The 1983 Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council election was held on Thursday 5 May 1983 to the

Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council The Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council was the local authority for the Vale of Glamorgan in South Glamorgan, Wales, created in 1974 and reconstituted in 1996 as the Vale of Glamorgan Council unitary authority. It was a second tier district authority ...

South Glamorgan , Government= South Glamorgan County Council , Status= Non-metropolitan county (1974–1996) Preserved county (1996–) , Start= 1974 , End= 1996 , Arms= , HQ= ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. It took place on the same day as other district council elections in Wales and

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. The

Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...

won a healthy majority on the council. The previous Vale of Glamorgan Council election took place in 1979 and the next full elections took place in 1987.

Ward changes

A number of ward changes came into effect at this election, particularly in the town of

Penarth Penarth (, ) is a town and Community (Wales), community in the Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg), Wales, exactly south of Cardiff city centre on the west shore of the Severn Estuary at the southern end of Cardiff Bay. Penarth is a weal ...

, which was divided into three new wards,

Alexandra Alexandra () is the feminine form of the given name Alexander (, ). Etymologically, the name is a compound of the Greek verb (; meaning 'to defend') and (; GEN , ; meaning 'man'). Thus it may be roughly translated as "defender of man" or "p ...

, Cornerswell and

Stanwell Stanwell is a village close to two of the three main towns in the Borough of Spelthorne, Surrey, about west of central London. A small corner of its land is vital industrial land serving Heathrow Airport – most of the rest is residential ...

. The overall number of councillors elected reduced to 46.

Overview

The Conservatives increased their majority at this election. After the results of the Alexandra ward were declared the following day, they held 32 of the 46 seats. Despite taking control of

Penarth Town Council Penarth Town Council is an elected community council serving the town of Penarth in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Background Penarth has had a council of one form or another since the 1890s. Penarth Town Council came into existence in 1974 at t ...

the previous year, the SDP-Liberal Alliance had a very disappointing result, failing to win a seat. They had hoped to win seats in Barry, where Labour's Allan Maidment and Hector Gosling had defected to the Alliance. In the Llandough ward, the sitting Conservative Mayor of the Vale of Glamorgan, Susan Thomas, lost her seat, though by only three votes.

Ward Results

Contests took place in 19 of the 21 wards.^(a)^(b)

Alexandra (five seats)

Counting was not completed overnight and had to be resumed the following day.

Baruc (two seats)

Buttrills (two seats)

Cadoc (three seats)

Castleland (two seats)

Cornerswell (two seats)

Court (two seats)

Cowbridge (three seats)

Dinas Powys (four seats)

Dyfan (two seats)

Gibbonsdown (two seats)

Illtyd (three seats)

Llandough (one seat)

Mayor of the Vale of Glamorgan, Susan Thomas, lost by only three votes after three recounts.

Llandow (one seat)

Llantwit Major (four seats)

Peterston-super-Ely (one seat)

Rhoose (two seats)

St Athan (one seat)

Stanwell (two seats)

Sully (one seat)

Wenvoe (one seat)

(a) Elections Centre source also compares the percentage vote of the lead candidate for each party in the ward. It indicates (in some wards) which candidates are female.
(b) ''South Wales Echo'' source also indicates existing councillors "but, because of boundary changes, not necessarily representing the ward being contested". It gives middle initials. It lists the 'green' candidates as "Ecology" and the 'Liberal/SDP' as "Alliance". * existing councillor, standing for re-election

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 1983 Vale of Glamorgan Council elections

Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan ( cy, Bro Morgannwg ), often referred to as The Vale, is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It borders Bridgend County Borough to the west, Cardiff to the east, Rhondda Cynon Taf to the north, and the Bristol C ...