2022 Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council election

The 2022 election to Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council was held on 5 May 2022 as part of wider local elections across Wales. The election was preceded by the 2017 election. Three candidates (from the sixty seats available) were elected unopposed.

Ward results

Nominations closed on 4 April 2022.^[1]

The following results were announced following the elections.^[2] In the case of wards electing more than one councillor the percentage figures reflect the number of ballot papers issued rather than the total number of votes.

Aberavon (two seats)

Aberavon 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Stephanie Lynch*	707	24
	Plaid Cymru	Andrew Dacey	678	23
	Plaid Cymru	Nigel Hunt*	637	21
	Labour	Dean Thomas	608	20
	Independent	Ceri P. Golding	245	8
	Conservative	Ieuan Bounds	120	4
Turnout			1,655	39	−1.0
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Aberdulais (one seat)

Aberdulais 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Caroline Lewis	373	50
	Labour	Ricky Price	263	36
	Plaid Cymru	Lee Bromham-Nichols	104	14
Majority			110
Turnout			743	41	−3.6
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Alltwen (one seat)

Alltwen 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Nia Jenkins	459	54
	Labour	Christopher Jones*	398	46
Majority			61
Turnout			871	41	−1.9
	Plaid Cymru gain from Labour		Swing

Baglan (three seats)

Baglan 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Peter Richards*	1,390	31
	Labour	Carol Clement-Williams*	1,079	24
	Labour	Susanne Renkes*	910	20
	Independent	John Davies	781	17
	Conservative	Liz Hill O'Shea	386	8
Turnout			2,015	37	+0.5
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Blaengwrach and Glynneath West (one seat)

Blaengwrach and Glynneath West 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Hayley Davies	498	59
	Plaid Cymru	Carol Edwards*	311	37
	TUSC	Rhys Davies	35	4
Majority			187
Turnout			858	37
	Independent gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing

Briton Ferry East (one seat)

Chris James was elected as a Labour candidate in 2017.

Briton Ferry East 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Chris James*	351	45
	Labour	Gareth Rice	349	44
	Plaid Cymru	Lindsay Gwilym Barnett	87	11
Majority			2
Turnout			796	35	+0.7
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Briton Ferry West (one seat)

Briton Ferry West 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Kirsty Morris	323	50
	Labour	Sarah Davies	257	39
	Plaid Cymru	Delyth Barnett	72	11
Majority			66
Turnout			655	31
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Bryn and Cwmavon (three seats)

Bryn and Cwmavon 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Charlotte Galsworthy*	1,620	36
	Labour	Rhidian Mizen*	1,156	26
	Labour	Dave Whitelock*	940	21
	Independent	Myra Mizen	752	17
Turnout			2,110	39	−2.6
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Bryncoch North (one seat)

Bryncoch North 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Wyndham Fryer Griffiths*	528	57
	Labour	Kate Elkins	284	31
	Conservative	Andrea Moignard	115	12
Majority			244
Turnout			928	51	+2.9
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Bryncoch South (two seats)

Bryncoch South 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Chris Williams*	992	38
	Plaid Cymru	Jo Hale	930	36
	Labour	Jim Harle	689	26
Turnout			1,646	38	−2.3
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Cadoxton (one seat)

Cadoxton 2012
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Phil Rogers	388	52
	Labour	Sarah Mitchell	237	31
	Plaid Cymru	Alex Broom	98	13
	Conservative	Barry Arnold	30	4
Majority			151
Turnout			755	54	+5.6
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Cimla and Pelenna (two seats)

Cimla and Pelenna 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jeremy Hurley	1,100	35
	Independent	Tim Bowen	845	27
	Labour	John Warman*	836	27
	Labour	Al Musaeid	362	12
Turnout			1,732	42	+7.0
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Coedffranc Central (two seats)

Coedffranc Central 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Green	Nathan Goldup-John	552	25
	Labour	Angharad Aubrey*	516	24
	Labour	Annette Wingrave	478	22
	Green	Bethany Payne	395	18
	Independent	David Richards	134	6
	Liberal Democrats	Frank Little	108	5
Turnout			1,203	33	−2.6
	Green gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Coedffranc North (one seat)

Coedffranc North 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Mike Harvey*	455	62
	Independent	Nicola Evans	276	38
Majority			179
Turnout			736	40	−2.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Coedffranc West (two seats)

Coedffranc West 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal Democrats	Helen Ceri Clarke*	803	47
	Liberal Democrats	Cen Phillips	548	32
	Labour	Kris Langford	242	14
	Conservative	Matthew Williams	107	6
Turnout			964	32	−4.7
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Crynant, Onllwyn and Seven Sisters (two seats)

Crynant, Onllwyn and Seven Sisters 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Steve Hunt*	1,316	37
	Independent	Sian Harris*	1,195	33
	Labour	Dean Cawsey	896	25
	Green	Lowri Bennett	182	5
Turnout			2,042	50
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

Cwmllynfell and Ystalyfera (two seats)

Cwmllynfell and Ystalyfera 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Plaid Cymru	Alun Llewelyn*	763	40
	Labour	Cathy James	583	31
	Plaid Cymru	Hugh Jones*	560	29
Turnout			1,217	38
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing

Cymmer and Glyncorrwg (one seat)

Cymmer and Glyncorrwg 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jeff Jones	412	45
	Independent	Nicola-Jayne Davies*	284	31
	Independent	Joshua Slater	219	24
Majority			128
Turnout			917	52	+0.6
	Independent gain from Independent		Swing

Dyffryn (two seats)

Dyffryn 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	David Martyn Peters*	862	39
	Independent	James Henton	427	20
	Independent	Keith Davies	362	17
	Labour	Keith Finn	289	13
	Independent	Joe Baugh	246	11
Turnout			1,213	41
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

Glynneath Central and East (one seat)

Glynneath Central and East 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Simon Anthony Knoyle*	547	59
	Plaid Cymru	John Blower	209	23
	Independent	David Richards	171	18
Majority			338
Turnout			938	50
	Independent hold		Swing

Godre'r Graig (one seat)

Godre'r Graig 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Rosalyn Davies*	387	67
	Labour	Will Lord	162	28
	Green	Ruth Battye	27	5
Majority			225
Turnout			581	36	−8.0
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Gwaun Cae Gurwen and Lower Brynaman (two seats)

Gwaun Cae Gurwen and Lower Brynaman 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Sonia Helen Reynolds*
	Labour	Sarah Thomas
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing	unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing	unopposed

Gwynfi and Croeserw (one seat)

Scott Jones was elected as a Labour candidate in 2017.

Gwynfi and Croeserw 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Scott Jones*
Majority
Turnout
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing	unopposed

Margam and Taibach (three seats)

Margam and Taibach 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Robert Jones*	1,166	19
	Labour	Laura Williams	1,077	17
	Labour	Dennis Keogh	982	16
	Plaid Cymru	Colin Deere	873	14
	Plaid Cymru	Stephen Bevan	868	14
	Plaid Cymru	Wayne White	534	9
	Independent	John Bamsey	532	8
	Conservative	Anthony Hill O'Shea	236	4
Turnout			2,401	39
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Jones was the former councillor for the Margam ward, which was merged with Tai-bach in 2022. Keogh was formerly the councillor for Port Talbot

Neath East (three seats)

Neath East 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Plaid Cymru	Dan Thomas	482	16
	Labour	Sheila Penry*	463	15
	Independent	Wayne Carpenter	452	15
	Labour	Sandra Miller*	427	14
	Plaid Cymru	Thomas Cooze	418	14
	Labour	John Miller*	418	14
	Plaid Cymru	Breandan Mac Cathail	371	12
Turnout			1,251	27
	Plaid Cymru gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Neath North (two seats)

Neath North 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Alan Lockyer*	518	30
	Independent	Andy Lodwig	474	28
	Labour	Sian James	402	23
	Green	Jan Dowden	321	19
Turnout			1,104	36
	Labour hold		Swing
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Neath South (two seats)

Neath South 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	Carl Jordan	557	22
	Labour	Peter Rees*	520	21
	Plaid Cymru	Megan Poppy Lloyd	427	17
	Labour	Rose Widlake	402	16
	Independent	Adam McGrath	316	13
	Plaid Cymru	Jonnie Fishlock	254	10
Turnout			1,366	36
	Independent gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Pontardawe (two seats)

Pontardawe 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Plaid Cymru	Anthony Richards*	783	27
	Plaid Cymru	Charles Davies	781	27
	Labour	Meirion Davies	732	25
	Labour	Jill Lord	650	22
Turnout			1,599	38
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Port Talbot (two seats)

Due to the death of a candidate, the Port Talbot ward election was postponed until 23 June 2022.

Port Talbot 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Saifur Rahaman*	914	31
	Labour	Sharon Freeguard*	898	31
	Plaid Cymru	Nigel Hunt	367	13
	Independent	John Davies	246	8
	Plaid Cymru	Melissa Stanford-Roberts	244	8
	Independent	Kimberly Isherwood	171	6
	Green	Bethany Payne	46	2
	Green	Jan Dowden	25	1
Turnout			2,911	33
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Resolven and Tonna (two seats)

Resolven and Tonna 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Leanne Jones*	914	25
	Independent	Dean Lewis	842	23
	Independent	Matty Young	737	20
	Labour	Neil Francis	702	19
	Plaid Cymru	Andrew Clarke	287	8
	Plaid Cymru	Paul Sambrook	238	6
Turnout			2,001	44
	Labour hold		Swing
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Rhos (one seat)

Rhos 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Plaid Cymru	Marcia Spooner	486	55
	Labour	Noel Thomas	403	45
Majority			83
Turnout			909	43
	Plaid Cymru gain from Labour		Swing

Sandfields East (three seats)

Sandfields East 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Sean Pursey*	1,331	28
	Labour	Edward Latham*	1,057	22
	Labour	Matthew Crowley*	1,006	21
	Plaid Cymru	Cassius Walker-Hunt	583	12
	Plaid Cymru	Deborah Bamsey	556	12
	Green	Kevin Sprules	260	5
Turnout			1,864	36
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Sandfields West (three seats)

Sandfields West 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Suzanne Paddison*	837	24
	Labour	Oliver Davies*	815	24
	Labour	Robert Wood*	741	22
	Plaid Cymru	Andrew Bennison	602	17
	Plaid Cymru	Ethan Wheatley	446	13
Turnout			1,422	28
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Trebanos (one seat)

Trebanos 2022
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Plaid Cymru	Rebeca Phillips*	445	69
	Labour	Glenn Thomas	196	31
Majority			249
Turnout			647	46
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Aftermath

The Independent Group and Plaid Cymru agreed a deal to take control of the council, ending 26 years of Labour dominance.^[3]

By-Elections 2022-2027

Briton Ferry East by-election 2024

A by-election was held in Briton Ferry East on 15 February 2024 following the resignation of Independent councillor, Chris James.

Briton Ferry East by-election 2024
	Candidate	Votes	%
Labour	Gareth Rice	287	52%
Independent	Kris Pemberton	234	43%
Green	Stephanie Woodhouse	27	5%

Rhos by-election 2024

A by-election was held in Rhos on 15 February 2024 following the death of Plaid Cymru councillor, Marcia Spooner.

Rhos by-election 2024
	Candidate	Votes	%
Independent	Bob Woolford	494	52%
Plaid Cymru	Matty Vincent	242	26%
Labour	Noel Davies	137	14%
Liberal Democrats	Susan Helen Jay	60	6%
Green	Kathy Oakwood	15	2%

Neath East by-election 2024

A by-election was held in Neath East on 28 March 2024 following the death of Labour councillor, Shelia Penry.

Neath East by-election 2024
	Candidate	Votes	%
Labour	Lauren Heard	409	44%
Independent	Keith Finn	247	26%
Plaid Cymru	Megan Poppy Lloyd	157	17%
Green	Sylwia Harris	121	13%

References

^ "Notices for County Borough Council elections". Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
^ "Election results by electoral wards - County Borough Council - Ordinary Elections - Thursday, 5th May, 2022". Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.
^ "Independent and Plaid coalition takes control of Neath Port Talbot Council". Swansea Bay News. 23 May 2022.

[1] "Notices for County Borough Council elections". Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. Retrieved 7 May 2022.

[2] "Election results by electoral wards - County Borough Council - Ordinary Elections - Thursday, 5th May, 2022". Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. 5 May 2022. Retrieved 28 June 2022.

[3] "Independent and Plaid coalition takes control of Neath Port Talbot Council". Swansea Bay News. 23 May 2022.

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