The 2022 Wrexham County Borough Council election took place on 5 May 2022 to elect 56 members to Wrexham County Borough Council, the

principal council A Principal council is a local government authority carrying out statutory duties in a principal area in England and Wales. The term “principal council” was first defined in the Local Government Act 1972, Section 270. This act created great r ...

of Wrexham County Borough, Wales. On the same day, elections were held to the other 21 local authorities, and community councils in Wales as part of the

2022 Welsh local elections The 2022 Welsh local elections are due to be held on 5 May 2022 to elect members of all twenty-two local authorities in Wales. They are being held alongside other local elections in the United Kingdom. The last elections were held in 2017. Bac ...

. The previous Wrexham County Borough all-council election took place in May 2017 and future elections will take place every five years, with the next scheduled for 2027. On 5 May 2022, the election was held in forty-one of the forty-nine wards for 2022 in Wrexham County Borough. The remaining eight had no opposition nominated by 5 April 2022, and the councillors for these wards were re-elected unopposed, with their wards not holding the election. The councillors unopposed were six independents and two conservative councillors. Independent politicians (including "non-specified" and the "Wrexham Independents") formed the largest group in the council with twenty-three councillors, down from 2017's twenty-six, and were six short of the twenty-nine needed for a majority. The second largest group were Labour with fourteen councillors elected, up from 2017's twelve councillors. The Conservatives had the same amount councillors as in 2017 with nine. Plaid Cymru increased their number of councillors to match the Conservatives also at nine, up from their three councillors in 2017. The Liberal Democrats had their share of councillors split to one councillor, down from two in 2017. Following the results, the council was again under no overall control. Talks between independent politicians and Labour occurred over the weekend. On 10 May 2022, the two formerly separately organised groups of independents in the council, the independents and the "Wrexham Independents" group, merged into one "mega" 21-member "Independent Group". The Independent Group was initially in talks with Welsh Labour councillors but talks collapsed over mandatory councillor anti-discrimination training. On 11 May 2022, the Independent Group formed another coalition with the Welsh Conservatives for another five-year term with a total of thirty members, a two-member majority.

Background

Council elections in Wales were originally scheduled for May 2021 but were delayed to avoid a conflict with the

2021 Senedd election 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

. The frequency of the elections was also increased from four 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 fifty-two to fifty-six at the 2022 election, with several ward changes to ensure better electoral parity. There would be forty-nine wards up for election, up from forty-seven in the 2017 election following a recent local boundary review. An Independent– Welsh Conservatives

coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

group was formed following the 2017 local election and were in control of the council since 2017 up to the election.

Local political context

In the

2019 United Kingdom general election The 2019 United Kingdom general election was held on Thursday, 12 December 2019. It resulted in the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party receiving a Landslide victory, landslide majority of 80 seats. The Conservatives made a net gain of 4 ...

, Conservative candidates won the constituencies of Wrexham and Clwyd South for the first time in their existence. The constituencies were generally considered to be Labour heartlands part of its " red wall", and were won by Labour in the June 2017 election.

Sarah Atherton Sarah Elizabeth Atherton (born 15 November 1967) is a British Conservative Party politician, who has served as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Wrexham since the 2019 general election. She served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for ...

was elected for the Conservatives to represent the

Wrexham constituency Wrexham (Welsh: ''Wrecsam'') is a parliamentary constituency centred on the city of Wrexham in the preserved county of Clwyd, Wales in the United Kingdom. It was created in 1918, and is represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament ...

with 15,199 votes, and

Simon Baynes Simon Robert Maurice Baynes (born 21 April 1960) is a British Conservative politician who served as Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice and Tackling Illegal Migration from July to September 2022. He was elected as the Member ...

for Clwyd South with 16,222 votes. Atherton is the first Female MP to be elected to the Wrexham seat since its creation in 1918, and the first female Conservative MP elected to Westminster representing a Welsh constituency. On 31 January 2020, the UK left the EU, with the county borough in the 2016 referendum, voting in favour of Leave. In the

, Welsh Labour incumbents for the

Senedd constituencies The Senedd constituencies and electoral regions () are the electoral districts used to elect Members of the Senedd (MS; cy, Aelodau'r Senedd or AS) to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ), and have been used in some form since the first election of ...

of Wrexham and Clwyd South covering the county borough were re-elected, despite media predictions and polling stating that one or both constituencies should follow the 2019 UK general election results and be won by

Welsh Conservative The Welsh Conservatives ( cy, Ceidwadwyr Cymreig) is the branch of the United Kingdom Conservative Party that operates in Wales. At Westminster elections, it is the second most popular political party in Wales, having obtained the second-large ...

candidates with a tight margin. For the 2021 Police and Crime Commissioner election, Andy Dunbobbin of the Labour and Co-operative party received the most votes (98,034) in the county borough. Between 2017 and 2021, various community councils had by-elections, leading to three independent, four Welsh Labour, one Plaid Cymru, and five non-aligned candidates elected. An additional independent candidate was elected to

Rhosllanerchrugog RhosllanerchrugogDavies, Jenkins and Baines (eds) ''The Welsh Academy Encyclopedia of Wales'', 2008, p.752 (also spelled Rhosllannerchrugog, or simply Rhos) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It lies within the his ...

Community Council's Pant ward in September 2017 but was replaced by a Welsh Labour candidate in a by-election five months later. Eight elections in this period were uncontested. On 20 September 2018, an independent candidate for community councillor for Gwersyllt North was elected with 98 votes. The councillor was later replaced in another by-election on 27 February 2020 leading to the Plaid Cymru candidate being elected with 189 votes. On 18 March 2021, a by-election for the council's Maesydre ward occurred, leading to the Plaid Cymru candidate, Rebecca Martin, being elected with 150 votes, over the Welsh Labour (133 votes) and Welsh Conservative (123 votes) candidates. On 28 October 2021, a by-election in the ward of Gresford East and West was held following the resignation of the incumbent Conservative candidate. The Welsh Conservatives were able to hold onto the ward, with Jeremy Kent being elected for the ward with 351 votes. On 17 December 2021, in the neighbouring English constituency of North Shropshire, the Liberal Democrat candidate overturned a 23,000 (2019) Conservative majority following the former MP Owen Paterson's scandal.

Council context

In 2021, the council submitted bids for UK City of Culture 2025 on behalf of the county borough, and a separate bid for awarding the town of Wrexham the status of a city for the 2022 Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II civic honours. In October 2021, the council's bid for UK City of Culture 2025 made it onto the competition's shortlist of only 8 shortlisted places in the UK, outbidding 12 other places (20 applied in total) and being the only one of the five bids from Wales making it onto the shortlist. In March 2022, Wrexham County Borough's bid for City of Culture made onto the competition's shortlist of only four places. Wrexham's city status bid was submitted in December 2021 to local controversy. Protests against the city status bid, led by Plaid Cymru, were held outside Wrexham's Guildhall, the council's main building. A public consultation into the city status bid revealed that of those surveyed, 61% did not believe Wrexham should be awarded city status at all. Within the council, political groups threatened to walk out over the debate of city status. The council was criticised for ignoring the survey's results by submitting a bid. Wrexham's city status bid is one of 39 bids across the UK and territories, it is the only bid from Wales, following

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

's withdrawal of their bid. It is hoped that being the only Welsh bid leads to increased chances of Wrexham winning city status if the Queen awards city status to at least one town in the four countries of the United Kingdom. Wrexham has applied for city status three other times, in

2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, with the 2012 bid lost to St Asaph, Denbighshire. Following the election and unrelated to it, on 20 May 2022, it was announced that Wrexham would be awarded city status through

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

later in 2022. However, on 31 May 2022, it had lost its bid for UK City of Culture to

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

. In January 2022, the council considered raising salaries for councillors to encourage more skilled and more diverse candidates for the 2022 election.

Changes since 2017

Nominations

The deadline for councillor nominations was 4 April 2022 at 16:00. 146 candidates were nominated, a decline of 9 from 155 in 2017. These nominees include: 48 independents (down 13), 30 Welsh Labour (down 9), 28 Welsh Conservatives (up 8), 24 Plaid Cymru (up 9), 8 Welsh Liberal Democrats (down 5), 4 Wales Green Party (up 2), 3 non-aligned and 1 Reform UK candidate. Due to a lack of competing candidates for some electoral wards, upon the deadline for councillor nominees, eight councilors were re-elected due to no competition. These uncontested seats represent 14.29% of the total seats in the election, cancelling the election for 14,583 electors. Wards with only the incumbent or one contender standing would not be holding the ward election. The eight wards with no competition, is an increase from the three non-contending wards in the 2017 election. The eight wards and councillors not facing competition, and are re-elected prior to the election are: *

Esclusham Esclusham ( cy, Esclus or ''Esclys'') is a community and electoral ward in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The community includes the villages of Bersham, Rhostyllen, Aberoer, Llwyneinion and Pentre Bychan, as well as a number of smaller settlemen ...

(Mark Pritchard; Independent; Council Leader) * Garden Village (Andy Williams; Independent) * Stansty (David Bithell; Independent) *

Borras Park Borras Park ( cy, Parc Borras) is a suburb and electoral ward in the community of Acton, Wrexham, Wrexham County Borough, Wales. The name is derived from the nearby hamlet of Borras. At the time of the 2001 Census, the population was 2,517 ...

(Debbie Wallice; Welsh Conservatives) * Chirk South (Terry Evans; Independent) * Cartrefle (Ronnie Prince; Independent;

Mayor of Wrexham The mayor of Wrexham is the civic figurehead and first citizen of the city of Wrexham, and Wrexham County Borough in the north of Wales. The position is elected by members of Wrexham County Borough Council at their annual meeting, and today, hold ...

) * Dyffryn Ceiriog (Trevor Bates; Independent) *

Holt Holt or holte may refer to: Natural world *Holt (den), an otter den * Holt, an area of woodland Places Australia * Holt, Australian Capital Territory * Division of Holt, an electoral district in the Australian House of Representatives in Vic ...

(Michael Morris; Welsh Conservatives)

Ward changes

In July 2021, the Welsh Government accepted the various ward change proposals made by the

Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales The Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales ( cy, Comisiwn Ffiniau a Democratiaeth Leol Cymru) is a Welsh Government sponsored body, responsible for defining borders for local elections and government in Wales. The name of the commission ...

, with only slight modification, for Wrexham County Borough. The number of councillors will increase by four, from 52 to a total of 56, giving an average of 1,801 electors per councillor. These took effect from May 2022 following the election. The changes gave a better parity of representation. The Welsh Government rejected three recommendations on the names of three wards. Twenty-four wards remained unchanged. Seven wards have two councillors, up from four wards having two councillors in 2017. Of the other wards, and not mentioning minor boundary changes, the major changes are: * New wards;

Acrefair () is a village in the county borough of Wrexham, North East Wales, in the community of Cefn. It was formerly part of the ancient parish of Ruabon, and is located between Wrexham and Llangollen. It is close to the villages of Trevor, Cefn Maw ...

North (from

Plas Madoc Plas Madoc ( cy, Plas Madog) is a housing estate and former electoral ward near Acrefair, in the Cefn community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It is located seven miles to the south-west of Wrexham, and contains The Land adventure playgro ...

ward and Cefn community),

Bangor Is-y-Coed Bangor-on-Dee ( cy, Bangor-is-y-coed or Bangor Is-coed) is a village and community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales, on the banks of the River Dee. Until 1974 it was in the exclave of Flintshire known as the Maelor Saesneg, and from 1974 to 19 ...

and Rhos. * Acton ward expanded to include Maesydre as Acton and Maesydre * Bronington ward expanded to include Hanmer as Bronington and Hanmer * Bryn Cefn expanded to include parts of Brynteg ward * Gwenfro ward expanded to include parts of New Broughton and Brynteg wards * Parts of Abenbury wards moved to Whitegate ward, parts of Whitegate ward (near Newton Street) moved to Smithfield ward, and parts of Smithfield ward moved to Wynnstay ward * Split Cefn ward (a two councillor ward) into separate East and West wards (one councillor each), as Cefn East and Cefn West. * Refer to the dually named Dyffryn Ceiriog/Ceiriog Valley ward by only its Welsh name, Dyffryn Ceiriog * Parts of

Offa Offa (died 29 July 796 AD) was King of Mercia, a kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England, from 757 until his death. The son of Thingfrith and a descendant of Eowa, Offa came to the throne after a period of civil war following the assassination of Æt ...

ward transferred to

Erddig Erddig Hall ( cy, Neuadd Erddig; or simply Erddig; ) is a Grade-I listed National Trust property in Wrexham, Wales. Standing south of Wrexham city centre, it comprises a country house built during the 17th and 18th centuries amidst a 1,900 ac ...

ward * Parts of Brynyffynnon ward transferred to Offa ward * Split Gwersyllt East and South (a two councillor ward) into separate East and South wards (one councillor each), as Gwersyllt East and Gwersyllt South * Abolish Johnstown ward, Plas Madoc ward, and Maesydre ward * Overton ward expanded to include Maelor South as Overton and Maelor South * Pant ward merged with Johnstown ward as Pant and Johnstown with two councillors. * Various minor boundary changes * Shrink the Ponciau ward, removing one of its two councillors. * Wards of Acton and Maesydre (merged ward),

Brymbo Brymbo is a village and Community (Wales), community in Wrexham County Borough, Wales. It lies in the hilly country to the west of Wrexham city, largely surrounded by farmland. At the United Kingdom Census 2001, 2001 Census, the population of t ...

, Pant and Johnstown (merged ward), Rhosnesni, and Rossett, become two-councillor wards. * Introduction of Welsh language names used alongside English language names for some wards. No changes performed on the following wards:

Overview of results

The election was held on 5 May 2022, no party gained a majority of seats, making the council under no overall control. Four councillors were added for the 2022 election. Below is a table comparing the seat numbers of the 2022 and 2017 election using

notional election results Notional election results are calculations made, usually following boundary changes of electoral districts brought about by population shifts, to determine what election results would have been in previous elections had the newly created boundaries ...

, which uses an estimated version of 2017's results using 2022 boundaries.

Notional results

Below is an election summary table using

. These are based on an estimated 2017 result using 2022's electoral boundaries, which are then compared to 2022's results. Compared to 2017, there is an increase of four councillors on the council, and various ward boundary changes. Data and calculations are provided by BBC News. Turnout was 36.47%, down from the 40% in 2017.

Summarised ward results

Aftermath

Following the results, the council was under no overall control, with no single party holding a majority of councillors. Independents were initially in talks with Welsh Labour councillors over the 7–8 May weekend. On 10 May 2022, the two formerly separately organised groups of independents in the council, the Independents, led by Mark Pritchard, and the "Wrexham Independents" group, led by David A Bithell, merged into one "mega" "the Independent Group". The group contains twenty-one of the twenty-three independent politicians elected, with Mike Davies and Ronnie Prince being the only two independents not join the group. It is led by incumbent council leader and deputy leader, Mark Pritchard and David A Bithell respectively. On the start of more talks between Labour and the Independent Group, Labour Cllr Davies, questioned whether the merger was an attempt to stay in power, and questioned the relationship between Cllr Pritchard and Cllr Bithell over a rumoured falling out prior to the election. However, Cllr Davies added if they are "able to reconcile their differences" and have a "new and ambitious agenda", then Welsh Labour would welcome the merger. On 11 May 2022, the Independent Group formed another coalition with the Welsh Conservatives for the next five-year term following an agreement between the two. The coalition would have 30 members, a two councillor majority on the 56 seat council. Labour Cllr Davies said that the IndependentConservatives deal was based on "pure self-interest" "to protect their own positions". Leader of Plaid Cymru in the council, Marc Jones also accused the deal to be more focused in retaining power than representation. Welsh Labour leader in the council, Dana Davies claimed talks between the two failed due to Labour's requirement that any deal involves all councillors undertaking training on addressing anti-Semitism, homophobia, racism and sexism. Cllr Davies described this deal to have been a "UK-first" and "ground-breaking" if it were to have been agreed. Cllr Davies also said that every member would have to sign up a motion condemning racism and misogyny. Talks with Plaid Cymru were ruled out from the beginning by the independents due to Plaid Cymru's disagreement with Mark Pritchard's leadership. The Independent Group and the Welsh Conservatives following the announcement describe it to be "an exciting time for Wrexham", and Cllr Pritchard and Conservative group leader Hugh Jones said that they are "please to have reached a workable agreement ..we will continue to build on our success". Opposition in the council will be Welsh Labour, Plaid Cymru, the two non-aligned independents, and the Liberal Democrats councillor.

Full ward results

Incumbent councillors are marked with a *. Councillors who served for different (including abolished) wards are marked with **.

Acrefair North (one seat)

Acton and Maesydre (two seats)

Bangor Is-y-Coed (one seat)

Borras Park (one seat)

Bronington and Hanmer (one seat)

Brymbo (two seats)

Bryn Cefn (one seat)

Brynyffynnon (one seat)

Cartrefle (one seat)

Cefn East (one seat)

Cefn West (one seat)

Chirk North (one seat)

Chirk South (one seat)

Coedpoeth (two seats)

Dyffryn Ceiriog (one seat)

Erddig (one seat)

Esclusham (one seat)

Garden Village (one seat)

Gresford East and West (one seat)

Grosvenor (one seat)

Gwenfro (one seat)

Gwersyllt East (one seat)

David Griffiths and Tina Mannering were the two incumbent councillors for the former Gwersyllt East and South ward, and elected in 2012 for such ward.

Gwersyllt North (one seat)

Gwersyllt South (one seat)

Gwersyllt West (one seat)

Hermitage (one seat)

Holt (one seat)

Little Acton (one seat)

Llangollen Rural (one seat)

Llay (two seats)

Marchwiel (one seat)

Marford and Hoseley (one seat)

Minera (one seat)

New Broughton (one seat)

Offa (one seat)

Overton and Maelor South (one seat)

Pant and Johnstown (two seats)

Penycae (one seat)

Penycae and Ruabon South (one seat)

Ponciau (one seat)

Ponciau was reduced from a two-seat ward to a one-seat ward for the 2022 election. Both incumbents stood for re-election.