1973 West Glamorgan County Council election

The first election to West Glamorgan County Council was held in April 1973.^[1] It was followed by the 1977 election.

The new authority came into effect from 1 April 1974 following the division of the former Glamorgan County Council into three new authorities.

Candidates

A feature of the election was that the new authority replaced both the existing Glamorgan County Council and the Swansea County Borough Council. In addition, the number of borough and district councils within the new county was reduced to four, namely Swansea City Council, Afan Borough Council, Lliw Valley Borough Council and Neath Borough Council. In many cases members of the former authorities found themselves competing for a reduced number of seats.

The Labour Party fielded candidates in every ward. A significant proportion of seats were contested by the Conservative Party and Plaid Cymru with fewer candidates fielded by the Liberal Party.

In the Port Talbot area, Lord Heycock was returned unopposed but other Labour candidates faced opposition from Ratepayers and Tenant Association candidates. At Cwmavon, Alderman Mel John, serving mayor of the borough, contested the seat as a Progressive Labour candidate having failed to gain the official nomination.^[2]

Outcome

Labour won a decisive victory, winning support across the new county.

In the Neath area, Labour won eleven of the thirteen seats. The only successful candidates from other parties were Martin Thomas (Independent) at Coedffranc, who served on the former Glamorgan County Council and Huw Evans (Plaid Cymru), at Dulais Higher and Crynant. Evans was the prospective Plaid Cymru parliamentary candidate for the Neath constituency.^[3]

Labour also won most of the seats in the Port Talbot area but suffered some defeats at the hands of Ratepayer candidates. At Cwmavon, a sitting member of Glamorgan County Council was defeated by Mel John, who had failed to win the party nomination.

Results

o indicates sitting councillor on Glamorgan County Council or Swansea City Council prior to 1973 election

A indicates sitting alderman on Glamorgan County Council or Swansea City Council prior to 1973 election

Ward Results

Aberavon East and West (three seats)

Aberavon East and West 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Jim Warren	3,374
	Labour	Colin Crowley	2,906
	Labour	Cyril Lewis^o	2,889
	Residents	Laurie Stanton	2,371
	Residents	Jim Roberts	2,280
Turnout				48.3
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Aberavon North (one seat)

Aberavon North 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Douglas Heatley	1,829
	Ratepayers	Reg Raikes	1,584
Turnout				53.5
	Labour win (new seat)

Aberavon South (one seat)

Aberavon South 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Idwal Hopkin	1,319
	Ratepayers	Hilda Cuss	733
Turnout				52.8
	Labour win (new seat)

Brynmelyn (two seats)

Brynmelyn 1973
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	J. Adams	Unopposed
Labour	R. Dowdle	Unopposed
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)

Castle (two seats)

Castle 1973
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	B. Ludham	Unopposed
Labour	E. Knill	Unopposed
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)

Cwmafan (one seat)

Cwmafan 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Progressive	Mel John	1,548
	Labour	Leslie Richards^o	1,026
Turnout				67.9
	Progressive win (new seat)

Fforest Fach (two seats)

Fforest Fach 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Victor Cyril Alexander	2,471
	Labour	D. Bevan	2,297
	Conservative	David Mercer	1,249
	Conservative	R. Hinds	1,185
Turnout				38.9
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Ffynone (two seats)

Ffynone 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Paul Valerio	1,732
	Conservative	T. Thomas	1,715
	Labour	P. McCallum	889
Turnout				38.2
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Glyncorrwg (two seats)

Glyncorrwg 1973
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	D. Daniels	Unopposed
Labour	G. Davies	Unopposed
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)

Gower No.1 (one seat)

Gower No.1 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	B. Keal	Unopposed
	Liberal win (new seat)

Gower No.2 (one seat)

Gower No.2 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	F. Lord	1,644
	Ratepayers	D. Thomas	1,121
Turnout				60.5
	Labour win (new seat)

Gower No.3 (one seat)

Gower No.3 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	G. Beynon	1,682
	Labour	V. Watters	642
Turnout				47.4
	Liberal win (new seat)

Landore (two seats)

Landore 1973
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	D. Cox	Unopposed
Labour	S. John	Unopposed
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)

Llansamlet (two seats)

Llansamlet 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	T. Lloyd-Jones	3,009
	Labour	L. Penhaligan	2,623
	Plaid Cymru	John Ball	1,232
	Communist	E. Bevan	366
Turnout				41.2
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Llwchwr No.1 (one seat)

Llwchwr No.1 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	W. Jones	1,597
	Independent	Cled Morgan	1,184
Turnout				62.3
	Labour win (new seat)

Llwchwr No.2 (two seats)

Llwchwr No.2 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	D. Davies	2,782
	Labour	J. Jones	2,270
	Liberal	C. Thomas	1,702
	Independent Labour	M. Thomas	1,574
Turnout				69.8
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Llwchwr No.3 (two seats)

Llwchwr No.3 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Thomas	2,495
	Labour	D. Turner	2,222
	Liberal	H. Griffiths	1,514
	Conservative	N. Williams	1,457
Turnout				73.0
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Margam Central (one seat)

Margam Central 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Llewellyn Heycock^o	Unopposed
	Labour win (new seat)

Margam North (one seat)

Margam North 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Wilf Mitchell^o	781
	Ratepayers	Clyde Penhale	682
Turnout				60.0
	Labour win (new seat)

Margam West (one seat)

Margam West 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Ratepayers	Edward Miles	1,482
	Labour	Cled Phillips	1,011
Turnout				59.2
	Ratepayers win (new seat)

Morriston (two seats)

Morriston 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	P. Evans	1,996
	Labour	S. Havard	1,977
	Ratepayers	C. Hadley	1,810
	Ratepayers	J. Howes	1,295
Turnout				35.8
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Mumbles (two seats)

Mumbles 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	A. Chilcot	3,180
	Conservative	M. Jones	3,072
	Labour	L. Neale	1,757
Turnout				38.2
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Neath No.1, South and Briton Ferry (four seats)

Neath No.1, South and Briton Ferry 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Bill Phillips^o	4,159
	Labour	Fred Kingdom	4,137
	Labour	Dillwyn David	4,013
	Labour	Len Burton^o	3,891
	Communist	Gordon Jenkins	1,683
	Communist	Walter Ferriss	1,378
	Communist	Bill Pritchard	1,019
	Communist	E. Strangeword	689
Turnout				48.3
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Neath No.2, North, Pontrhydyfen and Tonmawr (two seats)

Neath No.2, North, Pontrhydyfen and Tonmawr 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Frank Cecil Evans	2,669
	Labour	Lillian Jones	2,261
	Independent	Jack Leitz^o	1,541
	Independent	Gerald Hemming	1,533
Turnout				53.7
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Neath Rural (six seats)

Neath Rural 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Roy Jones	2,905
	Independent	Martin Thomas^o	2,534
	Labour	Norman Thomas	2,385
	Labour	Tom Thomas	2,131
	Plaid Cymru	Huw Evans	1,919
	Plaid Cymru	O. Roberts	1,629
	Labour	Wilfred Jones	1,575
	Labour	Clifford G. Jones	1,499
	Independent	T. Rees	1,346
	Labour	Richard Davies	1,300
	Independent	L. Adams	1,191
	Communist	Glaslyn Morgan	734
	Plaid Cymru	T. Evans	346
Turnout				67.3
	Labour win (new seat)
	Independent win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Plaid Cymru win (new seat)
	Plaid Cymru win (new seat)

Neath Rural No.5 (one seat)

Neath Rural No.5 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	David Hull^o	1,470
	Independent	R. Rees	1,277
	Plaid Cymru	G. Dawe	273
Turnout				63.2
	Labour win (new seat)

Penderry (three seats)

Penderry 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	John Allison	3,152
	Labour	T. Jones	3,090
	Labour	G. Thomas	3,032
	Plaid Cymru	D. Reynon	972
	Communist	W. Jones	584
	Communist	B. Lewis	424
	Communist	H. Barrow	280
Turnout				29.4
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Pontardawe No.1 (one seat)

Pontardawe No.1 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. Williams	1,151	62.1
	Labour	G. Williams	703	37.9
Turnout				56.1
	Independent win (new seat)

Pontardawe No.2 (two seats)

Pontardawe No.2 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Maunder	2,694
	Independent	M. Rees	1,948
	Labour	C. Jones	1,836
	Plaid Cymru	M. Mulcahy	1,507
	Independent	R. Jones	1,037
Turnout				78.9
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Pontardawe No.3 (three seats)

Pontardawe No.3 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	G. Lake	4,702
	Labour	W. Rees	4,615
	Labour	B. Richards	4,464
	Plaid Cymru	R. Davies	3,305
Turnout				65.4
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

St Helens (two seats)

St Helens 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	C. Dilley	1,741
	Conservative	M. Hinds	1,545
	Labour	D. Davies	1,067
Turnout				49.1
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Sketty (two seats)

Sketty 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	M. Vaughan	5,270
	Conservative	S. Perry	4,819
	Conservative	R. Massey-Shaw	4,477
	Labour	J. Dalton	2,372
Turnout				47.2
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

St Johns (two seats)

St Johns 1973
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	A, Morris	Unopposed
Labour	H. Tabram	Unopposed
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)

St Thomas (two seats)

St Thamas 1973
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	A. Hare	Unopposed
Labour	I. Morgan	Unopposed
Labour win (new seat)
Labour win (new seat)

Townhill (two seats)

Townhill 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	T. Wignall	1,848
	Labour	T. Evans	1,748
	Conservative	C. McPherson	429
Turnout				34.4
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Victoria (two seats)

Victoria 1973
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Ratepayers	D. Jenkins	1,390
	Ratepayers	S. Jenkins	1,132
	Labour	A. Taylor	1,051
	Labour	R. Lloyd	852
	Conservative	T. Morgan	477
	Conservative	E. Burrington	329
Turnout				57.5
	Ratepayers win (new seat)
	Ratepayers win (new seat)

References

^ "West Glamorgan County Council Election Results 1973-1993" (PDF). The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
^ "Electors Must Vote Now". Port Talbot Guardian. 13 April 1973. p. 1. Retrieved 5 October 2022.
^ "Labour Sweep to Success, Plaid Gain Support". Neath Guardian. 20 April 1973. p. 1. Retrieved 5 October 2022.

[West_Glam_PlymEC-1] "West Glamorgan County Council Election Results 1973-1993" (PDF). The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 14 November 2019.

[PTG-2] "Electors Must Vote Now". Port Talbot Guardian. 13 April 1973. p. 1. Retrieved 5 October 2022.

[NG_20-4-73-3] "Labour Sweep to Success, Plaid Gain Support". Neath Guardian. 20 April 1973. p. 1. Retrieved 5 October 2022.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e Council elections in the preserved county of West Glamorgan
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council	1995 1999 2004 2008 2012 2017 2022
City and County of Swansea Council	1995 1999 2004 2008 2012 2017 2022
West Glamorgan County Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 Abolished
Lliw Valley Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished
Neath Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished
Swansea City Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished
Port Talbot Borough Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished

v t e (1972 ←) 1973 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1974)
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