An election to the Carmarthenshire County Council was held in March 1946.[1] The 1940 and 1943 elections were postponed due to the Second World War, therefore the election was preceded by the 1937 election and followed, by the 1949 election.
The Independents retained their majority despite a strong Labour challenge, which saw an increase in the number of candidates contesting wards outside of the industrial south and east of the county. Retiring aldermen were also obliged to face the electorate before being re-elected to the bench.
Boundary changes
There were no boundary changes.
Candidates
There were 24 unopposed returns, including in Llandybie North and Pembrey, where the sitting Independent member retired and Labour was returned unopposed.[2] In the former seat, Gwilym R. Thomas regained the seat that he had lost in 1937. In total, six Independent and eighteen Labour candidates were returned unopposed. A further Independent candidate was returned at Myddfai after the sitting councillor, W.R. Clement, withdrew.[2]
A feature of the election was that the Council, at its most recent quarterly meeting, discussed a proposal that aldermen should, in future, only be selected from amongst elected members. Such motions had been proposed in the past by Labour members but, on this occasion, a number of Independents agreed.[3] retiring aldermen were obliged to seek re-election, and in many cases faced opposition from retiring councillors. This occurred in four wards, including at Cwmamman, where the chairman of the council, John Phillips (Ind) was opposed by retiring councillor David Davies (Lab). Two Independents who faced opposition from retiring aldermen, namely Capt. Ithel Thomas (Carmarthen) and Griffith Evans (Llanegwad) had spoken in favour of changing the system at the quarterly meeting.
Labour contested more seats than in previous elections, including all three seats in Carmarthen Borough. A solitary Plaid Cymru candidate, the party president, Gwynfor Evans, was nominated at Llangadog.
Contested elections
Many wards were keenly contested following the reinstatement of electoral politics after nine years. The clsest contest was at Llangadog where Thomas Jones, chairman of Llandeilo Rural District Council, defeated Gwynfor Evans, the president of Plaid Cymru by one vote after three recounts.[4]
In the Llanelli and Ammanford areas, Labour won ground, particularly in Llanelli town where three wards were gained from the Independents. In Ward Three, it was alleged that a Labour leaflet was distributed after dark the night before the election making personal allegationas against the defending Independent candidate, James Jones.[5] Labour also defeated the sitting Independent at Llangeler (a rural ward where the party had been successful once before largely due to the local woollen industry). Labour also won the St Ishmaels ward for the first time.
Another feature was that long-serving aldermen faced the electorate. The only Labour loss was at Cwmamman where Ald. John Phillips, a member of the Council since 1922 narrowly defeated the sitting Labour councillor David Davies. In Carmarthen Town, Ald. William Price Williams was defeated by the retiring Independent, as were Ald. Evan Harris at Llansawel and Ald. W.D. Davies at Llanegwad.
In addition to the 57 councillors the council consisted of 19 county aldermen. Aldermen were elected by the council, and served a six-year term. For the first time, all retiring aldermen were obligd to seek re-election before being re-elected as aldermen, At the annual meeting on 16 March, five Independent and four Labour aldermen were elected. Considerable debate took place about the method of selection, with the traditional method of selecting on the basis of seniority abandoned.[6] These included four former aldermen re-elected at the election, namely Joseph Howells (Lab, Hengoed), Edward James (Ind, Llandyssilio), D.B. Lewis (Lab, Tycroes) and John Phillips (Ind, Cwmamman).
The nine aldermen elected were:
Evan Davies (Ind, Llandeilo)
Frank Davies (Lab, Ammanford)
William Edwards (Ind, Llangunnor)
Gomer Evans (Lab, Trimsaran)
Joseph Howells (Lab, Hengoed)
D.B. Lewis (Lab, Tycroes)
Edward James (Ind, Llandyssilio)
John Phillips (Ind, Cwmamman)
J. Ithel P. Thomas (Ind, Carmarthen)
By-elections 1946-49
Following the decision that retiring aldermen could no longer be re-appointed withoit facing the electorate, nine by-elections were called. In six of these there were unopposed returns, with three former councillors who had styood down in favour of retiring aldermen being returned. David Davies, who had unsuccessfully challenged retiring alderman John Phillips at Cwmamman, was also returned without opposition.[7]
The three contested by-elections were all won by Independents.[8] The successful candidate at Llangunnor, W. Parry Thomas, had recently been discharged by Carmarthen magistrates after being accused of offences during the triennial election.
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