Plaid Cymru has won a majority in Carmarthenshire, after years of coalition for the council.

After losing Council leader Emlyn Dole, as well as Cabinet member David Jenkins, the party has gone on to secure an unprecedented absolute majority in the county.

Carmarthenshire County Council was, until today, governed by a Plaid-led coalition with Independents. Before that, the council had seen Labour/Independent coalitions for more than a decade.

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price celebrated the news on social media, hailing the result as "historical".

Emlyn Dole, the leader of Carmarthenshire Council and Plaid's local leader, was narrowly ousted from his seat in Llannon by just seven votes.

He lost out to fellow Plaid candidate Llinos Mai Davies. Labour's Dot Jones took the ward's second seat.

"I'm comfortable losing to Llinos, she is a Plaid Cymru member and she is a young lady," Mr Dole told reporters at WalesOnline today.

"What we have been trying to do is make Plaid more representative of the electorate. It is great for Plaid, she is a young female with great energy and a will to achieve, I'm really pleased about that."

Emyr Rees, the newly-elected Welsh Labour councillor for Glanaman, ran a campaign focused on improving bus services in the area.

Firmly on the party's left wing, Mr Rees received a personal good luck message from former Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell on social media yesterday.

 

 

His win means that David Jenkins, Carmarthenshire Council's Cabinet Member for Resources, is out.

In Ammanford, a tight race saw Plaid Cymru hold onto one seat and gain the ward's newly created second seat.

Encumbent Deian Harries and newly-elected Colin Evans each beat out Labour's Calum Higgins and Anthony Jones with only slender majorities.

Plaid won comfortably in nearby Gorlas, as well as in Penygroes - but lost a seat in Saron.

Carmathenshire Council faced criticism earlier this year after introducing a sizable 4.39 percent council tax rise, despite receiving significantly increased funding from the Welsh Government.

"I believe this is a very fair and balanced outcome with the extreme inflationary and other pressures, and unquantifiable Covid risk which continues to exist," outgoing councillor David Jenkins said at the time.