2008 Welsh local elections

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2008 Welsh local elections
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg
  2004 1 May 2008 (2008-05-01) 2012  

All 1,270 seats to 22 Welsh councils [1]
 First partySecond party
  Cropped image of Rhodri Morgan at The Celebration of the Mace 5840623762 b47ba98d73 o.jpg Ieuan Wyn Jones 2011 (cropped).jpg
Leader Rhodri Morgan Ieuan Wyn Jones
Party Labour Plaid Cymru
Leader since9 February 200016 March 2000
Last election479 seats, 30.6% [1] 175 seats, 16.4%
Seats won345206
Seat changeDecrease2.svg134Increase2.svg31
Popular vote253,029159,847
Popular vote (%)26.6%16.8%
Swing (pp)Decrease2.svg4.0%Increase2.svg0.4%

 Third partyFourth party
  Nick-bourne-580x358 (cropped).png Michael German.jpg
Leader Nick Bourne Michael German
Party Conservative Liberal Democrats
Leader sinceAugust 1999November 2007
Last election107 seats, 11.0%146 seats, 13.9%
Seats won174165
Seat changeIncrease2.svg67Increase2.svg19
Popular vote148,708123,175
Popular vote (%)15.6%13.0%
Swing (pp)Increase2.svg4.6%Decrease2.svg0.9%

2008 Welsh Local Elections - Ward and Council Control.svg
Colours denote the winning party with outright control (left), and the largest party by ward (right)

The 2008 Welsh local elections took place on 1 May 2008 to elect members of all twenty-two local authorities in Wales. They were held alongside other local elections in the United Kingdom. The previous elections were held in 2004.

Contents

Results

PartyVotes [1]  %+/-Councils [2] +/-Seats+/-
Labour 253,02926.6%Decrease2.svg4.0%2Decrease2.svg 6345Decrease2.svg134
Independent 217,36922.9%Increase2.svg0.3%4Increase2.svg1334Increase2.svg13
Plaid Cymru 159,84716.8%Increase2.svg0.4%0Decrease2.svg 1206Increase2.svg31
Conservative 148,70815.6%Increase2.svg4.6%2Increase2.svg 1174Increase2.svg67
Liberal Democrats 123,17513.0%Decrease2.svg0.9%0Steady2.svg165Increase2.svg19
Blaenau Gwent PV 9,1871.0%Increase2.svg1.0%0Steady2.svg8Increase2.svg 8
Llais Gwynedd 7,1190.7%Increase2.svg0.7%0Steady2.svg13Increase2.svg13
Green 6,5680.7%Decrease2.svg0.5%0Steady2.svg0Steady2.svg
Other25,2142.7%Decrease2.svg 1.6%0Steady2.svg19Decrease2.svg17
No overall control n/an/an/a14Increase2.svg 5n/an/a

Councils

In all 22 Welsh councils the whole of the council was up for election.

CouncilPrevious controlResultDetails
Blaenau Gwent Labour No overall control gain
Bridgend No overall control No overall control hold
Caerphilly Labour No overall control gain
Cardiff No overall control No overall control hold Details
Carmarthenshire No overall control No overall control hold
Ceredigion No overall control No overall control hold Details
Conwy No overall control No overall control hold
Denbighshire No overall control No overall control hold
Flintshire Labour No overall control gain
Gwynedd Plaid Cymru No overall control gain
Isle of Anglesey Independent Independent hold
Merthyr Tydfil Labour Independent gain
Monmouthshire Conservative Conservative hold Details
Neath Port Talbot Labour Labour hold
Newport Labour No overall control gain
Pembrokeshire Independent Independent hold
Powys Independent Independent hold
Rhondda Cynon Taff Labour Labour hold
Swansea No overall control No overall control hold
Torfaen Labour No overall control gain
Vale of Glamorgan No overall control Conservative gain
Wrexham No overall control No overall control hold

Notes

    Related Research Articles

    Plaid Cymru is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. It campaigns on a platform of social democracy and civic nationalism. The party is a supporter of the European Union and is a member of the European Free Alliance (EFA). The party holds 4 of 32 Welsh seats in the UK Parliament, 12 of 60 seats in the Senedd, and 202 of 1,231 principal local authority councillors. Plaid was formed in 1925 under the name Plaid Genedlaethol Cymru and Gwynfor Evans won the first Westminster seat for the party at the 1966 Carmarthen by-election.

    Local government in Wales is primarily undertaken by the twenty-two principal councils. The councils are unitary authorities, meaning they are responsible for providing local government services within their principal area, including education, social work, environmental protection, and most highway maintenance. The principal areas are divided into communities, most of which have an elected community council. The services provided by community councils vary, but they will typically maintain public spaces and facilities. Local councils in Wales are elected; the most recent local elections in Wales took place in 2022, and the next are due to take place in 2027.

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Denbighshire County Council</span> Local government authority in central north Wales

    Denbighshire County Council is the unitary local authority for the county of Denbighshire, one of the principal areas of Wales. The council is based at County Hall in Ruthin.

    There are four types of elections in Wales: elections to the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, elections to the devolved Senedd, local elections to community councils and the 22 principal areas, and the police and crime commissioner elections. In addition there are by-elections for each aforementioned election. Elections are held on Election Day, which is conventionally a Thursday. Three of these four types of elections are held after fixed periods; the exception is UK general elections, the timing of which is at the discretion of the prime minister of the United Kingdom. Senedd elections may be postponed to avoid elections to the UK parliament and Senedd coinciding with each other.

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    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Welsh local elections</span>

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    References

    1. 1 2 3 Rallings, Colin; Thrasher, Michael (2008). "Local Elections Handbook 2008" (PDF). Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre, University of Plymouth. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
    2. Members’ Research Service (June 2008). "Local Election Results 2008 (updated)" (PDF). National Assembly for Wales . Archived (PDF) from the original on 3 June 2021. Retrieved 3 June 2021.