1970 Cardiff City Council election

The 1970 Cardiff City Council election was held on Thursday 7 May 1970 to elect councillors to Cardiff City Council in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. It took place on the same day as many other local elections in Wales and England.

The previous elections to this one were in May 1969 and the next elections would be in May 1971. These would be some of the last all-Cardiff elections 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 seats from the Conservatives.^[1]

Background

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.^[2] The councillors elected in 1970 would be the last to serve a full three year term in office. Nineteen seats in 19 electoral wards were up for election in May 1970.

Overview of the result

The Labour Party recovered the position they had been in prior to the 1967 election, gaining three seats from the Conservatives. This was credited to the fact Labour's supporters had come out to vote, rather than staying home as they had done at the last election.^[1] The campaign against the new hook road in the north of the city was a factor. Two wards where Labour made gains, Cathays and Central, were directly affected. Bill Herbert, who won in the Central ward, was chairman of the Cardiff United Residents Association and a leading campaigner against the new road.^[1]

The most prominent casualty of the election was Councillor Mary Hallinan, the Lady Mayoress, who lost her seat in the Central ward.^[3] The morning after the election, the Lord Mayor of Cardiff, Alderman Lincoln Hallinan, broke an 18 year tradition when he refused to welcome the three newly elected (Labour) councillors, Herbert, Matthewson and Edwards, in his parlour. He later agreed to meet them before the first council meeting the following week.^[4]

Despite winning their first seat on the council in 1969, and fielding a large number of candidates at the 1970 election, Plaid Cymru performed poorly, though managed to come second in Llandaff.^[1]

Council composition

Following the May 1970 election the balance on the city council was 57 Conservatives, 18 Labour and one Plaid Cymru.^[3]

Ward results

Contests took place in every ward at this election.^[5]

Adamsdown

Adamsdown ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	John Patrick Keohane *	1,503
	Conservative	John Terence Curran	960
Majority			543
	Labour hold		Swing

Canton

Canton ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Trevor Tyrrell *	1,665
	Labour	Dengar Robinson Evans	1,283
	Plaid Cymru	Reginald James Stuart	332
Majority			382
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cathays

Cathays ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	John Charles Edwards	2,323
	Conservative	Bernard Arthur Bateman *	1,955
	Plaid Cymru	Terence Hiley O'Neill	507
Majority			368
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Central

Central ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	William Penry Herbert	1,385
	Conservative	Mary Hallinan *	1,090
	Liberal	Richard Michael James	186
	Plaid Cymru	Dennis O'Neill	152
	Ratepayer	Denis George Parberry	35
Majority			295
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Ely

Ely ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	William Carling *	2,989
	Conservative	Joan Joshua	1,239
	Plaid Cymru	Gerallt Wyn Davies	649
Majority			1,750
	Labour hold		Swing

Gabalfa

Gabalfa ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	William Emrys Pride *	2,752
	Conservative	Russell Gabe-Wilkinson	1,598
	Plaid Cymru	Brian Morgan Edwards	620
Majority			1,154
	Labour hold		Swing

Grangetown

Grangetown ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Armour Bernard Matthewson	1,260
	Conservative	Anthea Jean Thomas	1,249
	Plaid Cymru	Peter Stayeley McMullen	315
Majority			11
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Bernard Matthewson, a former city councillor, won after a recount.^[1]

Llanishen

Llanishen ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Lionel E. Pugh *	3,317
	Labour	John Gilbert May	1,763
	Plaid Cymru	Hugh Rosser Jordan	617
Majority			1,554
	Conservative hold		Swing

Llandaff

Llandaff ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Julius Hermer *	2,642
	Plaid Cymru	Gwen Humphreys	842
	Labour	Norma Lorraine Maylin	701
Majority			1,800
	Conservative hold		Swing

Penylan

Penylan ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Jean Lewis *	4,410
	Labour	Yvette Roblin	1,479
	Plaid Cymru	(Mrs) Ron Morgan Edwards	568
Majority			3,231
	Conservative hold		Swing

This was claimed to be the first ever all-woman ward election in Cardiff.^[6]

Plasmawr

Plasmawr ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Hubert Harding *	2,538
	Conservative	Frederick John Jones	1,560
	Plaid Cymru	David John Davies	1,066
Majority			978
	Labour hold		Swing

Plasnewydd

Plasnewydd ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Olwen Watkin *	2,188
	Labour	Michael John Parry	1,190
	Plaid Cymru	Philip Broan Richards	398
	Liberal	Elizabeth Davina Forrest	276
Majority			998
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rhiwbina

Rhiwbina ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Martin Rodney Davies *	3,042
	Labour	William Michael Walker	938
	Plaid Cymru	William Gwynfor Hughes	858
Majority			2.102
	Conservative hold		Swing

Riverside

Riverside ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	David C. Parnell *	1,525
	Labour	Thomas Clifford Lee	885
	Plaid Cymru	Robert Francis Thomas	324
Majority			640
	Conservative hold		Swing

Roath

Roath ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Ronald Richards *	3,242
	Labour	John Stuart Scrivens	851
Majority			2,391
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rumney

Rumney ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	John Noel Rees *	2,876
	Conservative	Sylvia Brown	1,777
	Plaid Cymru	Michael Coughlin	498
Majority			1,099
	Labour hold		Swing

South

South ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Terence Roche *	1,660
	Labour	Harold George Bartlett	1,504
	Communist	Frank Taylor	64
Majority			156
	Conservative hold		Swing

Splott

Splott ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Manuel C. Delgado *	2,438
	Conservative	Francis Joseph McCarthy	1,619
	Communist	Richard Horatio Spencer	45
Majority			819
	Labour hold		Swing

Whitchurch

Whitchurch ward 1970
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	George Everson Brown *	2,490
	Labour	Henry Gordon Howell	1,168
	Plaid Cymru	David Gareth Williams	401
Majority			1,322
	Conservative hold		Swing

* = 'retiring' ward councillor for re-election

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "Labour whoop for joy on poll triumph". South Wales Echo. 8 May 1970. p. 13.
^ "All eyes on Whitchutch and Rhiwbina - newcomers hold the key to power". South Wales Echo. 9 May 1967. p. 6. For to bring the election procedure into line with that in the city's other wards, whoever tops the poll in the two new wards goes to City Hall for a full three-year term. The runners-up will serve for two years, while those in third place ...must face the electorate again in 12 months time... In this way the added areas will in future elect one member every year from 1968.
^ ^a ^b "Lady Mayoress loses city council seat to Labour". The Western Mail. 8 May 1970. p. 4.
^ "Lord Mayor declines to 'receive' new councillors". South Wales Echo. 8 May 1970. p. 1.
^ "Labour whoop for joy on poll triumph - How the voting went". South Wales Echo. 8 May 1970. p. 13.
^ "Early voters 'hit by late start'". South Wales Echo. 7 May 1970. pp. 1, 4.

[SWE_Labour_whoop-1] "Labour whoop for joy on poll triumph". South Wales Echo. 8 May 1970. p. 13.

[2] "All eyes on Whitchutch and Rhiwbina - newcomers hold the key to power". South Wales Echo. 9 May 1967. p. 6. For to bring the election procedure into line with that in the city's other wards, whoever tops the poll in the two new wards goes to City Hall for a full three-year term. The runners-up will serve for two years, while those in third place ...must face the electorate again in 12 months time... In this way the added areas will in future elect one member every year from 1968.

[Wmail_8_May-3] "Lady Mayoress loses city council seat to Labour". The Western Mail. 8 May 1970. p. 4.

[4] "Lord Mayor declines to 'receive' new councillors". South Wales Echo. 8 May 1970. p. 1.

[SWE_results-5] "Labour whoop for joy on poll triumph - How the voting went". South Wales Echo. 8 May 1970. p. 13.

[6] "Early voters 'hit by late start'". South Wales Echo. 7 May 1970. pp. 1, 4.

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