Fairwater (Cardiff electoral ward)

Fairwater is the name of an electoral ward in the west of Cardiff, capital city of Wales. It covers Fairwater and Pentrebane on the outskirts of the urban area.

Fairwater ward
Electoral ward
Location of Fairwater ward within Cardiff
Population12,981 (2011 census)[1]
Community
Principal area
CountryWales
Sovereign stateUnited Kingdom
Post townCARDIFF
Postcode districtCF5
Dialling code+44-29
UK Parliament
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament
Councillors3
List of places
UK
Wales
Cardiff

The Fairwater ward is bordered to the west by Pentyrch and St Fagans, to the east by Llandaff and to the south by the Ely ward.

Background

edit

Fairwater has elected three councillors to Cardiff Council since 1995, being represented by the Labour Party until May 2008 when all three seats were taken by Plaid Cymru.[2]

Plaid Cymru (Fairwater and Pentrebane Voice) and Labour (Fairwater and Pentrebane Fightback) have both issued local campaigning newsletters containing allegations and counter-allegations against one another.[3] These have included accusations that Cllr Michael Michael, a hairdresser, was profiting from a council leased building[4] and allegations about Cllr McEvoy's expenses.[3]

During the 2008 election campaign former MP Rod Richards, who lived in Fairwater, was arrested after assaulting a fellow Conservative Party campaigner.[5]

Plaid lost a seat in May 2012[6] but regained it in 2017. Ward representatives have included Labour councillor Michael Michael, who was deputy leader of the Cardiff Council until 2008[7] and Plaid Cymru's Neil McEvoy, who was deputy leader of the council from 2008 to 2012. McEvoy had previously been a Labour Party councillor for the Riverside ward in the city and was also elected as a Plaid Cymru Assembly Member in the Wales Government in 2016.[8] McEvoy was expelled from Plaid Cymru in 2018 and the remaining two councillors resigned the Plaid Cymru party whip in October 2019 in protest at the treatment of McEvoy. They remained as independent councillors.[9]

McEoy retained his seat in 2022, this time standing for the Propel party.[10]

County councillors

edit
Representation 1995 – date [2]
Year       Labour     Plaid Cymru      Other    
2022 2 1
2019 - - 3
2018 - 2 1
2017 - 3 -
2012 1 2 -
2008 - 3 -
2004 3 - -
1999 3 - -
1995 3 - -

Elections

edit

May 2022

edit

Attention was on the Fairwater ward in May 2022, with Neil McEvoy's new political party, Propel, hoping to win the seats previously won by his former party, Plaid Cymru.[11] Plaid stood under the new coalition name of Common Ground. Whist McEvoy retained his seat,[10] the other two seats were won by Labour.[12]

2022 Cardiff Council election[13]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Labour Claudia BOES 1,543 14.2 N/A
Propel Neil McEVOY * 1,478 13.6 N/A
Labour Saleh AHMED 1,455 13.4 N/A
Propel Lisa FORD * 1,318 12.1 N/A
Labour Lorna STABLER 1,300 12.0 N/A
Propel Keith PARRY * 1,185 10.9 N/A
Common Ground Neil ROBERTS 436 4.0 N/A
Conservative David ADAMS 417 3.8 N/A
Common Ground Philip CROXALL 383 3.5 N/A
Conservative Natalie MATTHEWS 383 3.5 N/A
Common Ground Erik WILLIAMS 344 3.2 N/A
Conservative Clive WILLIAMS 343 3.2 N/A
Liberal Democrats Eleri KIBALE 150 1.4 N/A
Liberal Democrats Mark REES 126 1.2 N/A
Turnout 10,861 N/A
Registered electors 9,919
Labour gain from Plaid Cymru Swing
Propel gain from Plaid Cymru Swing
Labour gain from Plaid Cymru Swing

May 2017

edit
2017 Cardiff Council election[14]
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Plaid Cymru Neil McEVOY * 2,414
Plaid Cymru Lisa FORD * 2,349
Plaid Cymru Keith PARRY 2,017
Labour Paul MITCHELL * 1,160
Labour John BAYLISS 1,101
Labour Irene HUMPHREYS 1,039
Conservative John WILLIAMS 535
Conservative Alan HILL 533
Conservative Ronald MICHAELIS 450
Liberal Democrats Eleri RANDERSON 203
Green Phillip CROXALL 190
Liberal Democrats Mark REES 92
Liberal Democrats Oliver TOWNSEND 92
TUSC Ross SAUNDERS 73
Turnout 44.5%

* = sitting councillor prior to the election

References

edit
  1. ^ "Fairwater - Key Stats". UKcensusdata.com. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Cardiff Council Election Results 1995-2012" (PDF). The Elections Centre. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  3. ^ a b Hannah Waldram (12 April 2011). "Cardiff candidate lashes out at 'Labour lies' as election spat continues". theguardian.com. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  4. ^ "Hairdresser's demand over plan meeting". South Wales Echo. 31 January 2011. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  5. ^ "Ex-Welsh minister cautioned after canvasser assaulted". North Wales Live. 17 April 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  6. ^ "Cardiff council elections: The story in each ward". yourCardiff. 3 May 2012. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  7. ^ "Concerns over councillor Michael Michael's Cardiff council deal". BBC News. 17 May 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  8. ^ Mosalski, Ruth (16 April 2017). "Who is Neil McEvoy, the Plaid politician who thinks he can be the next leader of Cardiff council?". Wales Online. Retrieved 27 April 2018.
  9. ^ "Plaid Cymru Cardiff councillors resign party whip". BBC News. 23 October 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  10. ^ a b Wilks, Rebecca (6 May 2022). "Cardiff local election results: Labour increases council majority". The National. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  11. ^ Seabrook, Alex (30 April 2022). "The five key battlegrounds in Cardiff where the election could be won or lost". Nation.Cymru. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  12. ^ Barnes, Ed; Mosalski, Ruth; Hayward, Will; Seabrook, Alex (6 May 2022). "Cardiff local election results 2022: Labour leader describes party victory as 'historic' as it grows seat number". Wales Online. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  13. ^ "Election results for Fairwater - Cardiff Council Elections 2022 - Thursday, 5th May, 2022". Cardiff Council. Retrieved 16 October 2022.
  14. ^ "Election results for Fairwater - Cardiff Council Elections 2017 - Thursday, 4th May, 2017". Cardiff Council. Retrieved 27 April 2018.