1973 South Glamorgan County Council election

The 1973 South Glamorgan County Council election was the first election to South Glamorgan County Council and was held in April 1973. It was followed by the 1977 election.

Candidates

Conservative and Labour candidates contested the vast majority of seats. In contrast there were relatively few Liberal and Plaid Cymru candidates. In Cardiff, many members of the previous County Borough Council sought election to both the new South Glamorgan authority and the new Cardiff City Council (where the elections were held a few weeks later).

Outcome

Glamorgan was the only county to be divided as a result of local government re-organization in England and Wales from 1 April 1974. Previous proposals proposed by the Labour Party had envisaged a division into two new counties, East and West. However, the Conservatives favoured the creation of South Glamorgan given that they entertained hopes of winning control.

The first elections were in May 1973 and councillors would act in a shadow capacity for the next 11 months, setting up the various functions, until the new council came into effect. Labour won a small majority (though subsequently allocated themselves 15 of the 20 seats on the steering committee), largely as a result of winning most of the seats in Cardiff and also in the port of Barry.

Summary of results

This section summarises the detailed results which are noted in the following sections. This was the inaugural county election and therefore no comparison can be made with the previous elections.

This table summarises the result of the elections in all wards. 80 councillors were elected.

1973 South Glamorgan County Council: elected members

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	42			N/A
	Conservative	36			N/A
	Liberal	0			N/A
	Plaid Cymru	0			N/A
	Independent	2			N/A

Ward Results

Adamsdown (two seats)

Adamsdown 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. Evans	1,295
	Labour	John Iorwerth Jones	1,262
	Conservative	E.C. Canning	387
	Liberal	H. Edwards	304
	Independent	Thelma Mackie	66
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Barry, Baruc (one seat)

Barry, Baruc 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Davies	1,298
	Conservative	T. Holmes	1,058
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)

Barry, Buttrills (one seat)

Barry, Buttrills 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Williams	1,021
	Conservative	A. Barbrouk	576
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)

Barry, Cadoc (one seat)

Barry, Cadoc 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Tresize	895
	Conservative	R. Potter	549
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)

Barry, Castleland (one seat)

Barry, Castleland 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Clease	939
	Conservative	R. Hinsley	550
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)

Barry, Court (two seats)

Barry, Court 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. Dunkley	1,370
	Labour	M. Webber	1,328
	Conservative	H. Charles	590
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Barry, Dyfan (two seats)

Barry, Dyfan 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. Hinds	1,323
	Labour	T. Lewis	1,183
	Liberal	I. Morgan	1,018
	Conservative	H. Pascoe	868
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Barry, Illtyd (one seat)

Barry, Castleland 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	George Mackillican	1,023
	Labour	Maureen Elsworth	1,022
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)

Councillor Mackillican won by one vote after four recounts. This was the smallest majority in the country at these elections. Mrs Elsworth had won the Illtyd ward for the Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council in 1972 by only four votes.

Canton (two seats)

Canton 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bella Brown	1,459
	Conservative	Trevor Tyrrell	1,273
	Labour	George E. Bayliss	1,258
	Labour	Dengar Robinson Evans	1,225
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Cardiff Rural No.1 (one seat)

Cardiff Rural No.1 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	V. Jones	1,081
	Labour	G. Bailey	805
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)

Cardiff Rural No.3 (two seats)

Cardiff Rural No.3 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B. Jones	1,955
	Conservative	E. Jenkins	1,912
	Labour	D. Roberts	1,087
	Labour	W. Smith	922
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Cardiff Rural No.4, Wenvoe (one seat)

Cardiff Rural No.4, Wenvoe 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Rush	Unopposed
	Conservative win (new seat)

Cardiff Rural No.5, Rhoose (one seat)

Cardiff Rural No.5, Rhoose 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	J. Howell	795
	Conservative	H. James	621
Turnout
	Independent win (new seat)

Cardiff South (two seats)

Cardiff South 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Philip Dunleavy	1,600
	Labour	F. Smith	1,554
	Conservative	T. Roche	994
	Conservative	F. Arnold	829
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Cathays (three seats)

Cathays 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Derek Allinson	2,347
	Labour	John Charles Edwards	2,289
	Labour	Emyr Currie-Jones	2,266
	Conservative	I. Jones	1,410
	Conservative	G. Miles	1,229
	Conservative	M. Rivlin	1,169
	Plaid Cymru	A. Littlejohns	732
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Central (two seats)

Central 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gordon William Fish	1,389
	Labour	William Herbert	1,343
	Conservative	L. Walters	840
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Cowbridge No.1 (one seat)

Cowbridge No.1 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Thomas	Unopposed
	Conservative win (new seat)

Cowbridge No.2 (two seats)

Cowbridge No.2 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	J. George	1,723
	Labour	D. Percy	1,023
	Independent	K. Berry	946
	Conservative	P. Jones	850
	Labour	J. Barnett	504
	Conservative	W. Cain	496
Turnout
	Independent win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Ely (four seats)

Ely 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Albert W. Buttle	2,696
	Labour	William Carling	2,662
	Labour	Robert Morgan	2,627
	Labour	Thomas Clifford Lee	2,487
	Conservative	W. Clode	1,013
	Conservative	A. Fitzpatrick	940
	Conservative	J. Phillips	931
	Conservative	Joan Joshua	888
	Plaid Cymru	E. Maynard	570
	Plaid Cymru	J. Storm	504
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Gabalfa (three seats)

Gabalfa 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Michael Parry	2,357
	Labour	Emrys Pride	2,351
	Labour	Arthur Brown	2,315
	Conservative	D. Hulston	1,083
	Plaid Cymru	B. Davies	509
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Grangetown (two seats)

Grangetown 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Harold Bartlett	1,423
	Labour	B. Matthewson	1,401
	Conservative	G. Judd	968
	Independent	R. Aldridge	454
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Lisvane, Llanedeyrn and St Mellons (one seat)

Lisvane, Llanedeyrn and St Mellons 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Lysaght	Unopposed
	Conservative win (new seat)

Llandaff (three seats)

Llandaff 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Ferguson-Jones	2,322
	Conservative	M. Jones	2,217
	Conservative	Julius Hermer	2,158
	Plaid Cymru	A. Petty	897
	Labour	N. Maylin	837
	Labour	A. Saunders	832
	Labour	I. Berridge	668
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Llanishen (four seats)

Llanishen 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Jeffrey Sainsbury	3,059
	Conservative	Lionel Pugh	2,960
	Conservative	Ronald Watkiss	2,935
	Conservative	T. Cronin	2,912
	Labour	M. Beasley	2,093
	Labour	H. Davies	2,083
	Labour	M. Powell-Davies	1,950
	Liberal	O. Langdon	1,813
	Labour	E. Singer	1,790
	Plaid Cymru	R. Edwards	844
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Penarth North/Central (two seats)

Penarth North/Central 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. Jones	1,634
	Conservative	A. Sanders	1,605
	Labour	E. Symonds	686
	Labour	D. Eves	676
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Penarth South Ward (two seats)

Penarth South Ward 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. Foulkes	1,887
	Conservative	E. Lloyd	1,753
	Labour	T. Mules	1,676
	Conservative	T. Murphy	1,643
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Penarth West (one seat)

Penarth West 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	G. Cox	883
	Conservative	E. Parsons	713
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)

Penylan (five seats)

Penylan 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Stefan Terlezki	4,688
	Conservative	G. Turnbull	4,238
	Conservative	C. Peterson	4,153
	Conservative	Peter Meyer	4,108
	Conservative	Mary Hallinan	3,801
	Liberal	J. Davies	3,269
	Liberal	B. Williams	3,146
	Liberal	David Rees	3,011
	Labour	Y. Roblin	2,885
	Liberal	A. Myranthis	2,654
	Labour	C. O'Brien	2,629
	Labour	V. Jones	2,391
	Labour	R. Maggs	2,034
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Plas Mawr (four seats)

Plas Mawr 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Hubert Harding	2,701
	Labour	Frederick Tyrrell	2,521
	Labour	Albert Huish	2,339
	Labour	John Leonard	2,191
	Plaid Cymru	Dafydd Hughes	1,513
	Conservative	W. Hall	1,177
	Conservative	F. Jones	1,156
	Conservative	D. Norman	1,143
	Conservative	P. Baynham	933
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Plasnewydd (two seats)

Plasnewydd 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Olwen Watkin	1,856
	Conservative	S. James	1,615
	Labour	P. Troy	1,314
	Labour	A. Mills	1,251
	Plaid Cymru	Phil Richards	831
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Rhiwbina (three seats)

Rhiwbina 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. Bain	2,541
	Conservative	M. Davies	2,450
	Conservative	Gareth Neale	2,357
	Liberal	G. Davies	1,862
	Liberal	H. O'Brien	1,755
	Plaid Cymru	H. Davies	1,737
	Liberal	S. Cotsen	1,668
	Labour	M. Mullins	985
	Labour	B. Morris	973
	Labour	D. Rees	885
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Riverside (two seats)

Riverside 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Donovan	1,309
	Conservative	G. Jones	1,133
	Labour	F. Beatson	1,007
	Labour	D. Toogood	978
	Plaid Cymru	R. Lee	410
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Roath (three seats)

Roath 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. McCarthy	2,416
	Conservative	A. Richards	2,351
	Conservative	I. Hermer	2,346
	Labour	T. O'Callaghen	1,193
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Rumney (five seats)

Rumney 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. Evans	3,585
	Labour	J. Rees	3,504
	Labour	L. Goodrum	3,474
	Labour	W. Kitson	3,363
	Labour	David Seligman	3,012
	Independent	T. Laurie	2,055
	Independent Ratepayer	D. Sandford-Hill	1,520
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Splott (five seats)

Splott 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Manuel Delgado	2,145
	Labour	John Brooks	1,900
	Labour	R. Harry	1,852
	Conservative	D. O'Connell	861
	Communist	S. Garrett-Jones	166
Turnout
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Whitchurch (three seats)

Whitchurch 1973

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Evans	3,142
	Labour	Philip Norton	3,066
	Conservative	A. Purnell	2,941
	Conservative	Victor Riley	2,858
	Labour	A. Donne	2,576
	Labour	D. Weeks	2,405
Turnout
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

KEY

o indicates sitting councillor on Cardiff City Council prior to 1973 election

A indicates sitting alderman on Cardiff City Council prior to 1973 election