Reform win landslide victory in Llanelli by-election
Mrs Beer’s victory comes thanks to a 35% swing in votes from Labour, who were pushed into second place with 23.4% of the vote.
Independent candidate Sharon Burdess came third with 8.7% of the vote
Plaid Cymru were third with 8.0%, Conservatives came fourth with 7.0%. Independent candidate Alison Leyshon came fifth with 6.5% and Liberal Democrats sixth with 3.1%. The ever-present Wayne Erasmus from Gwlad came seventh with 0.7% or 9 votes.
Mrs Beer becomes the third Reform county councillor to be elected in Wales after Stuart Kyle beat Labour to fill a vacancy on Torfaen Council in February and Owain Clatworthy narrowly beat the Labour party’s Gary Chappell into second place by just 30 votes for the Pyle, Kenfig Hill and Cefn Cribwr seat on Bridgend County Borough Council at the beginning of May.
Mrs Beer said in a statement on social media: “I am thankful and humbled to become Reform Wales first Carmarthenshire County Councillor. This is one historic moment in Wales. It shows the people in Llanelli wants change.
“I am honoured to represent the people and to be a strong common sense voice for them at a local level. What a long day and awesome result. Praise God”
The Lleidi ward borders the Stradey Park Hotel which was the subject of long campaigns against proposals to house asylum seekers. Mrs Beer along with her husband and fellow Reform politician Gareth Beer were active in the campaigns, which included visits to the protest by then Reform leader Richard Tice and controversial far-right figure, Tommy Robinson.
Gareth Beer was Reform’s parliamentary candidate for Llanelli who came a close second to the incumbent, veteran Labour politician, Dame Nia Griffiths at last year’s general election.
Michelle Beer (centre) with husband Gareth Beer (right)
The by-election in the Lleidi ward was called following the death of Cllr Anthony Leyshon, who was elected as a Labour candidate in 2022 but left the party to become an independent in September 2024.
A Welsh Labour source said: “This is an awful result for us. We have campaigned solidly on local issues like the threat to Ysgol Heol Goffa, the local school for children with additional learning needs. Reform has been nowhere.
“There has been a lot of misinformation about the Stradey Park and also concern over the planned benefit cuts by the UK Government.”
The real winner of the by-election seems to have been apathy however, with just a third of the eligible electorate turning out to vote.
Carmarthenshire Council Lleidi ward by-election results
Michelle May Beer – Reform UK – 568
Andrew Bargoli – Welsh Labour – 312
Sharon Burdess – Independent – 116
Taylor Reynolds – Plaid Cymru, The Party of Wales – 107
Richard Williams – Welsh Conservative Party Candidate – 93
Alison Leyshon – Independent – 86
Jonathan Edward Burree – Welsh Liberal Democrats – 41
Wayne Erasmus – Gwlad, Wales Can Be Better – 9
The turnout was 33.36%.
#byElection #CarmarthenshireCouncil #featured #GarethBeer #Llanelli #MichelleBeer #ReformUK
