The people of Wales have finally booted Labour out.

At every election since 1922 (bar a couple of EU parliament elections), Labour has won the most votes in Wales.

On 7 May, we changed that, with 89% of the Welsh electorate demanding new management. There are some parts of Wales where, until now, you could nominate a donkey wearing a red rosette, and it would end up in Parliament or the Senedd. In overwhelming, spectacular fashion, Wales has torn up the tradition and voted for a different option.

This should be a cause of celebration for everyone in Wales, no matter who you align yourself with politically. Even Labour voters should be glad!

The scale of Labour’s defeat is hard to believe. Alun Davies, who should have been one of Labour’s safest MSs, lost his seat in Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni to Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, who won three seats each. Eluned Morgan would only have remained in office if Ceredigion Penfro had ten seats, or if 4,153 more people had voted Labour in the constituency. They were demoted to fourth place in seven constituencies, including Caerdydd Penarth, which should also have been safe. They didn’t manage to finish higher than fourth place anywhere north of Sir Gaerfyrddin.

Looking across the map at all the results, there is nothing Labour can take any sort of solace from, apart from perhaps the rejection of Reform UK, who wouldn’t have done anything to promote Wales, and would have simply used the Senedd as a guinea pig for what they’ll do to Westminster if they win at the next general election.

As devolution moves forward, and Wales matures as a nation with its own legislature, one of the first big milestones is the achievement of genuine political pluralism, and the creation of a dynamic, competitive political landscape.

No healthy democracy keeps the same party in charge for a century, upheld by a bloc of cultural voters and a political establishment inextricably linked to that of the party. I hope that future Welsh elections show the same competitiveness that we saw this year. It wasn’t a fun election campaign, but it was a crucial nation-building exercise.

Of course, many people have fairly argued that Plaid Cymru in charge represents a continuation of the existing political order, but I’m optimistic that they’ll prove that wrong. The people voted for major change, that much is clear.

The election result delivers a clear mandate for further, and faster devolution of powers to Wales. Plaid Cymru must now demand Welsh Government control over policing, broadcasting, the Crown Estate and rail infrastructure, and the UK Labour government ought to listen to the decisive verdict delivered by the voters of Wales. The bogus “Partnership in Power” is dead.

We have a bigger Senedd, and as a staunch devolutionist myself, I have always thought that a larger Senedd without any additional powers amounts to bloating an institution which I would argue has not lifted its weight in terms of action over 27 years.

As Conservative Senedd group leader Darren Millar said on the day of Rhun ap Iorwerth’s inauguration as First Minister, the honeymoon phase of the Plaid Cymru Government will be short. Plaid need to remember that and deliver quickly. Get the NHS waiting lists down, fix our education system, and reverse the brain drain. This is a once in a generation chance to get Wales back on its feet after decades of falling behind the rest of the UK.

Wales is changing before our eyes. We are not the country we were for the best part of the last century. The new Welsh Government must not allow itself to follow the path of unpopularity that Starmer’s Labour did. Show us what real change looks like. We’ve waited long enough.