The son of a sacked former Welsh Labour minister whose death sparked a by-election has won the vote and will succeed his father as an AM.
He said: "I'm looking forward to going down to Cardiff Bay and standing up for the people of Alyn and Deeside."
The seat in Flintshire became vacant after Carl Sargeant was found dead at home in Connah's Quay on 7 November.
Speaking on stage after the result was announced at Coleg Cambria in Connah's Quay, Jack Sargeant said:
"We still are devastated by dad's death.
"This is a by-election we shouldn't be fighting. There are questions still to be answered. But tonight is not the night for those questions to be answered.
"Despite the tragic circumstances, this is now an opportunity to start a movement to change politics. Let's go back to traditional Labour values and look after those who can't look after themselves.
He said he wanted "a kind message in life in general, not just in politics.
"Let's be kind to each other - a message I learned from my dad."
Previous result
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour | Jack Sargeant | 11,267 | 60.7 | +14.9 | |
| Conservative | Sarah Atherton | 4,722 | 25.4 | +4.4 | |
| Liberal Democrat | Donna Lalek | 1,176 | 6.3 | +1.8 | |
| Plaid Cymru | Carrie Harper | 1,059 | 5.7 | −3.3 | |
| Green | Duncan Rees | 353 | 1.9 | −0.5 | |
| Majority | 6,545 | 35.3 | +10.6 | ||
| Turnout | 29.1 | −5.9 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | +5.3 | |||
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ± | |
| Labour | Carl Sargeant | 9,922 | 45.7 | −6.9 | |
| Conservative | Mike Gibbs | 4,558 | 21.0 | −7.1 | |
| UKIP | Michelle Brown | 3,765 | 17.4 | +17.4 | |
| Plaid Cymru | Jacqueline Hurst | 1,944 | 9.0 | +1.4 | |
| Liberal Democrats | Peter Williams | 980 | 4.5 | −3.1 | |
| Green | Martin Bennewith | 527 | 2.4 | +2.4 | |
| Majority | 5,364 | 24.7 | +0.2 | ||
| Turnout | 35.0 | −2.0 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | +0.1 | |||
Speaking before the result was declared, Clwyd West Conservative AM Darren Millar said it would be "an endorsement of Jack and Carl Sargeant's family".
"I don't think in any way the Labour party or Carwyn Jones can claim credit for what I think will be a clear win for Jack Sargeant," he said.
Carl Sargeant was Alyn and Deeside AM from 2003 until his death.
Sacked as cabinet secretary for communities and children amid allegations of inappropriate behaviour towards women, he was found dead four days later having apparently taken his own life.
As Nation Cymru's Ifan Morgan Jones pointed out Yesterday
On paper there’s nothing particularly interesting about today’s Alyn and Deeside by-election.
It’s a solid Labour seat and they will win it comfortably. Their main challengers are the Conservatives but their campaign has been largely invisible.
The only party to make any noise have been Plaid Cymru, who have a decent candidate in Carrie Harper. But this is one of the (if not the) weakest seats in Wales for them, and if they increase their vote to double digits it will have been a good night.It must be disappointing for Plaid . It may not have been promising territory and unusual circumstances for them but to fall below the Liberal Democrats when they had a vigorous "send a message" campaign .
One thing I’ll be looking for tomorrow morning is where the UKIP vote goes. They came third in 2016 with 17.4% of the vote, but aren’t fielding a candidate this time.
But this election isn’t really a battle between Labour and Conservative or Labour and Plaid Cymru. It’s in fact another proxy war in the ongoing Corbynite v Centrist battle within the Labour Party.
To what extent the votes that did not go to Jack Sargeant, were affected by Brexit is unsure and where the majority of 3,765 Ukip votes from the previous election may have gone to the Tories . the Lib Dems may be seeing a slight indication that their Remain message may be at last hitting home in some quarters.
However Labour will find it hard to see this as an endorsement of the government in Cardiff Bay and First Minister Carwyn Jones who is under siege from within his Labour group may be not be exactly relishing adding to his rank's a new AM whose candidacy that seems to be based on revenge,
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