Electoral wards of Cardiff County Borough 1890

Central was the name of an original

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected to t ...

in the centre of the county borough and, from 1905, city of

Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. It elected representatives to the

Cardiff County Borough Council Cardiff County Borough Council, known as Cardiff City Council after Cardiff achieved city status in 1905, was the elected local authority that administered the town (later city) and county borough of Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales between 1889 and ...

and, from 1974,

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 ...

. The ward ceased to exist in 1996.

Description and background

In July 1890, following the creation of

, Central was a new electoral ward created, one of the ten in the county borough. The ward was bordered to the west by the

River Taff The River Taff ( cy, Afon Taf) is a river in Wales. It rises as two rivers in the Brecon Beacons; the Taf Fechan (''little Taff'') and the Taf Fawr (''great Taff'') before becoming one just north of Merthyr Tydfil. Its confluence with th ...

, to the east by the

Taff Vale Railway The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) was a standard gauge railway in South Wales, built by the Taff Vale Railway Company to serve the iron and coal industries around Merthyr Tydfil and to connect them with docks in Cardiff. It was opened in st ...

and to the south by the Great Western Railway line. The

Riverside Riverside may refer to: Places Australia * Riverside, Tasmania, a suburb of Launceston, Tasmania Canada * Riverside (electoral district), in the Yukon * Riverside, Calgary, a neighbourhood in Alberta * Riverside, Manitoba, a former rural m ...

ward lay on the other side of the River Taff, the

Cathays Cathays ( ; Welsh: officially ''Cathays'' but also , 'the constant meadow') is a district and community in the centre of Cardiff, capital of Wales. It is an old suburb of Cardiff established in 1875. It is very densely populated and contain ...

ward to the northeast (of the Taff Vale Railway) and the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

ward lay to the south. Before the electoral reforms of the 20th century, councillors were elected by burgesses i.e. ratepayers in the ward. The electorate of the Central ward in 1985 was 4217, increasing to 4908 in 1993. The

ward was expanded to incorporate the area of the Central ward in 1996.

South Glamorgan County Council 1973-1996

In 1973 elections were held for the new

. The Central ward continued as a ward to this authority, electing two county councillors in 1973, 1977 and 1981, then one county councillor from 1985. The party representing Central changed at every election, from

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 ...

in 1973, to

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

in 1977, back to Labour in 1981,

Liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

in 1985, back to Labour in 1983, then finally

Liberal Democrat Several political parties from around the world have been called the Liberal Democratic Party or Liberal Democrats. These parties usually follow a liberal democratic ideology. Active parties Former parties See also *Liberal democracy *Lib ...

in 1993.

1993

Central's Liberal Democrat Cllr Rowland stood in the

ward in the 1995

City and County of Cardiff Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United King ...

election, but was not successful.

Cardiff County Borough Council 1889-1974

Until Cardiff County Borough was superseded in 1974, the three ward councillors took turns to stand down for re-election. Initially (with annual Cardiff elections prior to

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

) on a three-yearly cycle.

1970

At the local elections on 7 May 1970 (the final elections to the county borough council), Labour recovered some ground on the Conservative Party, winning back seats in the city. The Conservative Lady Mayoress, Mary Hallinan, had represented the Central ward for the previous nine years and was the most prominent casualty in the election, losing her seat to Labour's Bill Herbert. Herbert was chairman of the Cardiff United Residents' Association and a leading campaigner against the proposed new hook road.

1890–2

In November 1890, following the redistribution of councillors across the ten Cardiff wards, Central (like the South ward having many businesses and non-resident ratepayer voters) lost the long-standing Liberal councillor to the Conservatives. The result was declared from the rear of the Town Hall and the margin was only two votes. Mr Proger, a master plumber by trade, had been a member of the council for the previous 12 years. In 1891 the Conservative candidate also won against the sitting Liberal councillor. * = retiring ward councillor for re-election

Succession

The Central ward was replaced from 1974 on the new Cardiff City Council by an expanded Cathays ward. The boundary of Cathays ward expanded to include the city centre (and Castle

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, tow ...

). Several of the Central ward councillors on South Glamorgan County Council also represented the Cathays ward concurrently.

References

{{Politics and Government in Cardiff, state=collapsed 1890 establishments in Wales 1996 disestablishments in Wales Former electoral wards of Cardiff