The 1995 Vale of Glamorgan Council election was held on 4 May 1995 to the new

Vale of Glamorgan Council The Vale of Glamorgan Council is the governing body for the Vale of Glamorgan, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. It was run by the Conservative Party after the 2008 United Kingdom local elections, taking over the council from no overall contr ...

unitary authority in

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 ...

, Wales. It took place on the same day as other council elections in Wales and England. These were the first elections since the re-organization of local government in Wales. Though 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 ...

had led the previous council, their representation was decimated at the 1995 election, with

Labour Labour or labor may refer to: * Childbirth, the delivery of a baby * Labour (human activity), or work ** Manual labour, physical work ** Wage labour, a socioeconomic relationship between a worker and an employer ** Organized labour and the labour ...

winning a majority. The next full elections took place in 1999.

Overview

These were the first elections held following local government reorganisation, which created new 'super authorities' and would lead to the abolition of

South Glamorgan County Council South Glamorgan County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir De Morgannwg) was the local government authority that administered the county of South Glamorgan, Wales from its creation in 1974 until its abolition in 1996. History Local government in England and ...

on 1 April 1996. Vale of Glamorgan councillors would act in a shadow capacity to the new

, until the following April. 47 council seats across 22 electoral wards were up for election. The ward boundaries for the new authority were based primarily on the previous

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 ...

, though there were some boundary changes.

Ewenny Ewenny ( cy, Ewenni) is a village and community (parish) on the River Ewenny in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Over the years the village has grown into the neighbouring village of Corntown to such an extent that there is no longer a clear boundar ...

transferred to the Vale, with the Llandow ward becoming Llandow/Ewenny. The St Brides Major and

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...

communities, was which was previously within the Borough of

Ogwr The Borough of Ogwr was one of six districts of Mid Glamorgan in Wales, which existed from 1974 to 1996. History It was formed under the Local Government Act 1972 from the urban districts of Bridgend, Maesteg, Ogmore and Garw and Porthcawl, a ...

, transferred to become a new Vale ward of St Brides Major, increasing the number of Vale councillors by one.

Election result

Twenty Conservative councillors had been elected at the 1991 election. At the 1995 election their number was reduced to six, in what the ''South Wales Echo'' described as an unanticipated "annihilation" at the hands of the Labour Party. All five seats in the previously 'safe' Conservative Alexandra ward were won by Labour, as were two of the three 'safe' Conservative seats in

Cowbridge Cowbridge ( cy, Y Bont-faen) is a market town in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales, approximately west of the centre of Cardiff. The Cowbridge with Llanblethian community and civil parish elect a town council. A Cowbridge electoral ward exists for e ...

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left to left-wing, Welsh nationalist political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from the United Kingdom. Plaid wa ...

also took seats from the Conservatives, increasing their numbers to five.

Ward Results

Contests took place in every ward,^(a) the first time this had happened in the Vale since 1973.

Alexandra (five seats)

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)

Llandow/Ewenny (one seat)

Llantwit Major (four seats)

Peterston-super-Ely (one seat)

Rhoose (two seats)

St Athan (one seat)

St Brides Major (one seat)

Stanwell (two seats)

Sully (one seat)

Wenvoe (one seat)

(a) Elections Centre source compares the percentage vote of the lead candidate for each party in the ward. It also indicates which candidates are female. ^o councillor elected to the Borough Council in 1991, standing for re-election
⁺ councillor elected to South Glamorgan County Council in 1993

References

{{United Kingdom local elections, 1995 Vale of Glamorgan Council elections