Overview of governance in Cardiff, Wales
Politics of Cardiff
refers to the political representation of the city of
Cardiff
, capital of
Wales
. Cardiff is represented politically at a local, Wales and
United Kingdom
level and previously at the
European
level.
Political representation
[
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]
Cardiff is covered by four parliamentary constituencies which form the electoral basis for elections to the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
and the
Senedd (Welsh Parliament)
.
The constituencies and their current representatives in the
House of Commons
are:
Famous politicians who have represented Cardiff constituencies include
James Callaghan
, a former
Prime Minister
who held his constituency seat for over forty years.
Rhodri Morgan
a former
First Minister
, was previously MP for
Cardiff West
, as had
George Thomas, 1st Viscount Tonypandy
, who served as
Speaker of the House of Commons
between 1976 and 1983.
Senedd
[
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]
The
Senedd
(Welsh Parliament;
Welsh
:
Senedd Cymru
; formerly known as the National Assembly for Wales) has been based in
Cardiff Bay
since its formation in 1999. The building which is now known as the
Senedd building
was opened on 1 March 2006, by
the Queen
. The executive and civil servants of the
Welsh Government
are based in Cardiff's
Cathays Park
while the Members of the Senedd, the Senedd Parliamentary Service and Ministerial support staff are based in Cardiff Bay. Cardiff elects four constituency Members of the Senedd (MSs) to the Welsh Parliament, with the individual constituencies for the Welsh Parliament being the same as for the UK Parliament. All of the city's residents have an extra vote for the
South Wales Central
region which increases proportionality to the Welsh Parliament. The most recent Welsh Parliament elections were held on 3 May 2016.
As with the United Kingdom Parliament, Cardiff is split into four constituencies:
The
South Wales Central
Senedd region elects four Members of the Senedd to serve the area covered by Cardiff,
Rhondda-Cynon-Taf
and the
Vale of Glamorgan
local authority areas. These are currently:
Local government
[
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]
Cardiff had an elected town council from 1836. In 1889 Cardiff became a county borough, represented by 40 elected councillors and aldermen on Cardiff County Borough Council
[5]
(commonly referred to as Cardiff City Council after the town gained city status in 1905). Representation increased to 52 after 1922.
[6]
Between 1974 and 1996 the council became a second tier district council of
South Glamorgan
. Cardiff voters also elected councillors to
South Glamorgan County Council
.
Since local government reorganisation in 1996, Cardiff has been governed by the City and County Council of Cardiff, which is based at
County Hall
in Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff Bay. Voters elect 75 councillors every four years, with the next elections due to be held in 2016.
The council was run by a Labour majority administration between 1995 and 2004. The Liberal Democrats ran a minority administration from 2004-2008. In 2012 Labour regained control of the council.
As of
2019
,
Labour
have 38 councillors, the
Liberal Democrats
have 11, the
Conservatives
have 21, Cardiff West Independents have 4, with 1 from Heath & Birchgrove Independents. The Leader of the Council, Cllr Huw Thomas, is from the
Labour Party
.
There are currently six
community Councils
in Cardiff:
- Lisvane (10 seats)
[7]
- Old St. Mellons (9 seats)
[8]
- Pentyrch (13 seats)
[9]
- Radyr & Morganstown (13 seats)
[10]
- Tongwynlais (9 seats)
[11]
- St. Fagans (9 seats)
[12]
Elections are held every five years. The last contested elections would have been held in May 2017, had there been more candidates than available seats. For example, only six candidates stood in St Fagans for nine seats,
[13]
whilst in Radyr & Morganstown eight candidates stood for thirteen seats.
[14]
In Pentyrch, ten candidates (6 Ind, 3 Lab, 1 Plaid Cymru) put themselves forward for thirteen seats, so all were elected unopposed.
[15]
Community Councils have the ability to co-opt new Councillors between elections to fill vacancies if not enough candidates stand for election. Alternatively, a By-election will be called if ten or more registered electors within the relevant ward call for one after a Notice of Casual Vacancy is published.
[16]
In March 2020, there were twelve Co-opted Community Councillors in Cardiff (3 on Lisvane, 4 on Pentyrch, 3 on St Fagans, 1 on Tongwynlais and 1 on Radyr & Morganstown) as well as three vacant seats (2 on Old St Mellons and 1 on Pentyrch) on the six Council websites.
See also
[
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]
References
[
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]
- ^
"Jo Stevens MP, Cardiff Central"
. Retrieved
11 September
2015
.
- ^
"Anna McMorrin MP, Cardiff North"
. Retrieved
9 June
2017
.
- ^
"Stephen Doughty MP"
. TheyWorkForYou.com
. Retrieved
6 February
2013
.
- ^
"Kevin Brennan MP"
. TheyWorkForYou.com
. Retrieved
17 October
2008
.
- ^
B. W. Row, F. G. Squire (1974),
Cardiff 1889-1974 - The Story of the County Borough
, The Corporation of Cardiff, City Hall, Cardiff, p. 16
- ^
B. W. Row, F. G. Squire (1974),
Cardiff 1889-1974 - The Story of the County Borough
, The Corporation of Cardiff, City Hall, Cardiff, p. 42
- ^
"Your Local Councillors"
.
Lisvane
Community Council
. Retrieved
26 March
2020
.
- ^
"Councillors"
.
Old St Mellons
Community Council
. Retrieved
26 March
2020
.
- ^
"Councillors"
.
Pentyrch
Community Council
. Retrieved
26 March
2020
.
- ^
"Councillors and staff"
.
Radyr
&
Morganstown
Community Council
. Retrieved
26 March
2020
.
- ^
"Community Councillors"
.
Tongwynlais
Community Council
. Retrieved
26 March
2020
.
- ^
"Your Community Councillors"
.
St Fagans
Community Council
. Retrieved
26 March
2020
.
- ^
"Your Community Councillors"
.
St Fagans
Community Council
. Retrieved
28 March
2020
.
- ^
"Community Council vacancies"
.
Radyr
&
Morganstown
Community Council. Archived from
the original
on 8 June 2017
. Retrieved
28 March
2020
.
- ^
"Elections"
.
Pentyrch
Community Council
. Retrieved
28 March
2020
.
- ^
"By-elections and Casual Vacancies"
.
Vale of Glamorgan Council
. Retrieved
28 March
2020
.
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