2019 United Kingdom general election in Wales explained

The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on 12 December 2019 to elect all 650 members of the House of Commons, including the 40 Welsh seats.

The Labour Party won the most votes and seats in Wales, but the Conservative Party made gains in Wales and won across the UK.^[1]

Compared to the 2017 general election, Labour lost six seats, each of which was won by the Conservatives. This reflected a decrease in vote share of 8% from the Labour Party, matched by increases in vote share for the Brexit Party and Conservative Party of 5.4% and 2.5%, respectively. However, the Labour Party remained the party receiving the most votes, with a 40.9% vote share. Having gained Brecon and Radnorshire in the 2019 Brecon and Radnorshire by-election earlier in the year, the Welsh Liberal Democrats lost to the Conservatives. Plaid Cymru retained its four seats. The party did not make any gains, and its total vote share was down 0.5%.

Overall, 1,544,357 votes were cast in Wales, reflecting a turnout of 66.6% of the electorate.

Electoral system

MPs are elected in 40 Single Member constituencies by the first-past-the-post system.

History and background

The election was called on 29 October 2019, when its date was fixed as 12 December.

In the European Elections in Wales of June 2019, the Brexit Party, newly formed, had taken 32.5% of the votes and won two seats, Plaid Cymru had come second with 20% and one MEP, Jill Evans, and Labour had finished third, with 15.3% and also one MEP, Jackie Jones.^[2]

In the run-up to the general election, the Conservative party suspended the whip of one of its MPs, Guto Bebb of Aberconwy, who then sat as an independent until the end of the parliament and did not seek re-election.^[3] Additionally, the Conservative party lost a by-election in Brecon and Radnorshire^[4] to the Liberal Democrats. Before the election, the numbers were 28 Labour MPs, six Conservative, four Plaid, one Liberal Democrat, and one Independent (Bebb).

Plaid Cymru had gained one seat in the previous election. The party was for stopping Brexit and holding a second referendum on the Brexit withdrawal agreement, which was at odds with how Wales had voted in the 2016 referendum. The party did not make any gains, and its total vote share was down 0.5%.

Target seats

Labour

• Arfon, Plaid Cymru (Plaid hold)
• Preseli Pembrokeshire, Conservative (Conservative hold)

Plaid Cymru

• Ynys Môn, Labour (Conservative gain)
• Llanelli, Labour (Labour hold)

Results

Party^[5] ! colspan="5"

Seats	Votes
Total	Gains	Losses	Net +/-	% seats	Total	%	Change
	22	0	6	6	55	632,035	40.9	8.0
	14	6	0	6	35	557,234	36.1	2.5
	4	0	0		10	153,265	9.9	0.5
	0	0	0		0	92,171	6.0	1.5
	0	0	0		0	83,908	5.4	N/A
	0	0	0		0	15,828	1.0	0.7
	Independents	0	0	0		0	6,220	0.4	N/A
	0	0	0		0	1,515	0.1	N/A
	0	0	0		0	1,322	0.1	N/A
	0	0	0		0	345	0.0
	0	0	0		0	245	0.0	N/A
	0	0	0		0	181	0.0	N/A
	0	0	0		0	88	0.0	N/A
Total		40					1,544,357	Turnout	66.6

Results by constituency

Constituency[6]	County	2017 result		2019 winning party					Turnout	Votes
				Party		Votes	Share	Majority		Lab	Con	PC	LD	Brx	Grn	Other	Total
						17,008	53.8%	10,490	62.3%	17,008	6,518	2,711	1,072	3,108	450	731	31,598
					Con	14,687	46.1%	2,034	71.3%	12,653	14,687	2,704	1,821				31,865
Alyn and Deeside	CON		Lab		Lab	18,271	42.5%	213	68.5%	18,271	18,058	1,453	2,548	2,678			43,003
Arfon	GWN		PC		PC	13,134	45.2%	2,781	68.9%	10,353	4,428	13,134		1,159			29,074
Blaenau Gwent	GNT		Lab		Lab	14,862	49.2%	8,647	59.6%	14,862	5,749	1,722	1,285	6,215	386		30,219
Brecon and Radnorshire	POW		Con		Con	21,958	53.1%	7,131	74.5%	3,944	21,958		14,827			590	41,319
Bridgend	MGM		Lab		Con	18,193	43.1%	1,157	66.7%	17,036	18,193	2,013	2,368	1,811	815		42,236
Caerphilly	GNT		Lab		Lab	18,018	44.9%	6,833	63.5%	18,018	11,185	6,424		4,490			40,117
Cardiff Central	SGM		Lab		Lab	25,605	61.2%	17,179	65.3%	25,605	8,426		6,298	1,006		487	41,822
Cardiff North	SGM		Lab		Lab	26,064	49.5%	6,982	77.0%	26,064	19,082	1,606	3,580	1,311	820	203	52,666
Cardiff South and Penarth	SGM		Lab		Lab	27,382	54.1%	12,737	64.2%	27,382	14,645	2,386	2,985	1,999	1,182		50,579
Cardiff West	SGM		Lab		Lab	23,908	51.8%	10,986	67.4%	23,908	12,922	3,864	2,731	1,619	1,133		45,817
Carmarthen East and Dinefwr	DFD		PC		PC	15,939	38.9%	1,809	71.4%	8,622	14,130	15,939		2,311			40,456
Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire	DFD		Con		Con	22,183	52.7%	7,745	71.8%	14,438	22,183	3,633	1,860				42,114
Ceredigion	DFD		PC		PC	15,208	37.9%	6,329	71.3%	6,317	8,879	15,208	6,975	2,063	663		40,105
Clwyd South	CON		Lab		Con	16,222	44.7%	1,239	67.3%	14,983	16,222	2,137	1,496	1,468			36,306
Clwyd West	CON		Con		Con	20,403	50.7%	6,747	69.7%	13,656	20,403	3,907	2,237				40,203
Cynon Valley	MGM		Lab		Lab	15,533	51.4%	8,822	59.1%	15,533	6,711	2,562	949	3,045		1,436	30,236
Delyn	CON		Lab		Con	16,756	43.7%	865	70.3%	15,891	16,756	1,406	2,346	1,971			38,370
Dwyfor Meirionnydd	GWN		PC		PC	14,447	48.3%	4,740	67.5%	3,998	9,707	14,447		1,776			29,928
Gower	WGM		Lab		Lab	20,208	45.4%	1,837	72.0%	20,208	18,371	2,288	2,236	1,379			44,482
Islwyn	GNT		Lab		Lab	15,356	44.7%	5,464	62.0%	15,356	9,892	2,286	1,313	4,834	669		34,350
Llanelli	DFD		Lab		Lab	16,125	42.2%	4,670	63.2%	16,125	11,455	7,048		3,605			38,233
Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney	GNT		Lab		Lab	16,913	52.4%	10,606	57.3%	16,913	6,307	2,446	1,116	3,604		1,860	32,246
Monmouth	GNT		Con		Con	26,160	52.1%	9,982	74.8%	16,178	26,160	1,182	4,909		1,353	435	50,217
Montgomeryshire	POW		Con		Con	20,020	58.5%	12,138	69.8%	5,585	20,020		7,882			727	34,241
Neath	WGM		Lab			15,920	43.3%	5,637	65.2%	15,920	10,283	4,495	1,485	3,184	728	661	36,756
Newport East	GNT		Lab		Lab	16,125	44.4%	1,992	62.0%	16,125	14,133	872	2,121	2,454	577		36,282
Newport West	GNT		Lab		Lab	18,977	43.7%	902	65.2%	18,977	18,075	1,187	2,565	1,727	902		43,433
Ogmore	MGM		Lab		Lab	17,602	49.7%	7,805	61.5%	17,602	9,797	2,919	1,460	2,991	621		35,390
Pontypridd	MGM		Lab			17,381	44.5%	5,887	64.7%	17,381	11,494	4,990		2,917		2,278	39,060
Preseli Pembrokeshire	DFD		Con		Con	21,381	50.4%	5,062	71.2%	16,319	21,381	2,776	1,943				42,419
Rhondda	MGM		Lab		Lab	16,115	54.4%	11,440	59.0%	16,115	4,675	4,069	612	3,733	438		29,642
Swansea East	WGM		Lab		Lab	17,405	51.8%	7,970	57.4%	17,405	9,435	1,905	1,409	2,842	583		33,579
Swansea West	WGM		Lab		Lab	18,493	51.6%	8,116	62.8%	18,493	10,377	1,984	2,993	1,983			35,830
Torfaen	GNT		Lab		Lab	15,546	41.8%	3,742	60.2%	15,546	11,804	1,441	1,831	5,742	812		37,176
Vale of Clwyd	CON		Lab		Con	17,270	46.4%	1,827	65.7%	15,443	17,270	1,552	1,471	1,477			37,213
Vale of Glamorgan	SGM		Con		Con	27,305	49.8%	3,562	71.6%	23,743	27,305				3,251	508	54,807
Wrexham	CON		Lab		Con	15,199	45.3%	2,131	67.4%	13,068	15,199	2,151	1,447	1,222	445		33,532
Ynys Môn	GWN		Lab		Con	12,959	35.5%	1,968	70.4%	10,991	12,959	10,418		2,184			36,552
Total for all constituencies									Turnout								Total
										Lab	Con	PC	LD	Brx	Grn	Other
										Votes
									66.6%	632,035	557,234	153,265	92,171	83,908	15,828	9,916	1,544,357
										40.9%	36.1%	9.9%	6.0%	5.4%	1.0%	0.6%	100.0%
										Seats
										22	14	4	0	0	0	0	40
										55%	35%	10%	0%	0%	0%	0%	100.0%

Opinion polling

(Includes polls in which polling concluded on or before: 31 May 2019)

Pollster/client(s)	Date(s) conducted	data-sort-type="number" rowspan="2"	Sample size	Lab	Con	Plaid Cymru	Lib Dem	UKIP	Green	Change UK	Brexit	Other	data-sort-type="number" rowspan="2"	Lead
		data-sort-type="number" style="background:;"		data-sort-type="number" style="background:;"		data-sort-type="number" style="background:;"		data-sort-type="number" style="background:;"		data-sort-type="number" style="background:;"			data-sort-type="number" style="background:;"		data-sort-type="number" style="background:;"		data-sort-type="number" style="background:;"
2019 general election	data-sort-value="2019-12-12"	12 Dec 2019	–	40.9%	36.1%	9.9%	6.0%	–	1.0%	–	5.4%	0.6%	4.8%
YouGov/ITV Cymru Wales/Cardiff University	data-sort-value="2019-11-25"	22–25 Nov 2019	1,116	38%	32%	11%	9%	–	1%	–	8%	1%	6%
YouGov/ITV Cymru Wales/Cardiff University	data-sort-value="2019-11-04"	31 Oct–4 Nov 2019	1,136	29%	28%	12%	12%	0%	3%	0%	15%	1%	1%
YouGov/ITV News	data-sort-value="2019-05-20"	10–14 October 2019	1,071	25%	29%	12%	16%	—	4%	—	14%	1%	4%
	1 August 2019	Brecon and Radnorshire by-election[7]
YouGov/ITV Cymru Wales/Cardiff University	data-sort-value="2019-05-20"	23–28 July 2019	1,071	22%	24%	15%	16%	—	3%	—	18%	1%	2%
YouGov/ITV Cymru Wales/Cardiff University	data-sort-value="2019-05-20"	16–20 May 2019	1,009	25%	17%	13%	12%	1%	5%	2%	23%	2%	2%
YouGov/ITV Cymru Wales/Cardiff University	data-sort-value="2019-04-05"	2–5 Apr 2019	1,025	33%	26%	15%	7%	3%	2%	9%	4%	1%	7%
	4 April 2019	Newport West by-election
ICM/BBC Wales	data-sort-value="2019-02-23"	7–23 Feb 2019	1,000	42%	33%	13%	6%	3%	1%	–	–	2%	9%
YouGov/ITV Cymru Wales/Cardiff University	data-sort-value="2019-02-22"	19–22 Feb 2019	1,025	35%	29%	14%	8%	6%	3%	–	–	4%	6%
Sky Data/Cardiff University	data-sort-value="2018-12-14"	7–14 Dec 2018	1,014	45%	32%	14%	3%	4%	2%	–	–	1%	13%
	6–13 Dec 2018	Mark Drakeford becomes leader of Welsh Labour and First Minister[8] [9]
YouGov/ITV Cymru Wales/Cardiff University	data-sort-value="2018-12-07"	4–7 Dec 2018	1,024	43%	31%	13%	6%	3%	3%	–	–	1%	12%
YouGov/ITV Cymru Wales/Cardiff University	data-sort-value="2018-11-02"	30 Oct–2 Nov 2018	1,031	42%	33%	10%	7%	4%	2%	–	–	1%	9%
Survation/Channel 4	data-sort-value="2018-11-02"	20 Oct–2 Nov 2018	1,177	47%	30%	13%	6%	3%	2%	–	–	0%	17%
	28 September 2018	Adam Price becomes leader of Plaid Cymru[10]
	6 September 2018	Paul Davies becomes leader of the Welsh Conservatives[11]
YouGov/ITV Cymru Wales/Cardiff University	data-sort-value="2018-07-02"	28 Jun–2 Jul 2018	1,031	44%	31%	13%	5%	3%	2%	–	–	1%	13%
YouGov/ITV Cymru Wales/Cardiff University	data-sort-value="2018-03-15"	12–15 Mar 2018	1,015	46%	33%	11%	4%	4%	2%	–	–	1%	13%
ICM/BBC Wales	data-sort-value="2018-02-25"	8–25 Feb 2018	1,001	49%	32%	11%	5%	2%	1%	–	–	0%	17%
YouGov/ITV Cymru Wales/Cardiff University	data-sort-value="2017-11-24"	21–24 Nov 2017	1,016	47%	31%	11%	5%	3%	2%	–	–	1%	16%
	3 November 2017	Jane Dodds becomes leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats[12]
YouGov/ITV Cymru Wales/Cardiff University	data-sort-value="2017-09-07"	4–7 Sep 2017	1,011	50%	32%	8%	4%	3%	1%	–	–	1%	18%
2017 general election	data-sort-value="2017-06-08"	8 June 2017	–	48.9%	33.6%	10.4%	4.5%	2.0%	0.3%	–	–	0.2%	15.4%

See also

• 2019 United Kingdom general election in England
• 2019 United Kingdom general election in Northern Ireland
• 2019 United Kingdom general election in Scotland

Notes and References

1. Web site: UK Election Statistics: 1918-2022, A Long Century of Elections . House of Commons Library . 22.
2. https://www.cardiff.gov.uk/ENG/Your-Council/Voting-and-elections/Scheduled-elections-and-polls/Documents/Statement%20of%20parties%20nominated.pdf Statement of Parties Nominated and Notice of Poll / Datganiad o’r Pleidiau a Enwebwyd a Rhybudd o Etholiad
3. News: Boris Johnson to strip 21 Tory MPs of the Tory whip in parliamentary bloodbath. 4 September 2019. Daily Telegraph. Anna . Mikhailova.
4. News: Brecon and Radnorshire by-election: Lib Dems beat Conservatives . 2 August 2019 . BBC News . 2 August 2019.
5. Web site: Results of the 2019 General Election in Wales. BBC News. en-GB. 2019-12-14.
6. News: BBC NEWS – Election 2019. BBC News .
7. Web site: By-elections since the 2017 General Election. UK Parliament. 21 May 2019.
8. News: Welsh Labour leadership: Mark Drakeford set to be Wales' first minister. BBC News. 6 December 2018. 21 May 2019.
9. News: Wales new First Minister Mark Drakeford is sworn in. BBC News. 13 December 2018. 21 May 2019.
10. News: Adam Price replaces Wood as Plaid leader. 28 September 2018. BBC News. 5 November 2019. en-GB.
11. News: Paul Davies wins Welsh Tory assembly group leadership poll. BBC News. 6 September 2018. 21 May 2019.
12. News: Jane Dodds is new Welsh Liberal Democrat leader. BBC News. 3 November 2017. 21 May 2019.