By-election victory marks a sea-change in Aberystwyth politics

A historic sea-change has been taking place in Aberystwyth politics. And Aled Davies’s stunning by-election win for Plaid Cymru on Thursday (see below) has confirmed it.

At the County Council elections in May, Plaid won more votes in Aberystwyth than any other party. This was the first time that had happened. But that statistic was skewed by the fact that the party performed exceptionally well in Penparcau, the town’s most outlying ward, where electors had two votes and where the Lib Dems only put up one candidate. In the town’s other four wards, those immediately around the town centre, the perennially dominant Lib Dems still remained on top, albeit narrowly.

Thursday’s by-election victory in Rheidol ward has changed that. Looking at the most recent election in each of the four town centre wards (i.e. last Thursday in Rheidol and May 1st in the others), Plaid now hold 47.5% of the vote with the Lib Dems on 41%.

In electoral terms, Aberystwyth has, for the first time ever, become a Plaid Cymru town.