2016 National Assembly for Wales election

The 2016 National Assembly for Wales election was held on Thursday 5 May 2016, to elect members (AMs) of the National Assembly for Wales, now known as the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; Senedd Cymru). It was the fifth election for the National Assembly, the third election taken under the rules of the Government of Wales Act 2006 and the first since the Wales Act 2014.

The governing Labour Party's share of the vote fell by over 7% and 29 Labour AMs were elected, one fewer than in 2011 and two short of an overall majority. Plaid Cymru became the Assembly's second largest party and the official opposition to the Welsh Government with 12 seats, one more than before. The 11 Conservative AMs were elected, three fewer than in 2011. Although they did not win a single constituency, the UK Independence Party (UKIP) had 7 members elected through the regional lists vote. The Liberal Democrats had only one AM returned, down from five.

The election was held on the same day as elections for the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly, the Mayor and Assembly of London and in numerous local authorities in England. The by-election for the Westminster seat of Ogmore was also held on the same day. This election and elections to the other devolved chambers were delayed by a year from 2015 to 2016 as a result of the Fixed-term Parliaments Act 2011. Elections to the Welsh Assembly have now also been permanently moved to a five-year cycle under the Wales Act 2014.

Electoral method
In general elections for the National Assembly for Wales, each voter has two votes in a mixed member system. The first vote is for a candidate to become the Assembly Member for the voter's constituency, elected by the first past the post system. The second vote is for a regional closed party list of candidates. Additional member seats are allocated from the lists by the d'Hondt method, with constituency results being taken into account in the allocation. The overall result is approximately proportional.

Previously it was not allowed to stand in both a constituency and a regional list, but this rule was abolished by the Wales Act 2014. The Act also introduced a ban on dual mandates with the House of Commons: an Assembly Member is no longer allowed also to be an MP.

British, Irish, Commonwealth and European Union citizens living in Wales aged 18 or over on election day were entitled to vote.

Retiring AMs
The following, previously incumbent AMs, did not run for re-election:

Constituency nominations
NB: AMs in office (i.e. incumbents) before the election are bolded. Winners are highlighted with party colours.

Results
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 * style="background-color:white" colspan=15 | Welsh assembly election 2016.svg


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New members
23 of the members elected to the Assembly in the election were not members of the previous Assembly.


 * Constituency
 * Hannah Blythyn, Labour, Delyn
 * Dawn Bowden, Labour, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney
 * Rhianon Passmore, Labour, Islwyn
 * Jayne Bryant, Labour, Newport West
 * Vikki Howells, Labour, Cynon Valley
 * Jeremy Miles, Labour, Neath
 * Hefin David, Labour, Caerphilly
 * Lee Waters, Labour, Llanelli
 * Huw Irranca-Davies, Labour, Ogmore
 * Adam Price, Plaid Cymru, Carmarthen East and Dinefwr
 * Siân Gwenllian, Plaid Cymru, Arfon
 * Rebecca Evans, Labour, Gower


 * Regional
 * Nathan Gill, UKIP, North Wales electoral region
 * Michelle Brown, UKIP, North Wales electoral region
 * Mark Reckless, UKIP, South Wales East electoral region
 * David Rowlands, UKIP, South Wales East electoral region
 * Steffan Lewis, Plaid Cymru, South Wales East electoral region
 * Caroline Jones, UKIP, South Wales West electoral region
 * Dai Lloyd, Plaid Cymru, South Wales West electoral region
 * Neil Hamilton, UKIP, Mid and West Wales electoral region
 * Eluned Morgan, Labour, Mid and West Wales electoral region
 * Gareth Bennett, UKIP, South Wales Central electoral region
 * Neil McEvoy, Plaid Cymru, South Wales Central electoral region

Mid and West Wales
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North Wales
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South Wales Central
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South Wales East
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South Wales West
! colspan=2 style="width: 200px"|Constituency ! style="width: 150px"|Elected member ! style="width: 300px"|Result

! colspan="2" style="width: 150px"|Party ! Elected candidates ! style="width: 40px"|Seats ! style="width: 40px"|+/− ! style="width: 50px"|Votes ! style="width: 40px"|% ! style="width: 40px"|+/−%