AM) for the South Wales Central region from 1999 to 2007. Early life and education Owen John Thomas was born in Albany Road, Car ...

, Plaid Cymru, South Wales Central

National election, 2003

Due to boundary changes, the composition of the outgoing Assembly did not reflect the Assembly that was elected in May 2003 (see National Assembly for Wales constituencies and electoral regions). The main changes were in northwestern Wales, where the constituencies of Conwy, Caernarfon, and Meirionydd nant Conwy were replaced by Aberconwy, Arfon and Dwyfor Meirionnydd.

Notes

External links

Results page
from BBC News Online * The

Press Association PA Media (formerly the Press Association) is a multimedia news agency, and the national news agency of the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is part of PA Media Group Limited, a private company with 26 shareholders, most of whom are national and re ...

'
boundary change site

Wales@Westminster newslog - BBC Wales' Parliamentary correspondent David Cornock's diary on political lifeBBC Wales Politics pageBetsan Powys

BBC Wales BBC Cymru Wales is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Wales. It is one of the four BBC national regions, alongside the BBC English Regions, BBC Northern Ireland and BBC Scotland. Established in 1964, BBC Cymru Wales is ...

' political editor, blogsite
Blamerbell Briefs
(Welsh Assembly blogger)

{{Welsh Assembly election, 2007

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

May 2007 events in the United Kingdom

Major parties

Electoral method

Pre-election forecasts

Electoral results

Votes summary

Constituency nominations

Regional lists

Mid and West Wales

North Wales

South Wales Central

South Wales East South Wales East () is an electoral region of the Senedd, consisting of eight constituencies. The region elects 12 members, eight directly elected constituency members and four additional members. The electoral region was first used in 1999, wh ...

South Wales West

New members

Defeated members

Retiring members

National election, 2003

See also

Notes

External links