1919 Cardiff City Council election

The 1919 Cardiff City Council election was held on Saturday 1 November 1919 to elect councillors to Cardiff City Council in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales.

This was the first all-Cardiff elections for six years, due to the occurrence of 1914-18 Great War. ^[1] The previous elections were in November 1913 and the next annual all-Cardiff elections were to take place as normal on 1 November 1920.

The election saw control of the council transfer from the Conservative Party to the Liberals.

Background

Cardiff County Borough Council had been created in 1889. Cardiff became a city in 1905. Elections to the local authority were held annually, though not all council seats were included in each contest, because the three councillors in each ward stood down for election in three-yearly rotation.

The council consisted of 30 councillors who were elected by the town's voters and ten aldermen who were elected by the councillors. ^[2] Ten seats were up for election in November 1919.

Overview of the result

Contests took place in all ten of the Cardiff electoral wards in November 1919. In addition to candidates standing under the Conservative, Liberal and Labour tickets, there were men standing from discharged soldiers' organisations, as Ex-Service men candidates. ^[3] Press interest was also raised by a 'lady candidate' in the Roath ward, who was standing for the Women's Council. Mrs Janet Price Williams was unsuccessful in her bid to be Cardiff's first woman councillor. ^[4]

The election news was dominated by the successes of the Labour and Ex-Servicemen candidates in South Wales. Four Labour and three Ex-Servicemen won seats in Cardiff. ^{[4] [1]}

Council composition

The composition of the council immediately prior to these elections as Conservatives 20, Liberals 19, Independent 1. Following the November 1919 election the balance had changed, to 17 Liberal, 15 Conservative, 4 Labour, 3 Ex-Servicemen, 1 Independent. ^[5]

Ward results

Adamsdown

Adamsdown ward 1919 ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Donovan	1,597
	Liberal	William Jones *	889
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Canton

Canton ward 1919 ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ex-Servicemen	T. L. Francis	1,549
	Liberal	William Grey	1,407
	Railway Clerks	T. H. Spence	1,089
	Ex-Servicemen gain from Liberal		Swing

Cathays

Cathays ward 1919 ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	N. U. R.	A. E. Gough	2,066
	Liberal	W. R. Williams *	1,627
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Central

Central ward 1919

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ex-Servicemen	Capt. Thomas W. Langman	983
	Conservative	F. W. Blower *	444
	Ex-Servicemen gain from Conservative		Swing

Grangetown

Grangetown ward 1919 ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	N. U. R.	Ivor George Dudderidge	1,753
	Conservative	W. R. Smith *	1,219
	Liberal	A. B. Sessions	478
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Park

Park ward 1919 ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Robert Gerard Hill Snook *	1,087
	Allotment Federation	D. Skelly	1,027
	Independent	A. H. Teague	152
	Liberal hold		Swing

Riverside

Riverside ward 1919

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ex-Servicemen	R. C. Brittan	1,518
	Liberal	S. Instone	698
	Railway Clerks	William Alfred Plummer	674
	Ex-Servicemen gain from Liberal		Swing

Roath

Roath ward 1919 ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	G. Fred Evans	1,446
	Labour	John W. Pickles	1,159
	Conservative	William Henry Lever	880
	Women's Council	Mrs Janet Price Williams	835
	Liberal hold		Swing

South

South ward 1919

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Ash Thompson	784
	Seaman	Capt. Jaines Griffiths	229
	Conservative hold		Swing

Splott

Splott ward 1919 ^[4]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. B. Smith	1,964
	Liberal	T. Williams	1,550
	Conservative	George Francis Willett *	572
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

*= 'retiring' ward councillor for re-election

References

1. "26 Labour gains - Features of South Wales Elections". South Wales Weekly Post. 8 November 1919. p. 6 – via Welsh Newspapers Online.
2. B. W. Row, F. G. Squire (1974), Cardiff 1889-1974 - The Story of the County Borough, The Corporation of Cardiff, City Hall, Cardiff, pp. 14–16
3. "Municipal Contests". The Western Mail . 27 October 1919. p. 4.
4. "In South Wales - Labour Successes - Woman Candidate Defeated - Cardiff - Seven Seats Go To Labour And Ex-Service Men". The Western Mail. 3 November 1919. p. 7.
5. "Cardiff Council - Balance Of Power Transferred". South Wales Echo . 3 November 1919. p. 5.