Cardiff Council

Cardiff Council

The logo of City and County of Cardiff council
The arms of City and County of Cardiff
Control	Liberal Democrats/Plaid Cymru
MPs	Kevin Brennan (Lab Cardiff West) Alun Michael (Lab Cardiff South and Penarth) Jonathan Evans (Con Cardiff North) Jenny Willott (Lib Dem Cardiff Central)
Constituency AMs	Vaughan Gething (Lab Cardiff South and Penarth) Julie Morgan (Lab Cardiff North) Mark Drakeford (Lab Cardiff West) Jenny Rathbone (Lab Cardiff Central)
Official Website	http://www.cardiff.gov.uk

The County Council of the City and County of Cardiff (Welsh: Dinas a Sir Caerdydd) is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Principal Areas of Wales. The council consists of 75 councillors, representing 29 electoral wards. The authority is properly styled as The County Council of the City and County of Cardiff or in common use Cardiff Council.^[1]. No other style is sanctioned for use on Council Documents although it does occasionally appear wrongly as Cardiff County Council on documents and signage. The City & County itself is usually simply referred to as Cardiff.

After the 2004 election, which changed the control of the Council from Labour to No Overall Control, the Liberal Democrats formed a minority administration, led by Cllr Rodney Berman. The Liberal Democrats remained the largest party following the 2008 local election, and currently form an administration with Plaid Cymru.

Political makeup

Elections to Cardiff Council take place every four years. The last election was 1 May 2008.^[2]

Current composition

Group affiliation[3]		Members
	Liberal Democrat	34
	Conservative	17
	Labour	14
	Plaid Cymru	6
	Independents	4
Total		75

Historic results

Year	Lib Dem	Con	Labour	Plaid	Independent
2008	35	17	13	7	3
2004	33	12	27	3	0
1999	18	5	50	1	1
1995	9	1	61	1	0

The council was run by a Labour majority administration between 1995 and 2004. The Liberal Democrats ran a minority administration from 2004-2008.

Following the 2008 local elections in Cardiff there is still no party with an overall majority. The Lib Dems gained three, increasing their total number of councillors to 35, and have formed an administration with Plaid Cymru, with Rodney Berman as leader of the Council. The Conservatives replaced Labour as the official opposition, having gained five councillors - the Labour party suffered badly, losing 14 councillors and reducing their total number to 13. Plaid Cymru gained four councillors, increasing their representation to seven. Three independent councillors were elected; two former Conservatives who had left the group in 2006 being joined by an additional member.

History

Municipal life in Cardiff dates back to the 12th century, when Cardiff was granted borough status by the Earls of Gloucester. The offices of the Mayor, Aldermen, and Common Councillors developed during the Middle Ages. In 1905, Cardiff became a City, and the Borough Council became a City Council.

The City of Cardiff is the county town of Glamorgan. However, prior to 1974, Cardiff was a County Borough in its own right and not subject to Glamorgan County Council. Council reorganisation in 1974 paired Cardiff and the Vale of Glamorgan together as district councils subject to the new county of South Glamorgan. Further local government restructuring in 1996 resulted in Cardiff City's district council becoming once again a unitary authority - the present Cardiff Council.

Mayoralty

The first Mayor of Cardiff is listed by the County Borough Records as Ralph "Prepositus de Kardi" who took up office in 1126. In 1835, Thomas Revel Guest became the first elected Mayor of Cardiff when the first council elections were held. When Cardiff was granted city status in 1905 Cardiff's First Citizen became 'Lord Mayor'. Robert Hughes, the Mayor in 1904, was re-elected to become Cardiff's first Lord Mayor in the following year. The Lord Mayor was granted the right to the style "The Right Honourable". The Lord Mayor now bears the style "The Right Honourable the Lord Mayor of Cardiff".^[4]

Municipal Year	Lord Mayor	Deputy Lord Mayor
2011–2012	Delme Bowen (Plaid)	Jayne Cowan (Ind)
2010–2011	Keith Hyde (Lib Dem)	Dianne Rees (Con)
2009–2010	Brian Griffiths (Con)	Keith Hyde (Lib Dem)
2008–2009	Kate Lloyd (Lib Dem)	Jaswant Singh (Plaid)
2007–2008	Gill Bird (Lab)	Brian Griffiths (Con)
2006–2007	Gareth Neale (Con)	Kate Lloyd (Lib Dem)
2005–2006	Freda Salway (Lib Dem)	Monica Walsh (Lab)
2004–2005	Jacqui Gasson (Lib Dem)	Delme Bowen (Plaid)

Electoral divisions

The unitary authority area is divided into 29 electoral wards. Most of these wards are coterminous with communities of the same name. Each community can have an elected council. The following table lists council wards, communities and associated geographical areas. Communities with a community council are indicated with a '*':

Electoral ward map of Cardiff

Ward	Communities	Other geographic areas
1 Adamsdown	Adamsdown	Cardiff city centre, Roath
2 Butetown	Butetown	Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff Bay, Cardiff city centre, Tiger Bay
3 Caerau	Caerau	Cyntwell, Culverhouse Cross
4 Canton	Canton	Cardiff city centre, Leckwith, Victoria Park
5 Cathays	Cathays and Castle	Blackweir, Cardiff city centre, Cathays, Cathays Park, Maindy
6 Creigiau & St. Fagans	Pentyrch* (Creigiau ward) and St Fagans*	Coedbychan, Capel Llanilltern, Rhydlafar
7 Cyncoed	Cyncoed	Roath Park, Lakeside
8 Ely	Ely	Culverhouse Cross, Michaelston-super-Ely
9 Fairwater	Fairwater	Pentrebane
10 Gabalfa	Gabalfa	Mynachdy, Maindy, Heath
11 Grangetown	Grangetown	Cardiff Bay, Cardiff city centre, Saltmead, International Sports Village
12 Heath	Heath	Birchgrove
13 Lisvane	Lisvane*
14 Llandaff	Llandaff	Danescourt
15 Llandaff North	Llandaff North	Hailey Park, Lydstep Park, Mynachdy, Gabalfa
16 Llanishen	Llanishen	Thornhill
17 Llanrumney	Llanrumney
18 Pentwyn	Pentwyn	Llanedeyrn
19 Pentyrch	Pentyrch* (Gwaelod-y-Garth and Pentyrch wards)
20 Penylan	Roath
21 Plasnewydd	Plasnewydd	Roath, Cardiff city centre
22 Pontprennau & Old St. Mellons	Old St. Mellons* and Pontprennau	Llanedeyrn Village
23 Radyr & Morganstown	Radyr & Morganstown*	Morganstown
24 Rhiwbina	Rhiwbina	Pantmawr, Rhydwaedlyd, Wenallt
25 Riverside	Riverside	Cardiff city centre, Llandaff Fields, Pontcanna, Sophia Gardens
26 Rumney	Rumney
27 Splott	Splott	Pengam Green, Splott, Tremorfa
28 Trowbridge	Trowbridge	St Mellons estate, Cefn Mably, Wentloog
29 Whitchurch & Tongwynlais	Tongwynlais* and Whitchurch	Blaengwynlais, Bwlch-y-cwm, Coedcefngarw, Coryton, Cwmnofydd, Graig-goch, Llandaff North

See also

• City Hall, Cardiff
• County Hall, Cardiff
• Cardiff Bay
• Flat Holm

References

1. ^ Council Constitution
2. ^ Cardiff - Home, Voter Registration and Elections, Electoral Services
3. ^ "Council Composition". Cardiff Council. http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2872,4274,4956&parent_directory_id=2865. Retrieved 3 August 2011. 
4. ^ "Lord Mayor - A History". Cardiff Council. http://www.cardiff.gov.uk/content.asp?nav=2872,4951,5030&id=4158&Positioning_Article_ID=&Language=&parent_directory_id=2865&d1p1=1. Retrieved 2007-08-18. 

External links

• City and County of Cardiff