1972 Cardiff City Council election

The 1972 Cardiff City Council election was held on Thursday 4 May 1972 to elect councillors to Cardiff City Council in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. It took place on the same day as several other county borough elections in Wales and England.

The previous elections to this one were in May 1971. The 1972 election would be the final all-Cardiff election to this council before the dissolution of the unitary authority and the creation of the new second-tier district authority of Cardiff City Council in 1974.

The election saw the Labour Party taking a significant number of seats, to cut the Conservative Party majority.

Background

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Cardiff County Borough Council had been created in 1889. Cardiff became a city in 1905. Elections to the local authority were held annually, though not all council seats were included in each contest, because each of the three councillors in each ward stood down for election in rotation. The councillors elected in 1972 would only serve for less two years, before the dissolution of the Council in April 1974.

There were a total of 76 seats on the council, including 19 aldermen.[1]

Overview of the result

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Nineteen seats in 19 electoral wards were up for election in May 1972. The Labour Party won an additional ten seats on the council, mainly from the ruling Conservative Party, cutting the Tory majority to 12.[2] One of the gains was in the Whitchurch ward, which until last year had been a Tory stronghold.[2]

Ward results

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Contests for one ward councillor seat took place in each of the nineteen wards at this election.[3]

Adamsdown

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Adamsdown ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Iorwerth Jones * 1,316
Conservative Christopher Paterson 391
Independent Thelma Mackie 57
Majority 925
Labour hold Swing

Canton

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Canton ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour George E. Bayliss 1,396
Conservative William Albert J. Adams * 1,316
Majority 80
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Cathays

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Cathays ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Derek Allinson 1,988
Conservative David John Evans * 1,587
Plaid Cymru Gareth Ap Sion 430
People's Candidate Morris W. Bradshaw 165
Majority 401
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Central

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Central ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John D. Leonard * 1,535
Conservative Bernard H. Rees 932
Majority 603
Labour hold Swing

Ely

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Ely ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Thomas Clifford Lee 2,674
Conservative John F. G. Phillips * 775
Plaid Cymru Charles Stephen Cravos 524
Majority 1,899
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Gabalfa

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Gabalfa ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Michael Jn. Parry 2,290
Conservative Gwilym Haydn Jones * 1,405
Majority 885
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Grangetown

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Grangetown ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour (Mrs) E. M. Matthewson 1,543
Conservative Lawrence Charles Johnson * 876
Majority 667
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Llandaff

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Llandaff ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Keith Flynn * 2,041
Labour Carys Meinir Evans 727
Plaid Cymru Gwen Humphreys 614
Majority 1,314
Conservative hold Swing

Llanishen

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Llanishen ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Jeffrey P. Sainsbury * 2,579
Labour Leslie Bernard Goodrum 2,131
Liberal Olive Mary Langdon 924
Majority 448
Conservative hold Swing

Penylan

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Penylan ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Stefan Terlezki 4,087
Labour Violet Jones 2,007
Majority 2,080
Conservative hold Swing

Plasmawr

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Plasmawr ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Fred George Tyrrell 2,385
Plaid Cymru (Dr) Dafydd Hughes* 1,584
Conservative Doreen Muriel Norman 859
Majority 801
Labour gain from Plaid Cymru Swing

Plasnewydd

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Plasnewydd ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Geoffrey Donald Edmunds * 1,489
Labour Patrick Joseph Troy 1,361
Plaid Cymru Philip Brian Richards 431
Liberal Henry Charles Edwards 358
Majority 128
Conservative hold Swing

Rhiwbina

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Rhiwbina ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative William John A. Bain * 2,145
Plaid Cymru H. Lloyd Davies 964
Liberal Howard John O'Brien 803
Labour Mervyn G. Powell-Davies 785
Majority 1,191
Conservative hold Swing

Riverside

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Riverside ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Alec Johnson * 1,219
Labour John A. Hennessey 1,013
Plaid Cymru Roy A. Lee 315
Liberal Richard M. James 131
Majority 206
Conservative hold Swing

Roath

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Roath ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Gerald Michael Brinks * 2,093
Labour Fred Hodges 802
Plaid Cymru Paul Anthony Cravos 379
Majority 1,291
Conservative hold Swing

Rumney

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Rumney ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour John Randall Phillips 3,122
Conservative David Howard Burnett 1,071
Independent (Dr) Bryan Sandford-Hill * 514
Majority 2,051
Labour gain from Independent Swing

South

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South ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Frederick John Smith 2,011
Conservative David Stanley Cooper * 779
Majority 1,232
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Splott

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Splott ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Dermot R. Ormond 2,239
Conservative Cyril Frederick Hutchings * 1,128
Communist Stella Garrett Jones 94
Majority 1,111
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Whitchurch

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Whitchurch ward 1972
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Philip Norton 2,569
Conservative John Meurig Davies * 2,399
Majority 170
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

* = 'retiring' ward councillor for re-election

See also

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References

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  1. ^ "Lady Mayoress loses city council seat to Labour". The Western Mail. 8 May 1970. p. 4.
  2. ^ a b "Labour sweep in with big gains". South Wales Echo. 5 May 1972. p. 1.
  3. ^ "South Wales Results In Detail - Cardiff". South Wales Echo. 5 May 1972. p. 6.
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