West Glamorgan County Council

West Glamorgan County Council Cyngor Sir Gorllewin Morgannwg
History
Founded	1 April 1974
Disbanded	31 March 1996
Preceded by	Swansea County Borough Council Glamorgan County Council
Succeeded by	Swansea Neath Port Talbot
Elections
First election	April 1973
Last election	May 1993
Next election	N/A
Meeting place
County Hall, Swansea

West Glamorgan County Council (Welsh : Cyngor Sir Gorllewin Morgannwg) was the county council of the county of West Glamorgan in south-west Wales, from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996.

History

The county was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the western part of the old administrative county of Glamorgan and the city of Swansea, which had been a county borough, independent from Glamorgan County Council. ^[1]

West Glamorgan County Council was abolished in 1996 under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, with the districts in the area being reorganised to become unitary authorities, taking over the functions previously performed by the county council. ^[2] Since 1 April 1996 the area has been divided into the two unitary authorities of Swansea and Neath Port Talbot. ^[3]

Political control

The first election to the county council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1974. Labour held a majority of the seats on the council throughout its existence. ^[4]

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1974–1996

Leadership

The leaders of the council were: ^[5]

Councillor	Party		From	To
Llewellyn Heycock		Labour	1 Apr 1974	1977
John Allison [6] [7]		Labour	1977	May 1989
Fred Kingdom [6] [8]		Labour	May 1989	May 1993
Tom Jones [8] [9]		Labour	May 1993	31 Mar 1996

Elections

The first South Glamorgan County Council elections took place in April 1973, when 70 councillors were elected. The number of councillors was reduced to 61 in 1989. The results of each election were as follows: ^[4]

Year	Seats	Labour	Conservative	Liberal Democrats [a]	Plaid Cymru	Others	Notes
1973	70	51	9	2	2	6
1977	70	41	10	-	3	16
1981	70	56	10	-	-	4
1985	70	54	7	5	0	4
1989	61	44	6	2	1	8	New division boundaries. [10]
1993	61	47	3	3	1	7

1. Includes Liberals and SDP pre-1988

Premises

The county council was initially based at the Guildhall in Swansea but moved to County Hall in Swansea in 1982. ^{[11] [12]}

References

1. "Swansea CB". Vision of Britain. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
2. "Local Government (Wales) Act 1994", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1994 c. 19, retrieved 27 October 2022
3. "West Glamorgan County Council records". Archives Hub. Retrieved 18 October 2019.
4. "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 21 May 2025. (Put "West Glamorgan" in search box to see specific results.)
5. Spinks, Gary (9 February 1996). "Plaque honours council leaders". South Wales Daily Post. Swansea. p. 12. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
6. "New West Glam leader". South Wales Daily Post. Swansea. 24 May 1989. p. 29. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
7. "Former Swansea council leader John Allison dies". Wales Online. 30 May 2012. Retrieved 27 October 2022.
8. "Tom is county leader". Neath Guardian. 20 May 1993. p. 11. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
9. "Tribute to colleagues". South Wales Daily Post. 4 April 1996. p. 11. Retrieved 31 July 2025.
10. "The County of West Glamorgan (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1989", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1989/127, retrieved 27 October 2022
11. Whitaker's Almanack 1979, p. 677
12. Whitaker's Almanack 1983, p. 677