Brecon East' ( cy, Dwyrain Aberhonddu), formerly St Mary, is the name of an

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 town of

Brecon Brecon (; cy, Aberhonddu; ), archaically known as Brecknock, is a market town in Powys, mid Wales. In 1841, it had a population of 5,701. The population in 2001 was 7,901, increasing to 8,250 at the 2011 census. Historically it was the coun ...

, Powys,

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 covers the town centre and elects councillors to Brecon Town Council and

Powys County Council Powys County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Powys) is the local authority for Powys, one of the administrative areas of Wales. The County Hall is in Llandrindod Wells. History The county of Powys was created on 1 April 1974 under the Local Governme ...

Description

The Brecon East ward covers the town centre of Brecon, the residential areas stretching east to the junction with the A470 and the rural area around Slwch Farm. The southern border is defined by the

River Usk The River Usk (; cy, Afon Wysg) rises on the northern slopes of the Black Mountain (''y Mynydd Du''), Wales, in the westernmost part of the Brecon Beacons National Park. Initially forming the boundary between Carmarthenshire and Powys, it fl ...

. Brecon West lies to the west,

Yscir with Honddu Isaf and Llanddew Yscir with Honddu Isaf and Llanddew (formerly known as Yscir) is the name of an electoral ward in southern Powys, Wales. It covers five local government communities and elects a councillor to Powys County Council. Description The Yscir with Hondd ...

to the north and

Talybont-on-Usk Talybont-on-Usk ( cy, Tal-y-bont ar Wysg) is a village and community in Powys, Wales, in the historic county of Brecknockshire. It lies on both the Caerfanell river and the Monmouthshire and Brecon Canal, about from the River Usk. In 2001, i ...

to the southwest. Since the 1999 elections the St Mary ward elected one county councillor to

(prior to this it had elected two county councillors). It covers the St Mary community ward, represented by up to five town councillors on Brecon Town Council, and the St John East ward represented by 3 town councillors. According to the

2011 UK Census A census of the population of the United Kingdom is taken every ten years. The 2011 census was held in all countries of the UK on 27 March 2011. It was the first UK census which could be completed online via the Internet. The Office for National ...

the population of the St Mary ward was 3,111. In 2018 a Review of Electoral Arrangements proposed that all three Brecon county wards be merged into a single, three councillor ward. However, Brecon was divided into two wards, with the St John East community ward added to the St Mary ward to create Brecon East, represented by two county councillors.

County Council elections

At the May 2017 Powys County Council elections the St Mary ward was won from the Liberal Democrats by Sarah Lewis of the Conservatives. Previous councillor Paul Ashton had chosen not to re-stand. However Cllr Lewis resigned in October 2019, in the resulting by-election the seat was won by Labour Party candidate Liz Rijnenberg. Cllr Ashton had represented the ward since a by-election in 2003. He subsequently retained his seat unopposed at the 2004 election and won the contests in

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

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 ...

. He became Chair of the county council in 2015. Prior to 2003 the ward had been represented by Independents.

References

{{Powys wards, state=collapsed Brecon Wards of Powys