2012 Welsh local elections

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2012 Welsh local elections
Flag of Wales (1959-present).svg
  2008 3 May 2012 (2012-05-03) 2017  

All 1,235 seats to 21 of 22 Welsh councils [1]
 First partySecond party
  Carwyn Jones 2011 (cropped).jpg Leanne Wood 2011 (cropped).tif
Leader Carwyn Jones Leanne Wood
Party Labour Plaid Cymru
Leader since10 December 200916 March 2012
Last election340 seats, 27.0% [2] [3] 198 seats, 16.7%
Seats won577158
Seat changeIncrease2.svg237Decrease2.svg40
Popular vote304,466134,201
Popular vote (%)35.6%15.7%
Swing (pp)Increase2.svg8.6%Decrease2.svg1.0%

 Third partyFourth party
  Andrew R. T. Davies 2011 (cropped).jpg Kirsty Williams 2011 (cropped).jpg
Leader Andrew RT Davies Kirsty Williams
Party Conservative Liberal Democrats
Leader since14 July 20118 December 2008
Last election172 seats, 15.9%163 seats, 13.2%
Seats won10572
Seat changeDecrease2.svg67Decrease2.svg92
Popular vote108,58068,619
Popular vote (%)12.7%8.0%
Swing (pp)Decrease2.svg3.2%Decrease2.svg5.2%

2012 Welsh Local Elections - Ward and Council Control.svg
Colours denote the winning party with outright control (left), and the largest party by ward (right)
Key:

The 2012 Welsh local elections took place on 3 May 2012 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 2008.

Contents

The Labour Party made gains at the expense of the other three major parties and of independents. Labour won majority control of ten councils—up eight from the 2008 local elections—while two remained under the control of independents and nine councils had no overall control.

The Welsh Government announced that elections for Anglesey council would be postponed to May 2013. [4]

Results

PartyVotes [5]  %+/-Councils+/-Seats+/-
Labour 304,46635.6%Increase2.svg8.6%10Increase2.svg8577Increase2.svg237
Independent 201,11023.5%Increase2.svg1.5%2Decrease2.svg1286Decrease2.svg25
Plaid Cymru 134,20115.7%Decrease2.svg1.0%0Steady2.svg158Decrease2.svg40
Conservative 108,58012.7%Decrease2.svg3.2%0Decrease2.svg2105Decrease2.svg68
Liberal Democrats 68,6198.0%Decrease2.svg5.2%0Steady2.svg72Decrease2.svg92
Green 10,3101.2%Increase2.svg0.5%0Steady2.svg0Steady2.svg
UKIP 2,5520.3%Increase2.svg0.1%0Steady2.svg2Increase2.svg2
Other25,5423.0%Decrease2.svg1.3%0Steady2.svg25Decrease2.svg15
No overall control n/an/an/a9Decrease2.svg5n/an/a

For comparative purposes, the table above shows changes since 2008 excluding Anglesey, which was not up for election.

Councils

Council2008 result2012 resultDetails
Blaenau Gwent No overall control Labour gain Details
Bridgend No overall control Labour gain Details
Caerphilly No overall control Labour gain Details
Cardiff No overall control Labour gain Details
Carmarthenshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
Ceredigion No overall control No overall control hold Details
Conwy No overall control No overall control hold Details
Denbighshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
Flintshire No overall control No overall control hold Details
Gwynedd No overall control No overall control hold Details
Merthyr Tydfil Independent Labour gain Details
Monmouthshire Conservative No overall control gain Details
Neath Port Talbot Labour Labour hold Details
Newport No overall control Labour gain Details
Pembrokeshire Independent Independent hold Details
Powys Independent Independent hold Details
Rhondda Cynon Taff Labour Labour hold Details
Swansea No overall control Labour gain Details
Torfaen No overall control Labour gain Details
Vale of Glamorgan Conservative No overall control gain Details
Wrexham No overall control No overall control hold Details

Isle of Anglesey

Elections to the Isle of Anglesey County Council were postponed for a year, to May 2013, because of a review of electoral arrangements for the island. [4] The result of the postponed election saw the Independents lose their majority, with Plaid Cymru hoping to form a coalition with Labour. [6]

Opinion polling

Date(s)
conducted
Polling organisation/clientSample size Lab Con PC Lib Dem Others Lead
3 May 20122012 Welsh local elections853,59336.0%12.8%15.8%8.1%27.3%20.2%
12-16 Apr 2012 YouGov 103948%17%14%7%14%31%
1 May 2008 2008 Welsh local elections 950,21627.0%15.9%16.7%13.2%28.2%11.1%

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.

    In the context of local authorities in the United Kingdom, no overall control is a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats, comparably to a hung parliament. Of the 248 councils who had members up for election in the 2019 local elections, 73 resulted in a NOC administration. In the 2021 local elections, 14 resulted in no overall control. Outside of the UK, the term may be applied to other local authorities, such as the local councils of Malta and the General Assembly of Budapest in Hungary.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardiff Council</span> Local government of Cardiff, Wales

    Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the principal areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established in 1996 to replace the previous Cardiff City Council which had been a lower-tier authority within South Glamorgan. Cardiff Council consists of 79 councillors, representing 28 electoral wards.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Isle of Anglesey County Council</span> Local government authority in north-west Wales

    The Isle of Anglesey County Council is the local authority for the Isle of Anglesey, a principal area with county status in Wales. Since 2022 the council has 35 councillors who represent 11 multi-member electoral wards.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Gwynedd Council</span> Local government authority in north-west Wales

    Gwynedd Council, which calls itself by its Welsh name Cyngor Gwynedd, is the governing body for the county of Gwynedd, one of the principal areas of Wales. The council administrates internally using the Welsh language.

    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.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">Bridgend County Borough Council</span> Local government of Bridgend County Borough, Wales

    Bridgend County Borough Council is the governing body for Bridgend County Borough, one of the principal areas of Wales.

    The 2004 Monmouthshire County Council election was held on 10 June 2004 to Monmouthshire County Council in southeast Wales, on the same day of the European Elections. The election was preceded by the 1999 elections and followed by the 2008 elections.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 United Kingdom local elections</span> Elections that were held across England, Scotland and Wales

    The 2012 United Kingdom local elections were held across England, Scotland and Wales on 3 May 2012. Elections were held in 128 English local authorities, all 32 Scottish local authorities and 21 of the 22 Welsh unitary authorities, alongside three mayoral elections including the London mayoralty and the London Assembly. Referendums were also held in 11 English cities to determine whether or not to introduce directly elected mayors.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Ceredigion County Council election</span>

    The 2012 election to Ceredigion County Council was held on 3 May 2012 along with elections to 20 of the other 21 local authorities in Wales, community council elections in Wales and other elections elsewhere in the United Kingdom. It was followed by the 2017 election.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 United Kingdom local elections</span>

    The 2013 United Kingdom local elections took place on Thursday 2 May 2013. Elections were held in 35 English councils: all 27 non-metropolitan county councils and eight unitary authorities, and in one Welsh unitary authority. Direct mayoral elections took place in Doncaster and North Tyneside. These elections last took place on the 4 June 2009 at the same time as the 2009 European Parliament Elections, except for County Durham, Northumberland and the Anglesey where elections last took place in 2008.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Isle of Anglesey County Council election</span>

    An election to the Isle of Anglesey County Council was held as part of the 2013 United Kingdom local elections and took place on 2 May 2013. Anglesey was the only Welsh authority voting in 2013, the election having been postponed from 2012 by the Welsh Government, in order to allow an electoral review to take place. The next full council election took place on 4 May 2017.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2012 Pembrokeshire County Council election</span>

    The fifth election to Pembrokeshire County Council was held on 3 May 2012. It was preceded by the 2008 election and followed by the 2017 election. On the same day there were elections to 20 of the other 21 local authorities in Wales, community council elections in Wales and other elections elsewhere in the United Kingdom

    The fifth election to Carmarthenshire County Council was held on 1 May 2012. It was preceded by the 2008 election and was followed by the 2017 election. Plaid Cymru won 28 seats whilst Labour and the Independents won 23 each. The main feature of the election was a Labour recovery in the Llanelli area, and to some extent in the Gwendraeth and Ammanford area also, mainly at the expense of Independent candidates. Plaid Cymru lost ground to Labour in the Llanelli area but gained seats elsewhere, becoming the largest party. An Independent-Labour coalition was again formed, but with Labour as the leading partner. As a result, Kevin Madge replaced Meryl Gravell as the leader of the council.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 United Kingdom local elections</span>

    The 2017 United Kingdom local elections were held on Thursday 4 May 2017. Local elections were held across Great Britain, with elections to 35 English local authorities and all councils in Scotland and Wales.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2017 Welsh local elections</span>

    The 2017 Welsh local elections were held on 4 May 2017 to elect members of all 22 local authorities in Wales. This included the Isle of Anglesey, which was previously up for election in 2013 due to having its elections delayed for a year. Community council elections also took place on the same day. These local elections were held as part of the 2017 local elections in the United Kingdom. Apart from Anglesey, the last elections were held in 2012. Normally these elections take place every four years, but the 2017 elections were postponed for a year in order to avoid clashing with the 2016 Welsh Assembly election, which itself had been postponed by a year to avoid clashing with the 2015 general election.

    The 2008 Isle of Anglesey County Council election took place on Thursday 1 May 2008 to elect members of the Isle of Anglesey County Council in Wales. This was the same day as other United Kingdom local elections. The previous full council election was on 10 June 2004 and the next full council election was held on 2 May 2013.

    The 2004 Isle of Anglesey County Council election took place on Thursday 10 June 2004 to elect members of the Isle of Anglesey County Council in Wales. This was the same day as other United Kingdom local elections. The next full council election was on 1 May 2008.

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

    The 2022 Welsh local elections took place on 5 May 2022 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 2017.

    <span class="mw-page-title-main">2022 Wrexham County Borough Council election</span> Election to Wrexham County Borough Council

    The 2022 Wrexham County Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect 56 members to Wrexham County Borough Council, the principal council of Wrexham County Borough, Wales. On the same day, elections were held to the other 21 local authorities, and community councils in Wales as part of the 2022 Welsh local elections. The previous Wrexham County Borough all-council election took place in May 2017 and future elections will take place every five years, with the next scheduled for 2027.

    References

    1. "Local Election Results 2012" (PDF). National Assembly for Wales. May 2012. Retrieved 17 November 2016.
    2. "Local Elections Handbook 2008" (PDF). Colin Rallings and Michael Thrasher, Local Government Chronicle Elections Centre, University of Plymouth. 2008. Retrieved 15 December 2016.
    3. Note that these 2008 results exclude Anglesey for the purposes of comparison and thus do not match up exactly to the 2008 Wales-wide results
    4. 1 2 "Anglesey council election postponed for year to 2013". BBC News . 17 January 2012. Retrieved 7 February 2012. Local government elections on Anglesey have been delayed for a year. It will mean people on the island will elect their new council in May 2013, 12 months later than in the rest of Wales.
    5. "Year Tables | Elections Centre". electionscentre.co.uk. Archived from the original on 18 June 2016.
    6. "Anglesey election: Plaid to seek Labour council deal". BBC News. 3 May 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2022.