# 2007 National Assembly for Wales election

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

In general elections 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.

## Pre-election forecasts

Predictions for the seat distribution were made by a number of polls before the election:
| Forecast by | Dates | Lab | Plaid | Con | LD | other |
| Institute of Welsh Affairs | 2007-01-13 | 25 | 13 | 13 | 7 | 2 |
| NOP/ITV | 2007-04-06 | 25 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 2 |
| Western Mail | 2007-04-27 | 25 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 2 |

## Electoral results

* Overall turnout – 43.7%
Welsh Assembly election, 2007 :
| Parties | Parties | Additional member system | Additional member system | Additional member system | Additional member system | Additional member system | Additional member system | Additional member system | Additional member system | Additional member system | Additional member system | Total seats | Total seats | Total seats | Total seats |
| Parties | Parties | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Constituency | Region | Region | Region | Region | Region | | | | Total seats | Total seats | Total seats | Total seats | Total seats |
| Parties | Parties | Votes | % | +/− | Seats | +/− | Votes | % | +/− | Seats | +/− | Total | +/− | % |
| | Labour | 314,925 | 32.2 | −7.8 | 24 | −6 | 288,954 | 29.6 | −7.0 | 2 | +2 | 26 | −4 | 43.3 |
| | Plaid Cymru | 219,121 | 22.4 | +1.2 | 7 | +2 | 204,757 | 21.0 | +1.3 | 8 | +1 | 15 | +3 | 25.0 |
| | Conservative | 218,730 | 22.4 | +2.5 | 5 | +4 | 209,153 | 21.5 | +2.3 | 7 | −3 | 12 | +1 | 20.0 |
| | Liberal Democrats | 144,450 | 14.8 | +0.7 | 3 | 0 | 114,500 | 11.7 | −1.0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 10.0 |
| | BNP | — | — | — | — | — | 42,197 | 4.3 | +3.9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| | UKIP | 18,047 | 1.8 | −0.5 | 0 | 0 | 38,490 | 3.9 | +0.4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| | Green | — | — | — | — | — | 33,803 | 3.5 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| | Socialist Labour | — | — | — | — | — | 12,209 | 1.3 | +0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| | Independent | 29,699 | 3.0 | +2.4 | 1 | 0 | 9,350 | 1.0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1.7 |
| | Welsh Christian | — | — | — | — | — | 8,963 | 0.9 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| | Communist | — | — | — | — | — | 3,708 | 0.4 | +0.3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| | CPA | — | — | — | — | — | 2,694 | 0.3 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| | Socialist Alternative | — | — | — | — | — | 1,865 | 0.2 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| | Respect | — | — | — | — | — | 1,792 | 0.2 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| | English Democrat | 1,867 | 0.2 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 1,655 | 0.2 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| | Veritas | — | — | — | — | — | 505 | 0.1 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| | Socialist Equality | — | — | — | — | — | 292 | 0.0 | N/A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — |
| | Blaenau Gwent PV | 3,348 | 0.3 | N/A | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | — |
| | Total | 978,132 | | | 40 | | 974,884 | | | 20 | | 60 | | |
(source:)

### Votes summary

Popular Vote
Labour
29.6%
Conservative
21.5%
Plaid Cymru
21.0%
Liberal Democrats
11.7%
BNP
4.3%
UKIP
3.9%
Green
3.5%
Socialist Labour
1.2%
Other
3.2% :
Parliament seats
Labour
43.3%
Plaid Cymru
25.0%
Conservative
20.0%
Liberal Democrats
10.0%
Independent
1.7% :

## Constituency nominations

NB: candidates in BOLD text were incumbent assembly members before the election
| Constituency | Conservative | Labour | Liberal Democrats | Plaid Cymru | Others |
| Aberavon | Daisy Meyland-Smith | Brian Gibbons | Claire Waller | Linett Purcell | |
| Aberconwy | Dylan Jones-Evans | Denise Idris Jones | Euron Hughes | Gareth Jones | |
| Alyn and Deeside | Will Gallagher | Carl Sargeant | Paul Brighton | Dafydd Passe | William Crawford (UKIP) |
| Arfon | Gerry Frobisher | Martin Eaglestone | Mel Ab Owain | Alun Ffred Jones | Elwyn Williams (UKIP) |
| Blaenau Gwent | Bob Hayward | Keren Bender | Gareth Lewis | Natasha Asghar | Trish Law (Independent) |
| Brecon and Radnorshire | Suzy Davies | Neil Stone | Kirsty Williams | Arwel Lloyd | |
| Bridgend | Emma Greenow | Carwyn Jones | Paul Warren | Nick Thomas | |
| Caerphilly | Richard Foley | Jeff Cuthbert | Huw Price | Lindsay Whittle | Ron Davies (Independent) |
| Cardiff Central | Andrew Murphy | Sue Lent | Jenny Randerson | Thomas Whitfield | Frank Hughes (UKIP) |
| Cardiff North | Jonathan Morgan | Sophie Howe | Ed Bridges | Wyn Jones | Dai Llewellyn (UKIP) |
| Cardiff South and Penarth | Karen Robson | Lorraine Barrett | Dominic Hannigan | Jason Toby | |
| Cardiff West | Alun Craig Williams | Rhodri Morgan | Alison Goldworthy | Neil McEvoy | |
| Carmarthen East and Dinefwr | Henrietta Hensher | Kevin Madge | Ian Walton | Rhodri Glyn Thomas | |
| Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire | Angela Burns | Christine Gwyther | John Gossage | John Dixon | |
| Ceredigion | Trefor Jones | Linda Grace | John Davies | Elin Jones | Dafydd Morgan (Independent) |
| Clwyd South | John Bell | Karen Sinclair | Frank Biggs | Nia Davies | David Rowlands (UKIP) |
| Clwyd West | Darren Millar | Alun Pugh | Simon Croft | Phil Edwards | Warwick Nicholson (UKIP) |
| Cynon Valley | Neil John | Christine Chapman | Margaret Phelps | Liz Walters | |
| Delyn | Antoinette Sandbach | Sandy Mewies | Ian Matthews | Meg Elis | Derek Bigg (UKIP) |
| Dwyfor Meirionnydd | Mike Wood | David Phillips | Steve Churchman | Dafydd Elis-Thomas | |
| Gower | Byron Davies | Edwina Hart | Nick Tregoning | Darren Price | Alex Lewis (UKIP) |
| Islwyn | Paul Williams | Irene James | Mark J Maguire | Alan Pritchard | Kevin Etheridge (Independent) |
| Llanelli | Andrew Morgan | Catherine Thomas | Jeremy Townsend | Helen Mary Jones | |
| Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney | Giles Howard | Huw Lewis | Amy Kitcher | Glyndwr Cennydd Jones | Clive Tovay (Independent), Jeff Edwards |
| Monmouth | Nick Ramsay | Richard Clark | Jacqui Sullivan | Jonathan T Clark | Ed Abrams (English Democrats) |
| Montgomeryshire | Dan Munford | Rachel Maycock | Mick Bates | David Thomas | Bruce Lawson (UKIP) |
| Neath | Andrew Silvertsen | Gwenda Thomas | Sheila Waye | Alun Llewelyn | |
| Newport East | Peter Fox | John Griffiths | Ed Townsend | Trefor Puw | Andrew Constantine (English Democrats) |
| Newport West | Matthew Evans | Rosemary Butler | Nigel Flanagan | Brian Hancock | Mike Blundell (English Democrats) & James Harris (Independent) |
| Ogmore | Norma Lloyd Nesling | Janice Gregory | Martin Plant | Sian Caiach | |
| Pontypridd | Janice Charles | Jane Davidson | Mike Powell | Richard Rhys Grigg | |
| Preseli Pembrokeshire | Paul Davies | Tamsin Dunwoody | Hywel Davies | John Osmond | |
| Rhondda | Howard Parsons | Leighton Andrews | Karen Roberts | Jill Evans | |
| Swansea East | Bob Dowdle | Valerie Lloyd | Helen Ceri Clarke | Danny Bowles | |
| Swansea West | Harri Lloyd Davies | Andrew Davies | Peter May | Ian Titherington | Richard Lewis (UKIP) |
| Torfaen | Graham Smith | Lynne Neagle | Patrick Legge | Rhys ab Elis | Ian Williams (People's Voice) |
| Vale of Clwyd | Matt Wright | Ann Jones | Mark Young | Mark Jones | |
| Vale of Glamorgan | Gordon Kemp | Jane Hutt | Mark Hooper | Barry Shaw | Kevin Mahoney (UKIP) |
| Wrexham | Felicity Elphick | Lesley Griffiths | Bruce Roberts | Siôn Aled Owen | John Marek (Independent), Peter Lewis (UKIP) |
| Ynys Môn | James Roach | Jonathan Austin | Mandi Abrahams | Ieuan Wyn Jones | Francis Wykes (UKIP), Peter Rogers (Independent) |
* Trish Law had defended the seat she won in the 2006 by-election. Then and now, she was standing as an independent, but was affiliated with the Blaenau Gwent People's Voice Group.
* Ron Davies and John Marek stood as independents, but were members of and continued to play an active role in Forward Wales. Marek was the party's leader, while Davies was their Policy Director. Neither was elected on 3 May.

## Regional lists
### Mid and West Wales

National Assembly for Wales election, 2007: Mid and West Wales :
| Constituency | Elected member | Result |
| Carmarthen East and Dinefwr | Rhodri Glyn Thomas | Plaid Cymru hold |
| Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire | Angela Burns | Conservative win |
| Ceredigion | Elin Jones | Plaid Cymru hold |
| Dwyfor Meirionnydd | Dafydd Elis-Thomas | Plaid Cymru hold |
| Llanelli | Helen Mary Jones | Plaid Cymru win |
| Montgomeryshire | Mick Bates | Liberal Democrats hold |
| Preseli Pembrokeshire | Paul Davies (politician) | Conservative win |
| Brecon and Radnorshire | Kirsty Williams | Liberal Democrats hold |
| | British National Party | Christian Peoples Alliance | Communist Party of Britain | Conservative Party | Green Party of England and Wales | Independent | Independent | Labour Party | Liberal Democrats | Plaid Cymru | Socialist Labour Party | UKIP | Veritas | Welsh Christian Party |
| 1. | Ian Si'ree | Joseph Antony Biddulph | Rick Newnham | Nick Bourne | Leila Kiersch | Caroline Evans | Gwynoro Jones | Alun Davies | Cllr. Bill Powell | Nerys Evans | Alun Davies | Clive Easton | Iain Sheldon | Adam Bridgman |
| 2. | Chris Edwards-Harrill | | Elaine Blake | Glyn Davies | Timothy John Foster | | | Joyce Watson | Julianna Hughes | David Senior | Luke Hume | Nick Powell | | M. Williams |
| 3. | Lloyd Thomas Morgan | | Graham Morgan | Lisa Francis | Marilyn Elson | | | Alun Wyn Richards | Cllr. Ken Harris | Delyth Richards | Patricia Ann Bowen | Dennis Taylor | | J. Morgan |
| 4. | Marie Murray | | Clive Eliassen | O. J. Williams | John Jennings | | | Rhiannon Stone | Selwyn Runnett | Mrs. Liz Saville-Roberts | Maggie Davies | Virginia Whinnyates | | M. Davies |
| 5. | | | | Richard Minshull | Chris Simpson | | | Dr. Parvaiz Ali | Cllr. David Peter | | | | | Martin Wiltshire |
| 6. | | | | M.J.H. Jefferies | | | | | Emma Hayes | | | | | |
| 7. | | | | | | | | | Alexander Viol | | | | | |
* RESULT: Labour – 2 seats; Plaid Cymru – 1 seat; Conservative – 1 seat

### North Wales

| | British National Party | Christian Peoples Alliance | Communist Party of Britain | Conservative Party | Green Party of England and Wales | Labour Party | Liberal Democrats | Plaid Cymru | Socialist Labour Party | UKIP | Welsh Christian Party |
| 1. | Ennys Hughes | Brian Churchill | Glyn Davies | Brynle Williams | Jim Killock | Ken Skates | Eleanor Burnham | Janet Ryder | Bob English | John Bufton | Lindsay Griffiths |
| 2. | Dallus Weaver | | Rhian Cartwright | Mark Isherwood | Joe Blakesley | Donna Hutton | Cllr. Tudor Jones | Dafydd Wigley | Dave Roberts | Nathan Gill | Rev. Heather Butler |
| 3. | Simon Darby | | Trevor Jones | Cllr. Janet Finch-Saunders | Maredudd ap Rheinallt | Cllr. Ronnie Hughes | Bobby Feeley | Dyfed Edwards | Judith Sambrook | Elaine Gill | Mark MacLeod |
| 4. | Mike Howard | | Mike Green | Paul Rogers | Cllr. Wilf Hastings | Wenna Williams | Cllr. Douglas Madge | Cllr. Abdul Khan | Paul Liversuch | Ken Khambatta | Justin Davies |
| 5. | | | | James Davies | | Cllr. Chris Hughes | Cllr. Michael Edwards | | | |
| 6. | | | | John Broughton | | | Anne Williams | | | |
* RESULT: Conservative – 2 seats; Plaid Cymru – 1 seat; LibDem – 1 seat

### South Wales Central

| | British National Party | Christian Peoples Alliance | Communist Party of Britain | Conservative Party | Green Party of England and Wales | Labour Party | Liberal Democrats | Plaid Cymru | RESPECT The Unity Coalition | Socialist Alternative | Socialist Equality Party | Socialist Labour Party | UKIP | Welsh Christian Party |
| 1. | John Walker | Anthony Jeremy | Robert Griffiths | David Melding | John Matthews | Iftakhar Khan | Cllr. John Dixon | Leanne Wood | Karen Tyre | Dave Reid | Chris Talbot | Liz Screen | John Pratt | W. Johannsen |
| 2. | Laurence Reid | | Gwen Griffiths | Andrew R. T. Davies | Richard Payne | Cerys Furlong | Cllr. Gavin Cox | Chris Franks | | Rowena Mason | David O'Sullivan | Harry Parfitt | David Bevan | D. Thomson |
| 3. | Tim Windsor | | Fran Rawlings | Victoria Green | Nigel Baker | Anthony Hunt | Alexandra Macmillan | Gwenllian Lansdown | | Andrew Price | Stuart Nolan | Ina Marsden | Dr K. T. Rajan | D. Williams |
| 4. | Mark Deacon | | Clive Griffiths | Richard John | Richard Clarke | Jayne Brencher | Cllr. Asghar Ali | Mohammed Sarul Islam | | Jane Jackson | Poopalasingham Thillaivarothayan | Rob Hawkins | William Potter | J. Storey |
| 5. | | | | Mike Jones-Pritchard | Anthony Matthews | Matt Greenough | Cllr. Margaret Jones | | | Alex Gounelas | | | | |
| 6. | | | | Jon Burns | Elizabeth Ale | | Andrew Sherwood | | | Joe Fathallah | | | | |
* RESULT: Conservative – 2 seats; Plaid Cymru – 2 seats

### South Wales East

| | British National Party | Christian Peoples Alliance | Communist Party of Britain | Conservative Party | English Democrats | Green Party of England and Wales | Independent | Labour Party | Liberal Democrats | Plaid Cymru | Socialist Labour Party | UKIP | Welsh Christian Party |
| 1. | Robert James Trueman | Madeleine Jeremy | Roy Evans | William Graham | Steve Gash | Ann Were | Colin Hobbs | Cllr. Mark Whitcutt | Michael German | Jocelyn Davies | John Cox | David J Rowlands | Jeff Green |
| 2. | Peter Greenhalgh | Sara Jeremy | Angharad Halpin | Laura Anne Jones | Alan England | Alasdair McGowen | | Tunji Fahm | Cllr. Veronica Watkins | Mohammad Asghar | Sue Deare | Keith Morgan | Geoff Waggett |
| 3. | Marlene Jordan | | Dan Cole | David Chipp | Fred Bishop | Gerry Layton | | Julie Helen Robinson | Cllr. Phylip Hobson | Colin Mann | Glenn Eynon | Roger Thomas | Peter Watkins |
| 4. | Christopher Robinson | | Dave Rawlings | Andrew Roberts | David Lane | Owen Clarke | | John Wright Turner | Alison Willott | Glyn Erasmus | Cerian Screen | Hugh Moelwyn Hughes | Richard Patching |
| 5. | | | | | Steven Uncles | | | Rhianon Passmore | Cllr. David Hando | | Joyce Giblin | | |
| 6. | | | | | Michael Russell | | | | Jean Gray | | | | |
* RESULT: Plaid Cymru – 2 seats; Conservative – 1 seat; LibDem – 1 seat
* Mohammad Asghar was the first ethnic minority member of the Assembly for Plaid Cymru but on 8 December 2009, he switched to the Conservatives
* Veronica German succeeded Mike German as the Liberal Democrat AM following his appointment to the House of Lords.

### South Wales West

| | British National Party | Christian Peoples Alliance | Communist Party of Britain | Conservative Party | Green Party of England and Wales | Independent Conservative | Independent | Labour Party | Liberal Democrats | Plaid Cymru | RESPECT The Unity Coalition | Socialist Alternative | Socialist Labour Party | UKIP | Welsh Christian Party |
| 1. | Clive Bennett | Anne Savoury | David Brown | Alun Cairns | Rhodri Griffiths | John Jenkins | Keith James | Howard Davies | Peter Black | Bethan Jenkins | Paul Lynch | Ross Saunders | Jacob Bowen | Tim Jenkins | David Griffiths |
| 2. | Nick Griffin | | Mick Carty | Chris Smart | Brig Oubridge | | | Cllr. Alana Davies | Cllr. Jackie Radford | David Lloyd | Ahmed Al-Jeffery | Alec Thraves | Martha Page-Harries | Mike Squires | Anthony Kelly |
| 3. | John Cooper | | Sian O'Brien | Gerald Rowbottom | Jane Richmond | | | Cllr. Leighton Veale | Frank Little | Lisa Turnbull | | Ron Job | Miriam Scale | Denise Robinson | Katherine Bridgman |
| 4. | Jennifer King | | Rob Uprichard | Kenneth Watts | Jonathan Spink | | | Cllr. Erika Kirchner | Cllr. Mike Day | Carolyn Edwards | | Lianne Francis | Howard Rees | Josie MacDonald | Tim Price |
| 5. | | | | Bob Smith | | | | David Rees | Cllr. Peter Foley | | | Bernard Roome | | | Theresa Jenkins |
| 6. | | | | | | | | | Cllr. Norah Clarke | | | Mark Evans | | | |
| 7. | | | | | | | | | Rachael Hitchinson | | | | | | |
| 8. | | | | | | | | | Marilyn Harris | | | | | | |
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 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.
* Mohammad Asghar, Plaid Cymru, South Wales East
* Angela Burns, Welsh Conservative, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
* Alun Davies, Welsh Labour, Mid and West Wales
* Andrew R. T. Davies, Welsh Conservative, South Wales Central
* Paul Davies, Welsh Conservative, Preseli Pembrokeshire
* Nerys Evans, Plaid Cymru, Mid and West Wales
* Chris Franks, Plaid Cymru, South Wales Central
* Lesley Griffiths, Welsh Labour, Wrexham
* Bethan Jenkins, Plaid Cymru, South Wales West
* Gareth Jones, Plaid Cymru, Aberconwy (previously represented Conwy, 1999–2003)
* Darren Millar, Welsh Conservative, Clwyd West
* Nick Ramsay, Welsh Conservative, Monmouth
* Joyce Watson, Welsh Labour, Mid and West Wales

## Defeated members

Nine sitting AMs were defeated at the polls.
* Glyn Davies, Welsh Conservative, Mid and West Wales
* Tamsin Dunwoody, Welsh Labour, Preseli Pembrokeshire
* Lisa Francis, Welsh Conservative, Mid and West Wales
* Christine Gwyther, Welsh Labour, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire
* Denise Idris Jones, Welsh Labour, Conwy (defeated in Aberconwy)
* Laura Anne Jones, Welsh Conservative, South Wales East
* John Marek, Independent, Wrexham
* Alun Pugh, Welsh Labour, Clwyd West
* Catherine Thomas, Welsh Labour, Llanelli

## Retiring members

Four sitting AMs did not offer themselves for re-election.
* David Davies, Welsh Conservative, Monmouth
* Janet Davies, Plaid Cymru, South Wales West
* Sue Essex, Welsh Labour, Cardiff North
* Owen John Thomas, 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.