General election 2024: Plaid Cymru's Ann Davies wins Caerfyrddin

Ms Davies secured 15,520 votes, a majority of 4,535 over Labour’s Martha O’Neil.

The former chief whip and secretary of state for Wales Simon Hart, who served as MP for Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire since his election in 2010, finished third with 8,825 votes.

The turnout in Caerfyrddin was announced as 61.88 per cent, with a total of 45,791 votes cast.

Ann Davies speaking on stage after being confirmed as the MP for Caerfyrddin. (Image: Stuart Ladd)

“I want to thank the people of Caerfyrddin from the bottom of my heart for putting their faith in me to represent them in Westminster,” Ms Davies said.

“It is the honour of a lifetime to represent the communities that I love so dearly. I am determined now to do as I promised during the campaign and be a strong voice for all communities across this new constituency.

“Plaid Cymru put fair funding at the heart of our campaign. Conservative cuts have gutted services and inflicted hardship on our communities.

“As part of a strengthened Plaid Cymru team, I will be holding the incoming Labour government’s feet to the fire and demanding investment for our communities. Labour have won a huge majority and now have a duty to prove to people that ‘Change’ was not just a slogan.

“I thank all candidates for fighting positive campaigns here in Caerfyrddin. I promise to be a voice for everyone living here, and will work hard to earn the trust of those who voted differently. Thank you, Caerfyrddin.”

Ann Davies is congratulated after winning the seat. (Image: Stuart Ladd)

Before the result came in, Ms Davies said she was feeling “very calm” when compared to her council elections.

“I’ve done everything I can,” she said. “I started campaigning in January because I just wanted to go round all the communities in Carmarthenshire.

“When it was called at the end of May, I’d probably visited about 8,000 homes at that time.

“We’ve done as much as we can, and I feel we’ve had a really good positive campaign.”

Ann Davies speaking ahead of the results being called. (Image: Stuart Ladd)

When she announced her candidacy, Ms Davies said her primary motivation was to provide opportunities for the citizens of Carmarthenshire and Wales.

The new MP was elected to Carmarthenshire County Council, representing the Llanddarog ward, in 2017 – although she has been an active member of Plaid Cymru since she was 18-years old.

She was spurred on to run for county council when her daughters finished university, confident that the time was right.

“I think I'd been asked several times about standing for county council, and I hadn't done it up until that point because I wanted to see the three girls through university, for them to have the opportunity earlier in life that I hadn't had,” she previously told the South Wales Guardian.

The full results for Caerfyrddin are:

• Will Beasley (Green Party): 1,371
• Nicholas Beckett (Lib Dems): 1,461
• Nancy Cole (Women's Equality Party): 282
• Ann Davies (Plaid Cymru): 15,520
• David Mark Evans (Workers Party of Britain): 216 –
• Simon Hart (Conservatives): 8,825
• Bernard Holton (Reform): 6944
• Martha O'Neil (Labour): 10,985