2022 Cardiff Council Election

The 2022 Cardiff Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect 79 members to Cardiff Council. On the same day, elections were held to the other 21 local authorities and to community councils in Wales as part of the 2022 Welsh local elections. The previous Cardiff all-council election took place in May 2017 and future elections will take place every five years.

Background

Council elections in Wales were originally scheduled for May 2021, but were delayed to avoid a conflict with the 2021 Senedd election. The frequency of the elections was also increased from 4 years to five years to avoid future clashes, meaning (after 2022) the next council election is expected in 2027.

The number of councillors is to be increased from 75 to 79 at the 2022 election, with a number of ward changes to ensure better electoral parity.

The Labour group have been in control of the council since 2012.

The Welsh Cladiators, a residents group campaigning against fire defective buildings, hoped to stand in the Butetown ward.

A by-election was held in the Heath ward in November 2021—historically a ward split evenly between the main parties and seen as a possible indicator of the vote at the all-council election—which was won by the Labour Party with 47% of the vote. The Plaid joint candidate coming fourth with 7%.

Common Ground Alliance

In September 2021 Plaid Cymru and the Green Party announced an electoral pact, which would see them fielding a joint slate of candidates in Cardiff. Neither party had sitting councillors—Plaid Cymru's councillors elected in 2017 had been either expelled or had quit the party. In this election, the two parties fielded a common slate of candidates, known as the Common Ground Alliance. Of the 70 Common Ground Alliance candidates, 46 were from Plaid Cymru with the remaining 24 from the Green Party.

Ward changes

In October 2021 Cardiff Council accepted a number of ward change proposals made by the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales, with only slight modification. These were to take effect from the 2022 council election. The changes gave a better parity of representation. Twenty-one wards remained unchanged. Of the other wards:
* Butetown would have an increase from 1 to 3 councillors.
* Creigiau/St Fagans merges with the Pentyrch ward and is renamed "Pentyrch and St Fagans", with a total increase in councillors from 2 to 3.
* Grangetown would get an increase from 3 to 4 councillors.
* Lisvane renamed "Lisvane and Thornhill", with the addition of Thornhill from the neighbouring Llanishen ward and an increase from 1 to 3 councillors.
* Llanishen sees a decrease in councillors, from 4 to 2, following the transfer of Thornhill to Lisvane.
* Pentwyn sees a decrease in councillors, from 4 to 3.
* Pontprennau/Old St Mellons renamed "Pontprennau and Old St Mellons".
* Radyr would have an increase from 1 to 2 councillors.

Candidates by party

A total of 358 candidates were standing for the 79 seats on the council (an average of 4.5 candidates per seat). Eleven parties or alliances are standing candidates in this election, plus two independent candidates.

Both the Labour and the Conservatives are standing the full 79 candidates. Both the Common Ground Alliance and the Liberal Democrats are standing in all 28 wards, while Propel is standing in 21 wards (75%) and the Trade Union and Socialist Coalition has candidates in 15 wards (54%).

Overview of results

Ward results

* = sitting councillor in this ward prior to election

Adamsdown (2 seats)

Butetown (3 seats)

Caerau (2 seats)

Canton (3 seats)

Cathays (4 seats)

Cyncoed (3 seats)

Ely (3 seats)

Fairwater (3 seats)

Sitting councillors, McEvoy, Ford and Parry, were elected for Plaid Cymru at the 2017 election. McEvoy was expelled, Ford and Parry later resigned and sat as Independents. McEvoy later founded a new party, Propel.

In this election Labour gained two seats from Plaid Cymru, and McEvoy retained his seat representing a gain for Propel from Plaid Cymru.

Gabalfa (2 seats)

S

Grangetown (4 seats)

Heath (3 seats)

Sitting councillor, Julie Sangani, had been elected at a by-election in November 2021, following the retirement of long standing Independent councillor Finella Bowden.

Lisvane and Thornhill (3 seats)

Candidates John Lancaster and Sian-Elin Melbourne were councillors for the Llanishen ward prior to this election.

Llandaff (2 seats)

Llandaff North (2 seats)

Llanishen (2 seats)

Boundary changes resulted in the community of Thornhill being moved out of the ward at this election (merging with Lisvane to form the new Lisvane and Thornhill ward). Prior to the election all seats were held by Conservative councillors.

Llanrumney (3 seats)

Pentwyn (3 seats)

Pentyrch and St Fagans (3 seats)

Common Ground candidate Andrea Gibson was elected as a Plaid Cymru councillor for Ely in a by-election in February 2019. Gibson left Plaid Cymru in October 2019 and later sat as an independent.

This ward was formed by a merger of Pentyrch and Creigiau/St Fagans, which both elected one Conservative councillor each in 2017. In this election, Pentyrch and St Fagans elected three councillors (a net increase of one).

Penylan (3 seats)

Plasnewydd (4 seats)

Pontprennau and Old St Mellons (2 seats)

Radyr (2 seats)

Rhiwbina (3 seats)

Riverside (3 seats)

Rumney (2 seats)

Splott (3 seats)

Trowbridge (3 seats)

Whitchurch and Tongwynlais (4 seats)

By-elections between 2022 and 2027

None as of 18/12/22

See also

* List of electoral wards in Cardiff

References

External links

Party manifestos

''Manifesto for Cardiff 2022'', Common Ground Alliance

''Putting Cardiff First: A Promise of Action'', Conservative Party

''Stronger Fairer Greener - Welsh Labour's Manifesto for Cardiff 2022'', Labour Party

''Manifesto 2022 - Greener, fairer, safer Cardiff'', Liberal Democrats

''Local Contract with Wales 2022'', Propel

{{2022 United Kingdom local elections

Cardiff
Cardiff Council elections
2020s in Cardiff