THE Conservatives have kept the Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire seat with Sam Kurtz winning the vote.

Seven candidates fought it out for long-serving Welsh Conservative Angela Burns’ seat after she announced she would be standing down.

Mr Kurtz received 11,240 votes around 900 more than Labour’s Riaz Hassan who had 10,304.

Mr Kurtz, who at 29 will be one of the younger MS in Cardiff, thanked the people for “putting their trust in me to serve them well for the next five years.”

He added it was a “privilege” to take over from Mrs Burns who was “such a dedicated member of the Senedd.”

Plaid Cymru’s Cefin Campbell was in third place with 6615 votes, then Liberal Democrat Alistair Cameron with 1224,UKIP’s Paul Dowson with 982, Independent Jon Harvey with 866 and Peter Prosser of Reform UK got 424 votes.

In Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, seven candidates fought it out for the seat left vacant after long-serving Welsh Conservative Angela Burns announced she would be standing down.

Turnout was 52.12 per cent with 31,827 ballot papers verified for counting.

That’s an extra 2,590 ballot papers than were cast in the last election in 2016 when turnout was 51.2 per cent.

This election was the first in which 16 and 17-year-olds are able to vote, but only 42 per cent of those in Pembrokeshire – a total of 1,328 – took up the opportunity and registered.

There are 61,290 people registered to vote in Preseli Pembrokeshire, which has 74 polling stations, and 61,067 in Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire, where there are 72 polling stations.

Between them, the venues will be manned by 450 people, with around 150 people involved in the counting of votes.