Plaid Cymru remains the largest party in Carmarthenshire, despite their leader losing his seat. The results of this year's election were incredibly similar to that of 2017.
Plaid won 38 seats, compared to 23 for Labour and 14 for independent candidates. Five years ago, Plaid Cymru had 36 councillors, Labour 22 and independents 16. The shock moment of the day came when Carmarthenshire Council leader Emlyn Dole lost his seat in Llannon, losing his place to fellow Plaid Cymru candidate Llinos Mai Davies by only seven votes.
Mr Dole has spent 14 years elected as a county councillor and seven of those as leader. You can read more about that by clicking here.
READ MORE: Caerphilly council leader Philippa Marsden loses her seat
Speaking to WalesOnline following the shock result, Mr Dole said: "It is a feeling of disappointment. The thing with elections, it's in one moment and out the next. That's the reality of elections - it's the will of the people. I have spent 14 years in the county council and half of that leading it. We have always said to people, if you win, do it with good grace, and if you lose, do it the same.
"I'm comfortable losing to Llinos, she is a Plaid Cymru member and she is a young lady. What we have been trying to do is make Plaid more representative of the electorate. It is great for Plaid, she is a young female with great energy and a will to achieve, I'm really pleased about that.
"In Llannon there is two seats but there were seven candidates. You tend to find that happens when it is a leader's ward. It has been an absolute privilege and an hour, the privilege of my life to lead the Plaid group and the council. I hope in that time with good will and vision I have made a difference. I am sure that will continue onwards with Plaid."
Discussing where it leaves the Plaid leadership and the leadership of the council going forward, Mr Dole said that Plaid must elect at their AGM, which takes place three days before Carmarthenshire Council's AGM.
David Darkin can count himself very unlucky. He and fellow Labour candidate Philip Warlow were level on 596 votes each in the vote for the Bigyn ward. It meant that it had to be decided by a guess of heads or tails, with Mr Warlow guessing correctly.
The bitter disappointment for Mr Darkin was made somewhat better by the news that his mum, Janet Williams, took one of the available three seats in the same ward. You can read more about that by clicking here.
There was better luck this time round for Sean Rees. He missed out on winning his election by one single vote back in 2017. This time around, his fortunes were far different, winning the Glanymor ward with 1,055 votes. He said: "I’d like to give my heartfelt thanks to the people of Seaside, New Dock, North Dock, Morfa and Machynys for putting their faith in me to get the job done. I’m proud to have run a positive campaign and look forward to giving Llanelli more of a say in Carmarthen.”
You can catch up on all that went on around Wales in our dedicated election day blog here. Our live widget below shows a full breakdown of all the ward results for Carmarthenshire:
