Merthyr Tydfil Council - Wards and Councillors

Welsh council · Wales · 30 seats in 11 wards · All seats elected every five years · Next election 6 May 2027

Independents run Merthyr Tydfil Council as a minority administration. The council has 30 councillors in 11 wards. Seats by party: Other 15, Labour 15. The next election is on 6 May 2027.

Control

Seats by party

Independent (Minority)

30 seats - 16 for a majority

Labour 15Other 15

Seat changes since the 5 May 2022 election No change since the election.

Vote share at the 5 May 2022 election (30 seats, all wards)

ShareSeats won

Other62.5%15

Labour30.0%15

Plaid Cymru6.0%0

Conservative0.9%0

Green0.6%0

Next election

6 May 2027

all 30 seats up, then every five years

Largest groups

Labour 15, Independents and others 15

1 short of the 16 needed for a majority

Closest result

Cyfarthfa

Independent won the last seat by 5 votes over Labour, 5 May 2022

Latest by-election

Dowlais & Pant

Labour gain from Independent, 25 June 2026 (2 since 2021)

Constituencies

1 overlap

2024Now

Voted Leave in 2016

56%

GB 52%

Wards

Who holds each ward

LabourIndependent

Coloured by the party holding most of the ward's seats today; where seats are split evenly, by the party with the higher share at the last election.

All 11 wards

Councillors and last results

Select a ward for its full results, candidates and last by-election.

Ward and councillors	Last election
Bedlinog and Trelewis Gillian Preston, Michelle Symonds	5 May 2022 Independent 37.6% lead 11.2 pts
Cyfarthfa Michelle Jones, Geraint Thomas, Claire Jones	5 May 2022 Independent 26.9% lead 5.1 pts
Dowlais and Pant Dean Barrett, Paula Layton, Declan Sammon	5 May 2022 Independent 30.8% lead 7.4 pts
Gurnos Jeremy Davies, Lee Davies, Bill Smith	5 May 2022 Independent 26.2% lead 0.3 pts
Merthyr Vale Darren Roberts, Scott Thomas	5 May 2022 Labour 76.4% lead 52.8 pts
Park Clive Jones, Louise Minett-Vokes	5 May 2022 Labour 44.4% lead 14.0 pts
Penydarren Kevin Gibbs, David Isaac, Jamie Scriven	5 May 2022 Labour 34.2% lead 10.3 pts
Plymouth Brent Carter, Gareth Lewis, Anna Williams-Price	5 May 2022 Labour 61.5% lead 41.8 pts
Town Julia Jenkins, Andrew Barry, John Thomas, David Jones	5 May 2022 Labour 20.7% lead 1.1 pts
Treharris Ian Thomas, Gareth Richards, Ernie Galsworthy	5 May 2022 Labour 48.4% lead 32.0 pts
Vaynor Lisa Mytton, Clive Tovey	5 May 2022 Independent 33.7% lead 6.3 pts

Bedlinog and Trelewis

Gillian Preston LabourMichelle Symonds Independent

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (2 seats)

Independent37.6%

Independent26.4%

Labour23.4%

Independent8.8%

Conservative3.7%

Candidate	Party	Votes
Malcolm Richard Colbran Elected	Independent	581
Michelle Symonds Elected	Independent	408
Vanessa Lynne Matthews	Labour	362
Jeff Beard	Labour	343
Richard Searl	Independent	136
Edward Dawson	Conservative	57

Party shares count each party's leading candidate.

Last by-election, 5 September 2024

Labour48.8%

Independent37.2%

Plaid Cymru9.8%

Conservative2.8%

Independent1.3%

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share
Gill Preston Elected	Labour	411	48.8%
Megan Drozd	Independent	314	37.2%
Naomi Hughes	Plaid Cymru	83	9.8%
Edward Dawson	Conservative	24	2.8%
Richard Searl	Independent	11	1.3%

Cyfarthfa

Claire Jones IndependentGeraint Thomas IndependentMichelle Jones Independent

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)

Independent26.9%

Independent21.8%

Independent18.3%

Labour18.1%

Plaid Cymru10.3%

Conservative4.7%

Candidate	Party	Votes
Geraint Thomas Elected	Independent	1,031
Michelle Ellen Jones Elected	Independent	836
Claire Malaina Jones Elected	Independent	701
David Chaplin	Labour	696
Kathryn Jane Amaro	Labour	654
Andrew Cremin	Labour	477
Lisbeth McLean	Plaid Cymru	394
Sarah Penelope Mary Phillips	Conservative	180

Party shares count each party's leading candidate.

Dowlais and Pant

Dean Barrett LabourDeclan Sammon IndependentPaula Layton Independent

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)

Independent30.8%

Independent23.4%

Independent22.1%

Labour13.4%

Independent6.2%

Plaid Cymru4.0%

Candidate	Party	Votes
Declan Gerard Sammon Elected	Independent	1,120
Paula Layton Elected	Independent	851
David Hughes Elected	Independent	803
Richard David Owen	Labour	485
Sara Victoria Beard	Labour	480
Simon Martin Williams	Labour	470
Jane Plowright	Independent	226
James Cushen	Plaid Cymru	147

Party shares count each party's leading candidate.

Last by-election, 25 June 2026

Labour40.1%

Independent24.2%

Reform18.0%

Plaid Cymru14.1%

Green2.3%

Conservative1.2%

Candidate	Party	Votes	Share
Dean Barrett Elected	Labour	356	40.1%
Nick Meaney	Independent	215	24.2%
Terry Donegan	Reform	160	18.0%
James Cushen	Plaid Cymru	125	14.1%
Janeen Davies	Green	20	2.3%
Roxanne Richardson	Conservative	11	1.2%

Gurnos

Bill Smith LabourJeremy Davies IndependentLee Davies Independent

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)

Independent26.2%

Independent25.9%

Labour18.1%

Independent15.4%

Independent14.3%

Candidate	Party	Votes
Jeremy Islwyn Trevor Davies Elected	Independent	519
Lee Davies Elected	Independent	514
Bill Smith Elected	Labour	359
Pauline Griffiths	Independent	306
Tony Williams	Independent	283
Sue Patman	Labour	281
Gav Galleozzie	Labour	269

Party shares count each party's leading candidate.

Merthyr Vale

Darren Roberts LabourScott Thomas Labour

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (2 seats)

Labour76.4%

Independent23.6%

Candidate	Party	Votes
Darren Roberts Elected	Labour	892
Scott Thomas Elected	Labour	716
Lynne Colston	Independent	276

Party shares count each party's leading candidate.

Park

Clive Jones LabourLouise Minett-Vokes Labour

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (2 seats)

Labour44.4%

Independent30.4%

Independent25.2%

Candidate	Party	Votes
Clive Thomas Jones Elected	Labour	701
Louise Minett Vokes Elected	Labour	685
Jason Launchbury	Independent	479
Janet Morgan	Independent	398

Party shares count each party's leading candidate.

Penydarren

David Isaac LabourJamie Scriven IndependentKevin Gibbs Independent

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)

Labour34.2%

Independent23.9%

Independent14.3%

Independent10.2%

Plaid Cymru10.0%

Independent7.5%

Candidate	Party	Votes
David Gareth Isaac Elected	Labour	650
Kevin Gibbs Elected	Labour	523
Jamie Scriven Elected	Labour	508
Chris Davies	Independent	454
Peter Thomas	Independent	272
Julian Amos	Independent	194
Shaun Sullivan	Plaid Cymru	190
Simon Ryan	Independent	143

Party shares count each party's leading candidate.

Plymouth

Anna Williams-Price LabourBrent Carter LabourGareth Lewis Labour

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)

Labour61.5%

Independent19.7%

Independent18.9%

Candidate	Party	Votes
Gareth Lewis Elected	Labour	1,138
Brent Anthony Carter Elected	Labour	1,061
Anna Nadine Williams-Price Elected	Labour	879
Lucie Marie John	Independent	364
Natasha Evans	Independent	349

Party shares count each party's leading candidate.

Town

Andrew Barry IndependentDavid Jones LabourJohn Thomas IndependentJulia Jenkins Independent

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (4 seats)

Labour20.7%

Independent19.6%

Independent18.1%

Independent17.2%

Independent16.8%

Plaid Cymru7.6%

Candidate	Party	Votes
Dai Chick Jones Elected	Labour	995
John Thomas Elected	Independent	943
Andrew David Barry Elected	Independent	873
Julia Jenkins Elected	Independent	826
Kevin Patrick O'Neill	Independent	807
Kelly McCarthy	Labour	716
Rose Maycock	Labour	707
Martin Eaglestone	Labour	659
Shaun O'Malley	Plaid Cymru	368
Vivian Pugh	Plaid Cymru	320
Ian Gwynne	Plaid Cymru	312
Leighton Evans	Plaid Cymru	306

Party shares count each party's leading candidate.

Treharris

Ernie Galsworthy LabourGareth Richards LabourIan Thomas Labour

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (3 seats)

Labour48.4%

Plaid Cymru16.4%

Independent15.6%

Independent14.4%

Green5.1%

Candidate	Party	Votes
Gareth Richards Elected	Labour	1,635
Ian David Thomas Elected	Labour	966
Ernie Galsworthy Elected	Labour	963
Francis Whitefoot	Plaid Cymru	555
Craig Andrews	Independent	527
Jason Michael Hughes	Independent	488
Tim Clayton	Green	174

Party shares count each party's leading candidate.

Vaynor

Clive Tovey IndependentLisa Mytton Independent

Last scheduled election, 5 May 2022 (2 seats)

Independent33.7%

Independent27.4%

Independent19.8%

Labour19.1%

Candidate	Party	Votes
Lisa Victoria Mytton Elected	Independent	655
Clive Tovey Elected	Independent	532
Stephen Jones	Independent	386
Roy Bish	Labour	372

Party shares count each party's leading candidate.

Councillors

Changed party since the election

2 councillors now sit for a different party from the one they were elected for.

Ward	Councillor	Elected as	Now
Penydarren	Jamie Scriven	Labour 2022	Independent
Penydarren	Kevin Gibbs	Labour 2022	Independent

By-elections

Every council by-election since 2021

2 by-elections since July 2021, 2 of them gains.

Date	Ward	Result	Winner's share
25 June 2026	Dowlais & Pant	Labour gain from Independent	40.1%
5 September 2024	Bedlinog and Trelewis	Labour gain from Independent	48.8%

Parliament

Parliamentary constituencies

Constituency	Share of council	2024 winner	Projected now
Merthyr Tydfil and Aberdare	100%	Labour	Labour 29%

Share of the council: the proportion of its census neighbourhoods (2021 LSOAs) in each seat. The projection is PollCheck's demographic model at current polling, not a forecast.

People

Who lives in Merthyr Tydfil

58,840 residents in 25,771 households

Voted Leave in 2016

56% 4 above GB

Degree or higher

25% 9 below GB

No qualifications

27% 9 above GB

Own their home

62% 1 above GB

Rent from a council or housing association

22% 5 above GB

Rent privately

15% 5 below GB

Aged 15 to 34

29% 2 below GB

Aged 65 and over

23% 1 above GB

GB figure. 2021 Census (Scotland: 2022): age as a share of residents aged 15 and over, qualifications of residents aged 16 and over, housing as a share of households. Leave: 2016 EU referendum, Electoral Commission results by counting area.

Similar

Councils most like this one

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Closest on the measures above: the 2016 Leave vote, age, qualifications and housing. Maps show which party holds each ward.

Sources

Sources and method

Seat totals and control: PollCheck council control tracker. Councillors: Open Council Data (CC BY-SA 4.0). Election results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), with some vote counts from DCLEAPIL, Leman (2025) (CC BY-SA 4.0), and corrections checked against councils' official declarations. Ward boundaries: Source: Office for National Statistics licensed under the Open Government Licence v.3.0. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Census: Office for National Statistics and National Records of Scotland.

Councillor lists and DCLEAPIL-derived vote counts on this page are available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

In wards electing more than one councillor, a party's share counts only its leading candidate (the Rallings and Thrasher method). Independents count individually. The lead is the gap between the top two parties' shares.