1981 Mid Glamorgan County Council election

1981 Welsh local government election

The 1981 Mid Glamorgan County Council election was held in May 1981 and were the third elections to Mid Glamorgan County Council, electing 85 councillors. They were preceded by the 1977 elections and followed by the 1985 elections.

Ward Results

Aberdare No.1: Llwydcoed (two seats)

Labour comfortably held both seats. Plaid Cymru, who held a seat in the ward from 1973 to 1977, did not field a candidate.

Aberdare No.1: Llwydcoed 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. Powell*	2,104
	Labour	Mervyn Prowle*	1,956
	Liberal	D. Higgins	1,078
Turnout				48.2	−11.3
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Aberdare No.2: Blaengwawr (one seat)

Aberdare No.2: Blaengwawr 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Glyn Owen*	1,728	52.4	−7.4
	Labour	B. Fitzgerald	1,571	47.6	+7.4
Majority				4.8	− 14.8
Turnout				53.7	−11.7
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Aberdare No.3: Gadlys (one seat)

Aberdare No.3: Gadlys 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	V. Llywellyn*	852	58.5	+1.7
	Independent	L. Rosser	605	41.5
Majority				17.0	+3.5
Turnout				59.4	−20.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Aberdare No.4: Town (one seat)

Aberdare No.4: Town 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	P. Williams	743	44.6	−13.9
	Labour	W. Price	694	41.7	+0.2
	Plaid Cymru	M. Thomas	229	13.7
Majority				2.9	−14.0
Turnout				48.5	+1.5
	Independent hold		Swing

Aberdare No.5: Aberaman (one seat)

Aberdare No.5: Aberaman 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Reed	Unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

Abertridwr and Senghennydd

Abertridwr and Senghennydd 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Ratepayers	J. Davies	1,484	64.5	−11.1
	Labour	E. Wright	817	35.5	+11.1
Majority				29.0	−20.1
Turnout				43.6	+1.1
	Ratepayers hold		Swing

Bedwas and Machen (two seats)

Bedwas and Machen 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Ray Davies*	2,897
	Liberal	Angus Donaldson	2,799
	Labour	E. Gwynne	2,279
Turnout				58.5
	Labour hold		Swing
	Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

Bedwellty No.1 Aberbargoed (one seat)

Bedwellty No.1 Aberbargoed 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M. Collis	838	55.5	+9.1
	Plaid Cymru	K. Szerard*	673	44.5	−9.1
Majority
Turnout				51.7	−5.90
	Labour gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing

Bedwellty No.2 Abertysswg (one seat)

Bedwellty No.2 Abertysswg 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Powell	1,457	76.8	+34.4
	Plaid Cymru	Bill Hyde	440	23.2	−34.4
Majority				53.6
Turnout				44.4	−13.6
	Labour gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing

Bridgend (two seats)

Bridgend 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	F. Bertorelli	1,648
	Labour	R. Bowser	1,548
	Labour	H. Davies	1,547
	Conservative	W. Rutter*	1,512
	Ratepayers	P. Roberts	1,372
	Ratepayers	B. Ellis	1,220
	Independent	R. Evans	703
Turnout				44.0	−9.8
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Caerphilly No.1 (one seat)

Caerphilly No.1 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L. Lewis*	985	59.5	+8.5
	Plaid Cymru	A. Morgan	361	21.8	−14.6
	Liberal	N. Lewis	309	18.7	+18.7
Majority
Turnout				52.8	−12.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Caerphilly No.2 Llanbradach (one seat)

Caerphilly No.2 Llanbradach 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Colin Mann*	1,643	65.2	+14.1
	Labour	E. Piper	878	34.83	+1.5
Majority
Turnout				52.8
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Caerphilly No.4 (one seat)

Bertie Rowland, a long-serving Labour councilor on the former Glamorgan County Council, regained the seat that he narrowly lost four years previously.

Caerphilly No.4 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Bertie Rowland	1,734	46.7	+6.5
	Plaid Cymru	Lindsay Whittle*	1,212	32.6	−5.6
	Liberal	A. Lambert	477	12.8	+12.8
	Conservative	R. Bisley	291	7.8
Majority
Turnout				51.0
	Labour gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing

Caerphilly No.5 North (one seat)

Caerphilly No.5 North 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	R. Jewell*	1,035	56.1
	Plaid Cymru	Phil Bevan	810	43.9
Majority
Turnout				45.5	−1.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Caerphilly No.6 South (one seat)

Caerphilly No.6 South 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	G. Snell	798	37.5
	Independent	M. Ryland	706	33.1
	Plaid Cymru	G. Hibbert	234	11.0
	Ratepayers	P. Lewis	224	10.5
	Liberal	L. Price	168	7.9
Majority
Turnout				48.3
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing

Caerphilly No.7 (one seat)

Caerphilly No.7 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Plaid Cymru	Penri Williams	1,814	63.0
	Labour	R. Toghill	1,067	37.0
Majority
Turnout				47.8
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Cardiff Rural (one seat)

Cardiff Rural 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	C. Richards*	1,233	60.7
	Ratepayers	A. Goodchild	798	39.3
Majority
Turnout				41.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Cowbridge Rural (one seat)

Cowbridge Rural 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	J. David*	1,285	48.5
	Labour	I. Williams	873	32.9
	Plaid Cymru	Janet Davies	493	18.6
Majority
Turnout				41.0
	Independent hold		Swing

Dowlais (one seat)

Dowlais 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	T. Lewis*	1,218	69.6
	Plaid Cymru	P. Jones	531	30.4
Majority
Turnout				39.3
	Labour hold		Swing

Gelligaer No.1 (one seat)

Gelligaer No.1 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	N. Harris	1,735	66.8
	Plaid Cymru	G. Howells*	863	33.2
Majority
Turnout				48.9
	Labour gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing

Gelligaer No.2 (one seat)

Gelligaer No.2 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Davies*	684	48.6
	Independent	J. Bromley	619	44.0
	Plaid Cymru	G. Blenkin	103	7.3
Majority
Turnout				48.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Gelligaer No.3 (one seat)

Gelligaer No.3 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	W. Coleman	1,842	58.1
	Plaid Cymru	J. Jones*	1,327	41.9
Majority
Turnout				45.1
	Labour gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing

Gelligaer No.4 (two seats)

Gelligaer No.4 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	W. Bowen*	2,580
	Labour	B. Lloyd	2,485
	Conservative	J. Howard	662
Turnout				59.2
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Llantrisant and Llantwitfardre No.1 (four seats)

Llantrisant and Llantwitfardre No.1 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	D. Bonner	4,105
	Labour	L. Lodwig*	4,090
	Labour	R. Selwood	3,747
	Labour	H. Prosser	3,735
	Ratepayers	T. John*	3,089
	Plaid Cymru	Delme Bowen	2,400
	Plaid Cymru	D. Watkins	1,730
	Plaid Cymru	J. Canning	1,609
	Plaid Cymru	G. Morris	1,566
	Conservative	R. Bunnage	1,552
	Conservative	J. Bunnage	1,534
	Conservative	L. Hunt	1,499
Turnout				51.8
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Ratepayers		Swing

Llantrisant and Llantwit Fardre No.2 (two seats)

Llantrisant and Llantwitfardre No.2 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	D. McDonald	2,776
	Labour	W. Hall	2,163
	RA	George Jury	1,101
	Independent	R. Brinson	1,060
	RA	H. Deardon	775
	Plaid Cymru	R. Williams	741
Turnout				55.4
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Maesteg No.1 (one seat)

Maesteg No.1 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	V. Hart	Unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

Maesteg No.2 (one seat)

Maesteg No.2 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Jeff Jones	1,364
	Liberal	Jennie Gibbs*	1,171
Majority
Turnout				59.3	+5.0
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Maesteg No.3 (one seat)

Maesteg No.3 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	L. Jenkins	1,676
	Plaid Cymru	I. Williams	368
	Conservative	K. Rowe	198
Majority
Turnout				44.8	−5.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Merthyr, Cyfarthfa (one seat)

Merthyr, Cyfarthfa 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Plaid Cymru	M. Phillips*	1,480	57.6
	Labour	K. Thomas	1,091	42.4
Majority
Turnout
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Merthyr No.6 (one seat)

Merthyr No.6 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Jones	1,632
	Plaid Cymru	C. Foley	937
Majority
Turnout				61.5	−7.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Merthyr No.7 (one seat)

Merthyr No.7 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	T. O'Brien*	1,154
	Plaid Cymru	E. Bartlett	1.045
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Merthyr Park (two seats)

Merthyr Park 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Burns*	1,810
	Labour	J. Cleary	1,615
	Plaid Cymru	G. Foster*	1,265
	Plaid Cymru	D. Thomas	822
	Communist	A. Jones	627
	Liberal	G. Cooper	495
	Communist	C. Dennett	155
	Workers Revolutionary	R. Gould	109
Turnout				45.9
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing

Merthyr Town (one seat)

Merthyr Town 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	T. Davies*	1,056
	Independent	R. Howells	840
	Conservative	E. Horne	252
	Communist	T. Roberts	131
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Mountain Ash No.1 (one seat)

Mountain Ash No.1 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	T. Davies*	1,723
	Plaid Cymru	G. Jones	1,137
Majority
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing

Mountain Ash No.2 (one seat)

Mountain Ash No.2 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	F. Edwards	1,215
	Plaid Cymru	N. Thomas*	953
Majority
Turnout
	Labour gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing

Mountain Ash No.3 (two seats)

Mountain Ash No.3 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	H. Evans	1,870
	Plaid Cymru	Pauline Jarman	1,801
	Labour	S. Lloyd*	1,717
Turnout
	Labour hold		Swing
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Ogmore and Garw No.1 (one seat)

Ogmore and Garw No.1 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Ratepayers	Danny Mordecai	1,144
	Labour	G. Mackay	633
	Independent	R. Smiles	402
Majority
Turnout
	Ratepayers hold		Swing

Ogmore and Garw No.2 (two seats)

Ogmore and Garw No.2 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Plaid Cymru	E. Merriman*	2,670
	Labour	A. Lock	2,474
	Labour	D. Hughes	2,364
	Plaid Cymru	J. Jones	1,855
	Conservative	S. Thomas	261
	Conservative	R. Cave	190
Turnout
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Penybont No.1 (one seat)

Penybont No.1 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	R. Jenkins	1,005	38.5
	Independent	F. Beer	672	25.6
	Conservative	G. Griffiths	611	23.4
	Independent Ratepayer	E. Phillips	319	12.2
Majority
Turnout
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Penybont No.2 (one seat)

Walters had previously represented the neighbouring Penybont No.1 Ward which was also lost by the Conservatives.

Penybont No.2 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	D. Thomas	1,112
	Conservative	L. Walters*	873
Turnout				44.4
	Independent gain from Conservative		Swing

Penybont No.3 (one seat)

Penybont No.3
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	W. Philpin	1,775	57.7
	Conservative	J. Spurgeon*	826	26.8
	Independent	J. Ogden	304	9.9
	Plaid Cymru	B. Williams	173	5.6
Majority
Turnout				47.3
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Penybont No.4 (one seat)

Penybont No.4 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	David Unwin	1,407	51.3
	Labour	G. Stevens	1,044	38.1
	Plaid Cymru	R. Fattorini	291	10.6
Majority
Turnout				42.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Penybont No.5 (two seats)

Penybont No.5 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	E. Davies*	3,579
	Labour	M. Jones*	3,463
	Conservative	M. Eade	725
	Plaid Cymru	K. Burnell	677
	Conservative	W. Jones	672
	Plaid Cymru	P. Tomlin	623
Turnout				44.4
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Penybont No.6 (two seats)

Penybont No.6 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Philip Squire*	2,334
	Labour	G. Walters	2,229
	Plaid Cymru	D. Jones	492
	Independent	D. Thomas	479
	Conservative	M. Powell	476
	Plaid Cymru	A. Rees	458
	Conservative	Chris Smart	355
Turnout				47.6
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing

Penydarren (one seat)

Penydarren 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Mahoney*	Unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

Pontypridd No.1 (one seat)

Pontypridd No.1 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	W. Williams*	1,129	55.4
	Plaid Cymru	S. Holcombe	503	24.7
	Independent	K. James	405	19.9
Turnout				52.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Pontypridd No.2 Town (one seat)

Pontypridd No.2 Town 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Plaid Cymru	Clayton Jones	986	39.5
	Labour	W. Jones*	950	38.1
	Liberal	B. Murphy	560	22.4
Majority
Turnout				57.1
	Plaid Cymru gain from Labour		Swing

Pontypridd No.3 (one seat)

Pontypridd No.3 1977
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	A. Davies	723	68.4
	Plaid Cymru	G. Watkins	229	21.7
	Conservative	Steve Belzak	105	9.9
Majority
Turnout				48.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Pontypridd No.4 Trallwn (one seat)

Pontypridd No.4 Trallwn 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Liberal	Meriel Murphy*	1,001	65.2
	Labour	P. Hill	369	24.0
	Plaid Cymru	G. Gregory	166	10.8
Majority
Turnout				48.6
	Liberal hold		Swing

Pontypridd No.5 Rhydyfelin (one seat)

Pontypridd No.5 Rhydyfelin 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Davies*	1,495	70.4
	Plaid Cymru	Joseph Biddulph	368	17.3
	Conservative	B. Morgan-Lewis	261	12.3
Turnout				30.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Pontypridd No.6 (one seat)

Pontypridd No.6 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	H. Weston*	1,255	64.7
	Plaid Cymru	E. Watkins	516	26.6
	Conservative	L. Jarman	168	8.7
Majority
Turnout				37.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Porthcawl No.1 (one seat)

Porthcawl No.1 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Peter Hubbard-Miles*	1,927	60.5
	Labour	A. Thomas	1,260	39.5
Majority
Turnout				44.4
	Conservative hold		Swing

Porthcawl No.2 (one seat)

Porthcawl No.2 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	G. McBride	1,279	53.6
	Conservative	G. Fairley	1,109	46.4
Majority
Turnout				45.8
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Rhondda No.1 Treherbert (two seats)

Rhondda No.1 Treherbert 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	G. Williams*	1,980
	Communist	Arthur True*	1,818
	Labour	I. Lisle	1,395
	Plaid Cymru	Geraint Davies	1,254
	Plaid Cymru	S. Macmillan	553
Turnout				85.7
	Labour hold		Swing
	Communist hold		Swing

Rhondda No.2 Treorchy (two seats)

Rhondda No.2 Treorchy 1981
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	H. Jones*	Unopposed
Labour	G. Rees*	Unopposed
Labour hold		Swing
Labour hold		Swing

Rhondda No.3 Pentre (one seat)

Rhondda No.3 Pentre 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	W. Gough	1,240	63.3
	Plaid Cymru	M. Powell	720	36.7
Majority
Turnout				44.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Rhondda No.4 Ystrad (one seat)

Rhondda No.4 Ystrad 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Independent	T. Hughes	1,718	61.2
	Labour	D. Thomas*	1,091	38.8
Majority
Turnout				55.3
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Rhondda No.5 (one seat)

Rhondda No.5 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	E. Emmanuel	1,899	63.6
	Plaid Cymru	D. Morgan*	1,085	36.4
Majority
Turnout				56.2
	Labour gain from Plaid Cymru		Swing

Rhondda No.6 (one seat)

Rhondda No.6 1977
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	E. Harris	1,941	68.2
	Conservative	P. Leyshon	648	22.8
	Plaid Cymru	C. Pugh	255	9.0
Majority
Turnout				50.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Rhondda No.7 Penygraig (one seat)

Rhondda No.7 Penygraig 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. Richards*	Unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

Rhondda No.8 Porth (two seats)

Rhondda No.8 Porth 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	A. Ellis*	2,123
	Labour	L. Rees	2,046
	Ratepayers	T. Rees	1,494
	Ratepayers	R. Dentus	1,469
Turnout				45.4
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Rhondda No.9 (one seat)

Rhondda No.9 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	A. Williams	1,475	56.1
	Ratepayers	D. May*	1,155	43.9
Majority
Turnout				56.5
	Labour gain from Ratepayers		Swing

Rhymney Lower, Middle and Upper (one seat)

Rhymney Lower, Middle and Upper 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	J. Williams*	1,679	90.8
	Plaid Cymru	A. Cosh	170	9.2
Majority
Turnout				41.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Treharris (one seat)

Treharris 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. Richards*	Unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

Vaynor and Penderyn No.1 (one seat)

Vaynor and Penderyn No.1 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Plaid Cymru	C. Harris	972	53.8
	Labour	I. Holt	834	46.2
Majority
Turnout				53.9
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Vaynor and Penderyn No.2 (one seat)

Vaynor and Penderyn No.2 1981
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	M. Chambers	804	55.8
	Independent	T. Smith	636	44.2
Majority
Turnout				55.3
	Labour hold		Swing

References

"Mid Glamorgan County Council Election Results 1973-1993" (PDF). The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 17 October 2016.

v t e Council elections in the preserved county of Mid Glamorgan
Bridgend	1995 1999 2004 2008 2012 2017 2022
Merthyr Tydfil	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2004 2008 2012 2017 2022
Rhondda Cynon Taf	1995 1999 2004 2008 2012 2017 2022
Mid Glamorgan County Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 Abolished
Cynon Valley	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished
Ogwr	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished
Rhondda	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished
Rhymney Valley	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished
Taff-Ely	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 Abolished

v t e (1980 ←) 1981 United Kingdom local elections (→ 1982)
County councils (England)	Avon Bedfordshire Berkshire Buckinghamshire Cambridgeshire Cheshire Cleveland Cornwall Cumbria Derbyshire Devon Dorset Durham East Sussex Essex Gloucestershire Hampshire Hereford and Worcester Hertfordshire Humberside Isle of Wight Kent Lancashire Leicestershire Lincolnshire Norfolk North Yorkshire Northamptonshire Northumberland Nottinghamshire Oxfordshire Shropshire Somerset Staffordshire Suffolk Surrey Warwickshire West Sussex Wiltshire
County councils (Wales)	Clwyd Dyfed Gwent Gwynedd Mid Glamorgan Powys South Glamorgan West Glamorgan
Metropolitan counties	Greater Manchester Merseyside South Yorkshire Tyne and Wear West Midlands West Yorkshire
Unicameral area	Greater London
District councils (Northern Ireland)	Antrim Ards Armagh Ballymena Ballymoney Banbridge Belfast Carrickfergus Castlereagh Coleraine Cookstown Craigavon Down Dungannon Fermanagh Larne Limavady Lisburn Londonderry Magherafelt Moyle Newry and Mourne Newtownabbey North Down Omagh Strabane
Sui generis	Isles of Scilly

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