1971 Cardiff City Council election

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The 1971 Cardiff City Council election was held on Thursday 13 May 1971 to elect councillors to Cardiff City Council in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. It took place on the same day as several other county borough elections in Wales and England.

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The previous elections to this one were in May 1970 and the next elections would be in May 1972. The 1971 election would be the penultimate all-Cardiff election before the dissolution of the unitary authority and the creation of the new second-tier district authority of Cardiff City Council in 1974.

The election saw the Labour Party taking a significant number of seats back from the Conservatives.

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 each of the three councillors in each ward stood down for election in rotation. [1] The councillors elected in 1971 would serve for less than three years, before the dissolution of the present Council in April 1974.

The local government elections took place in the context of Edward Heath's new Conservative UK government (which had been elected only 11 months previously) and rising prices and unemployment. [2]

Overview of the result

Nineteen seats in 19 electoral wards were up for election in May 1971. In what was described as a "night of disaster for the Conservatives" the Labour Party more than recovered the position they had been in Cardiff prior to the 1967 elections. [2] Labour gained a total of 11 seats, including one in the previous Tory stronghold of Whitchurch. [3] A number of former Cardiff Labour councillors won their seats back, including Eva Davies, Emyr Currie-Jones, Philip Dunleavy, Harold Bartlett and Dengar Evans. [3]

Council composition

Following the May 1970 election the balance on the city council was 57 Conservatives, 18 Labour and one Plaid Cymru. [4] With 11 out of 19 seats changing hands in May 1971, Cardiff Labour chairman Cllr Jack Brooks called for the other two thirds of Cardiff seats to be put up for election, saying it was unfair that the Conservatives should remain in control. [3]

Ward results

Contests took place in every ward at this election. [5]

Adamsdown

Adamsdown ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Eva Davies 1,706
Conservative Christopher Matthew Peterson *663
Liberal Henry Charles Edwards153
Majority1,043
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Canton

Canton ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Dengar Robinson Evans 1,807
Conservative Anthea Jean Thomas *1,294
Liberal Richard Michael James205
Majority513
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Cathays

Cathays ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Emyr Currie-Jones 2,730
Conservative Hubert George Nunn *1,726
Majority1,004
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Central

Central ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Gordon William Fish 1,563
Conservative William Lawford Gower *1,118
Majority445
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Ely

Ely ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Albert William Buttle * 3,376
Conservative Leslie Albert Roderick770
Plaid Cymru Charles Stephen Craves598
Majority2,606
Labour hold Swing

Gabalfa

Gabalfa ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Arthur William George Brown 2,290
Conservative Bernard Hugh Rees1,243
Independent Labour Gertrude Louise Baines688
Liberal Alan Edward Hiscock170
Majority1,047
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Grangetown

Grangetown ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Harold George Bartlett 1,750
Conservative Tim Cronin *987
Plaid Cymru Peter Staveley McMullen324
Majority763
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Llanishen

Llanishen ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Henry Peter Farthing * 2,447
Labour Leslie Bernard Goodrum2,108
Liberal Olive Mary Langdon905
Majority339
Conservative hold Swing

Llandaff

Llandaff ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Beti Jones * 2,128
Labour Lionel John James813
Plaid Cymru Gwen Humphreys724
Majority1,315
Conservative hold Swing

Penylan

Penylan ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative William Vaughan Barraby 3,674
Labour George Ewart Baylis1,386
Liberal John Evan Lee536
Majority2,288
Conservative hold Swing

Plasmawr

Plasmawr ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Albert Arthur Huish 2,909
Plaid Cymru David Eurig Davies1,329
Conservative Doreen Muriel Norman *1,032
Majority1,580
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Plasnewydd

Plasnewydd ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Tony Lewis * 1,554
Labour Michael John Parry1,429
Plaid Cymru Philip Brian Richards312
Liberal Elizabeth Davina Forrest158
Majority125
Conservative hold Swing

Rhiwbina

Rhiwbina ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative William Davies * 2,269
Labour William Michael Walker1,155
Plaid Cymru Gwynfor Hughes676
Majority1,114
Conservative hold Swing

Riverside

Riverside ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Joseph Donovan * 1,271
Labour Thomas Clifford Lee1,019
Plaid Cymru Roy Adam Lee326
Majority252
Conservative hold Swing

Roath

Roath ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Ian Hermer * 2,257
Labour John Scrivens945
Majority1,312
Conservative hold Swing

Rumney

Rumney ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour David Myfr Evans 3,895
Conservative Samuel Parker *1,593
Plaid Cymru Michael Coughlin433
Majority2,302
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

South

South ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Philip Dunleavy 2,165
Conservative Stefan Terlezki *1,198
Majority167
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Splott

Splott ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour John Edward Brooks 2,600
Conservative Robert Edward Glover1,342
Communist Richard Horatio Spencer59
Majority258
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Whitchurch

Whitchurch ward 1971
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Henry Gordon Howell 2,100
Conservative Victor Riley2,024
Liberal Alexander Thomas Reeves316
Plaid Cymru David Gareth Williams247
Majority76
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

*= 'retiring' ward councillor for re-election

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "All eyes on Whitchutch and Rhiwbina - newcomers hold the key to power". South Wales Echo. 9 May 1967. p. 6. For to bring the election procedure into line with that in the city's other wards, whoever tops the poll in the two new wards goes to City Hall for a full three-year term. The runners-up will serve for two years, while those in third place ...must face the electorate again in 12 months time... In this way the added areas will in future elect one member every year from 1968.
  2. 1 2 Gordon Jackson (14 May 1971). "Labour joy as Tories tumble". South Wales Echo . p. 1.
  3. 1 2 3 "Labour landslide turns Town Hall tables". South Wales Echo. 14 May 1971. p. 13.
  4. ↑ "Lady Mayoress loses city council seat to Labour". The Western Mail . 8 May 1970. p. 4.
  5. ↑ "All the S. Wales results". South Wales Echo. 14 May 1971. p. 13.
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