Health Minister Vaughan Gething has retained his Cardiff South and Penarth Senedd seat, receiving 18,153 votes, or 49.9% of those cast.

We've been speaking with Mr Gething and some of his rival candidates to get their reactions.

Vaughan Gething

"I'm delighted," Mr Gething told us before taking his dog for a walk and having drink. "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."

Nasir Adam

It was a difficult night for Plaid Cymru. They made no gains and lost ex-party leader Leanne Wood's Rhondda seat.

But Cardiff South and Penarth candidate Nasir Adam saw his party's vote share in the constituency decline by just 0.6% to 13.6%.

"We were expecting worse really as we were looking at the other counts coming in," he said.

"When you hear that the Rhondda went, I just thought it was going to be an awful result, but it's a really good result actually and it could work in our favour in the regional.

"I'm going to put my feet up now for the time being and then keep fighting for our communities and make sure their issues are discussed in the Senedd.

"In terms of the Green Party we've seen gains across the board. It's been a very positive day and we're just waiting for the regionals to come in now really."

Helen Westhead

Political newcomer and Green Party candidate Helen Westhead was under no illusion that she was going to win the seat.

She and her party say they are holding out for the regional ballot.

"The regions is where we stand a good chance of securing one or more seats, so we're feeling really positive about that on the basis of consistent gains across all constituency seats.

"I've had a really positive experience and really enjoyed it. I look forward to whatever happens next."

Alex Wilson

Theatre enthusiast Alex Wilson remained enthusiastic despite failing to reach his target of doubling last election's count.

He received 3.9% of the vote, down by 0.5% on 2016.

"I'm encouraged by it actually," he said. "I started this journey with a view to become the voice for Plymouth Ward and a councillor for the Vale of Glamorgan, so I concentrated on Plymouth Ward and the response on the door was fantastic, really encouraging.

"We did a box count on Plymouth ward and we calculated that it went up from a previous 5% to 15%, so tripled the vote which is so encouraging.

"My strength is on the doorstep but unfortunately my time doing that was curtailed by the restrictions. When I was able to go on the doorstep, I increased the vote. So, next time, I can continue to engage with the people who matter and feel they're not being listened to.

"I'm going to take bit of a break but my campaign to win Plymouth Ward in next year's Council elections start on Monday."

Paul Campbell

The most dramatic decline in the constituency was reserved for UKIP's Paul Campbell.

His campaign received just 1.6% of the vote, down 10.7% on 2017.

"The figures for the smaller parties were all really low and it just looks like Labour sucked up all the protest votes from last time," he said.

"We've beaten reform and Neil McEvoy's Reform Party. Abolish are slightly above us so I think it's just a general trend with the smaller parties.

"We knew we'd never win on the constituency, so we're just holding up a hope for tomorrow's regional vote. The way the pandemic has happened has benefitted Labour and the massive exposure they've had.

"We always knew after Brexit that we'd have a long building process, so we'll fight on. I'll still go ahead."

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