The Health Minister Vaughan Gething has retained his Cardiff South and Penarth Senedd seat.

The Labour candidate and Penarth resident received 18,153 votes, or 49.9% of those cast. This is his second re-election since his first successful campaign in 2011.

Mr Gething increased his vote share by 6.3% since the last Senedd election in 2016.

Conservative candidate Leighton Rowlands came second, with 20.7% of the vote. The Conservative vote share was down 0.3% from 2016, when Cllr Rowlands' predecessor Cllr Ben Gray ran.

Turnout was 44% of 82,243 registered voters, up by 4.4% from 2016.

The result comes as part of a successful evening for Welsh Labour, particularly compared with the party's continued collapse in Scottish Parliament and English council elections.

At the time of writing, Welsh Labour has lost just one seat targeted by the Conservatives - the Vale of Clwyd.

The full results from the constituency vote are as follows:

Nasir Adam – Plaid Cymru – 13.6%

Paul Campbell – UKIP – 1.6%

Matt Friend – Propel – 1.5%

Vaughan Gething – Labour – 49.9%

Alan Golding – Freedom Alliance – 0.8%

Angus Hawkins – Gwlad – 0.3%

Lisa Peregrine – Abolish Welsh Assembly Party – 2%

Alan Pick – Reform UK – 0.8%

David Rolfe – Independent – 0.4%

Leighton Rowlands – Conservatives – 20.7%

Helen Westhead – Green Party – 4.5%

Alex Wilson – Liberal Democrats – 3.9%

"I'm delighted," Mr Gething told Nub News. "It's obviously a significant increase in the majority but we've had a really warm response in every part of the constituency in Penarth.

"Most people think we've done a good job in the pandemic and trying to keep families safe. I think it's a definite endorsement of our approach."

We ask what Mr Gething has planned for his next term as Member of Senedd.

"Well, my plan for the next few days is to spend a bit more time with Isaac and Michelle before we get back to work in whatever form that is.

"I hope we'll be able to form a new government when all the declarations are in over tomorrow, the kind of government Wales needs and deserves.

"The big issue moving forward is getting through the pandemic and recovery afterwards."

Closing off his acceptance speech, Mr Gething said, "I look forward to serving my constituents and the people of Wales in whatever role that may be in the future."

Is this a veiled announcement of First Ministerial ambitions?

"No, it's just about the future formation of the government," he said. "The First Minister has got to make some choices and he may want to shuffle the pack.

"We'll have to wait and see what happens, but I want to carry on serving the country and will look forward to whatever position Mark offers me in the coming weeks ahead."

"It's not a secret that I haven't given up on [leading the Welsh party in the future]. But it is a long way into the future and there's a lot of hard yards to travel before we get there."

Nub News is local businesses supporting local reporting.

To meet our latest sponsor, Snowdrop Independent Living, follow the link below:

Giving Penarth a lift - Snowdrop Independent Living