The son of the senior Labour politician Carl Sargeant, who apparently took his own life after facing allegations of harassment against women, will take up his father’s seat at the Welsh assembly after winning the byelection triggered by the tragedy.

Jack Sargeant was elected on Wednesday as assembly member for Alyn and Deeside, the largely industrial constituency in north Wales his father had held since 2003. He won 11,267 votes on a 34.6% turnout with the Conservative candidate, Sarah Atherton, coming second with 4,722 votes. The Lib Dems’ Donna Lalek came third with 1,176 votes. There was 5.2% swing from the Conservatives to Labour.

Sargeant increased Labour’s vote share by nearly 15 percentage points on that achieved by his late father at the 2016 assembly election - up from 45.73% to 60.65%.

His position at the assembly will be awkward at the very least for the Welsh Labour first minister, Carwyn Jones, who faces an inquiry into how he handled the sacking of Carl Sargeant from his government four days before he was found hanged at the family home in the constituency.

In his acceptance speech Sargeant said he was proud that voters had trusted him to carry on the work his father had begun.

But he said: “This is a by-election we shouldn’t be fighting in. There are questions still to be answered and there are inquires under way. Tonight is not the night for those questions to be answered. That will be done in due course.”

Sargeant thanked those who had supported him and his family. “I want to say a big thank you to everyone in this room, everyone across Wales and across the world who stood by my family during the toughest time of our lives. It means so much to me. This special community has helped all of us. I don’t think we would get that anywhere else. We should all be proud of our community spirit. It’s been amazing.

“We still are all devastated by dad’s death, not just the family. He was loved by so many people and he loved you all, Our grief will continue.”

Sargeant called for a “kinder way”. He explained: “Despite the tragic circumstances, this is an opportunity for the people of Alyn and Deeside, our community, to start a movement in politics and in our general outlook in life, to go back to the traditional Labour values, look after each other especially those who can’t look after themselves.

“Let’s go back to those values and push on. Let’s be kind to each other. That’s the lesson I learned from my dad and in the primary school up the road.”

Asked later what his message for the first minister was, he replied only: “There are inquiries in place.”

Aged only 23, Sargeant becomes the youngest member of the Welsh assembly by a decade and is determined to speak up for younger people struggling to make their way.

Ken Skates, the Welsh cabinet secretary for economy and transport, said Sargeant’s youth would be a bonus for the assembly. “He’s going to bring unique attributes to the job,” he said.

On how Sargeant would get on with the first minister, Skates said: “I think he recognises that in order to get the best for the people of Alyn and Deeside, we’ll be working as a strong Labour team.”

In November Carl Sargeant was discovered dead at the family home in Connah’s Quay after being sacked as a Welsh government minister following allegations he had harassed women. Sargeant denied any wrongdoing and details of the allegations have not emerged.

Those close to Sargeant are furious at how Jones allegedly handled his sacking, claiming he had died having no idea what was being claimed and felt left in limbo by senior members of the party he loved.

As well as the inquiry into how he handled the sacking, the first minister faces a second investigation into claims of bullying.

Though Jones has repeatedly described Carl Sargeant as a friend, he stayed away from his funeral after the family made clear he was not welcome.

Jack Sargeant decided to stand in the byelection with the backing of his mother, Bernie, and sister Lucy. When he was selected as Labour’s candidate, Sargeant, whose background is in engineering, said he would be a powerful voice for local people – but would also be seeking justice for his father and seeking the truth about the chain of events that led to his death.



While the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, his deputy, Tom Watson, and a string of Welsh ministers have visited the constituency during the campaign, Jones has not been visible.

Asked by the Guardian last month why Jones had not been there, Sargeant said: “It’s a local campaign. We’re going to run it locally and get the local teams out as we always have here. I think that’s the best way to win this campaign. Get the local people out on the doorstep and win a local election.”

However, as well as Corbyn and Watson, activists from more than 30 constituencies across Wales and England lent a hand.

Jack Sargeant first went out on the campaign trail with his father as a boy. During his own campaign he visited touchstone places for his father, including the Nomads football club, which Carl loved, and the Shotton steelworks.

On the eve of polling day, Jack said: “We’ve fought this byelection from the start as an opportunity to lead the way in encouraging a kinder, more compassionate politics and society.”