Plaid Cymru gains seat from Labour in Pembrokeshire by-election

Martin Shipton

Plaid Cymru has returned to winning ways at the ballot box after winning a seat on Pembrokeshire County Council that it hadn’t contested since 2004.

Billy Shaw, the current Mayor of Fishguard and Goodwick, won a by-election in the Fishguard North East ward, taking a seat that at the last election in 2022 had been won by Labour.

This time, Cllr Shaw got 253 votes (33.8%), followed by Liberal Democrat Caleb Churchill with 135 (18.0%) and Peter John of Reform UK with 95 (12.7%).

Labour’s Paul Howe was pushed into fourth place with 83 votes (11.1%), followed by Independent Teresa Tannahill on 79 (10.5%), the Conservatives’ Brian Murphy on 69 (9.2%) and another Independent, Adrian Tyrrell, on 35 (4.7%).

At the last election in 2022, the Labour and Conservative candidates were in a straight fight, with Labour’s Jordan Ryan defeating the Tories’ Brian Murphy by 399 votes (58.9%) to 278 (41.1%).

This time, reflecting their sharp decline in electoral support, Labour and the Conservatives barely scraped 20% of the vote between them.

For Plaid Cymru the result was a boost following the loss of a seat to Reform in its Ynys Mon heartland in a by-election last week. That by-election was triggered by the death of long-serving Plaid councillor and former Football Association of Wales president Trefor Lloyd Hughes.

Reform claimed it had dealt Plaid a major blow in the constituency of its leader and would-be First Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth. Plaid sources sought to mitigate the damage by pointing out that the ward - Ynys Gybi - covered Holyhead, which was traditionally a Labour-voting area.

The election of Cllr Shaw in Fishguard increases the number of Plaid Cymru councillors on Pembrokeshire County council from two to three.

Cllr Shaw is a former British Army biomedical scientist and NHS senior scientist, with a career spanning health, public service, and community leadership. He has been involved in a range of local initiatives, including projects supporting health, education, and military veterans.

Speaking following his selection as Plaid’s by-election candidate, Cllr Shaw said: “As the current Mayor of Fishguard, I know how important it is to serve this community with passion and dedication. Our area deserves a strong and committed voice, and I’m ready to bring energy, ideas and fresh thinking to make a real difference for Fishguard North East.”

'Strong voice'

Plaid’s Ceredigion Preseli MP, Ben Lake, said: “Billy Shaw has a proven track record of standing up for his community and will be a strong voice for Fishguard North East.

“People locally need a councillor who will fight for essential services and champion the interests of the area. Billy brings energy, experience and a deep understanding of the challenges we face.”

The by-election was caused by the death of popular local councillor Jordan Ryan, 34, who had been the youngest ever Mayor of Fishguard and Goodwick, Severely disabled, he left the Labour Party in September 2025 to sit as a non-aligned member, saying there was a need to build a new socialist party as Labour was failing to challenge “the forces of the far right on the march”.

In an interview with the Local Democracy Reporting Service, he said: “I am at a crossroads politically just like our country is at a crossroads. The next few years are about the future of this country. The forces of the far right are on the march and the current Labour Party leadership in Westminster will not, and cannot, stop them; their foolishness and craven capitulation to the right on most issues and their appeasement of Trump on most foreign policy issues have destroyed the Labour party in many of its former strongholds.

“As a severely disabled person I cannot remain in a party that wants to cut social security for disabled people and won’t even do the bare minimum to help the people of Gaza.”

He added: “I am sorry it took so long to leave the Labour party but it’s hard to leave something you’ve been a part of for over 16 years; if you are still in the Labour Party then it’s time to go, most of our remaining membership are good people trapped in an undemocratic organisation that only cares about power and governing but has no plan for power or governing, a once great party that doesn’t want to change our broken society and can’t look after the people.”

Sadly Cllr Ryan died two months later.