Ben Lake feels ‘deeply humbled’ to be re-elected MP for Ceredigion Preseli as Plaid Cymru scooped the majority vote.

Ben emerged victorious with 21,738 votes, beating Liberal Democrats Mark Williams with 6,949 and Labour’s Jackie Jones with 5,386.

This is the third time in a row Ben has been elected for Ceredigion Preseli after first winning the seat in 2017.

He said: “It’s the honour of a lifetime. I am deeply humbled that the people of Ceredigion have kept their faith in me to represent them in Parliament, especially during a time where there will be significant change. Work starts tomorrow.”

Ben first became MP for Ceredigion by defeating Mark Williams in 2017 before retaining his seat in 2019 with a win over Conservatives Aled Thomas and now winning again in 2024.

Earlier in the night, an exit poll predicted that Plaid Cymru had a 99% chance to hold their seat in Ceredigion Preseli.

An exit poll predicted Plaid Cymru would hold their seat at Ceredigion Preseli.An exit poll predicted Plaid Cymru would hold their seat at Ceredigion Preseli. (Image: Newsquest) But Ben refused to accept victory was assured until the final count was confirmed.

He said: “I’m confident that we had a positive campaign to earn the trust of constituents. We have worked hard and spoke to many people.

“We have done everything possible to win but we will only know for sure when the final count is revealed.”

The full election results for Ceredigion Preseli were:

  • Plaid Cymru 21,738
  • Liberal Democrats 6,949
  • Labour 5,386
  • Reform 5,374
  • Conservatives 4,763
  • Green 1,864
  • Workers Party 228

Plaid Cymru won four seats overall– the best result the Welsh party has ever achieved in a general election.

This includes Llinos Medi who won a seat in Anglesey Island, Saville Roberts for Dwyfor Meirionnydd and Ann Davies for Carmarthen.

On their Facebook page, Plaid Cymru posted: “Well, it is a very good morning in Wales.  Our four Plaid Cymru MPs will now work tirelessly to make sure Wales’s voice is not ignored by the incoming Labour government.”

Nationally, however, Labour have won a landslide victory over the Conservatives and are set to regain power for the first time since 2010.

Labour gained 412 seats in the House of Commons after 9.6 million people voted for the party.

Following his meeting with King Charles, Keir Starmer has become Great Britain’s 58th Prime Minister.

Despite Reform being projected to win 13 seats by the exit poll, the party run by Nigel Farage has only claimed four seats at the time of writing along with Plaid Cymru and the Green party.

Liberal Democrats have finished third with 71 seats, followed by the Scottish National Party, Sinn Féin and DUP.