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Swansea Council Welsh: Cyngor Abertawe
Type
Type	Unitary authority
History
Founded	1 April 1996
Preceded by	West Glamorgan County Council Swansea City Council Lliw Valley Borough Council
Leadership
Lord Mayor	Paxton Hood-Williams, Conservative since 17 May 2024
Leader	Rob Stewart, Labour since 9 September 2014
Chief Executive	Martin Nicholls since 21 November 2022
Structure
Seats	75 councillors
Political groups	Administration   Labour (45) Other parties (20)   Liberal Democrats (11)   Conservative (6)   Independent (6)   Uplands (4)   Independents@Swansea (2)   Green (1)
Length of term	5 years
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Guildhall, Swansea
Website
www.swansea.gov.uk

The City and County of Swansea Council (Welsh: Cyngor Dinas a Sir Abertawe), or simply Swansea Council (Welsh: Cyngor Abertawe), is the local authority for the city and county of Swansea, one of the principal areas of Wales. The principal area also includes rural areas to the north of the built-up area of Swansea and the Gower Peninsula to the west. The council consists of 75 councillors representing 32 electoral wards.

Since 2012 the council has been controlled by the Labour Party.

History

Swansea was an ancient borough. The town's first charter was granted sometime between 1158 and 1184 by William de Newburgh, 3rd Earl of Warwick. The charter granted the townsmen (called burgesses) certain rights to develop the area. A second charter was granted in 1215 by King John. The borough was reformed under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 to become a municipal borough.

When elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, Swansea was considered large enough to run its own county-level services, and so it became a county borough, independent from Glamorgan County Council. Swansea County Borough Council was the local authority from 1889 until 1974. It gained city status in 1969, allowing the council to call itself Swansea City Council.

In 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, Swansea became a lower-tier district council, with the new West Glamorgan County Council providing county-level services. The district of Swansea created in 1974 was larger than the old county borough, also covering the area of the abolished Gower Rural District. In 1996, under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994, further local government reform saw West Glamorgan County Council abolished and the district of Swansea merged with parts of the Lliw Valley district to form a unitary authority, called the 'City and County of Swansea' (Welsh: Dinas a Sir Abertawe.)

Political control

The first election to the new council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1996 has been held by the following parties:

Leadership

The first leader of the council following the reforms in 1996, Tom Jones, was the last leader of West Glamorgan County Council. The leaders of Swansea Council since 1996 have been:

Composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent changes of allegiance up to July 2024, the composition of the council was:

The Liberal Democrats, local party Independents@Swansea and five of the independent councillors sit together as the 'Liberal Democrats and Independent Opposition Group'. The next election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since 2012, elections have taken place every five years. The last election was 5 May 2022.

Party with the most elected councillors in bold. Coalition agreements in notes column.

Between 1996 and 2004, the council was under Labour control. Between 2004 and 2012 there was no overall control and the council was led by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Independents and the Conservatives, termed the Swansea Administration. Labour regained control of the council at the 2012 election and retained control at the 2017 and 2022 elections.

Electoral wards

Following a local government boundary review, the number of wards in Swansea was reduced from 36 to 32. The changes took effect from the 2022 local elections. The boundaries of 15 wards remained unchanged, but a number of other wards were merged, or radically altered, with new wards such as Mumbles and Waterfront created.

The following table lists the post-2022 county/community wards, the numbers of councillors elected and the communities they cover. Communities with a community council are indicated with a '*':

* = Communities which elect a community council
= Ward coterminous with community of the same name

Council premises

Council meetings are generally held at Swansea Guildhall, which was completed in 1934 for the old county borough council. The council's main offices are at the Civic Centre, on Oystermouth Road, overlooking Swansea Bay. The Civic Centre was completed in 1982 as County Hall for the former West Glamorgan County Council.

• Mansion House
• Palace Theatre, Swansea

Mayoralty

The Lord Mayor of Swansea (Welsh: Arglwydd Faer Abertawe) is a senior member of the elected Council. Swansea has had a Mayor since it became a borough in 1835. The dignity of Lord Mayor was conferred on the city by Queen Elizabeth II on 22 March 1982 to celebrate the wedding of Charles, Prince of Wales. The status was confirmed on 1 April 1996 when the Unitary Authority of the City and County of Swansea came into being.

The style of the Lord Mayor is "The Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Swansea". The official residence is the Mansion House in Ffynone, which was originally built as the home of a previous mayor, Evan Matthew Richards. It was purchased by the then County Borough of Swansea in 1922 and renamed the Mansion House.

Lord Mayors of Swansea

Corporate identity

Logo

The logo of the City and County of Swansea depicts a stylised Osprey. It is shown with the name of the council written beneath it or beside it, both in Welsh (Cyngor Abertawe) and English (Swansea Council). An older version of the logo displayed the text written in a ring around the Osprey pictogram.

Coat of arms

The official coat of arms used by the council today were granted by the College of Arms in 1922. The motto is 'Floreat Swansea'.

The Arms are blazoned as follows:

Per Fess wavy Azure and barry wavy of six Argent, of the first a double-towered Castle or, in Chief on an Inescutcheon of the third a Lion passant guardant Gules; And for the Crest, On a Wreath of the Colours an Osprey rising holding in the Beak a Fish proper; Supporters: on the dexter side a Lion Gules gorged with a Mural Crown or, and on the sinister side a Dragon Gules gorged with a Mural Crown or'.

The Arms are symbolic to an extent: the blue and white wavy bars represent the sea, since Swansea is a port town; the Castle represents the Medieval fortifications of the Town; the lion as dexter supporter and on the Inescutcheon commemorates the link with the de Breos family; and the dragon as sinister supporter is the National Emblem of Wales and is a supporter in the Achievement of Arms of the present Lord Swansea.

In April 1974, the City of Swansea was merged with the Gower Rural District to form the new District and City of Swansea. The Arms granted to the Corporation of the County Borough of Swansea in 1922 were transferred unchanged to the new City Council in May 1975. The Certificate of Transfer of the College of Arms dated 11 March 1976 confirmed the re-granting of the Arms. With the 1996 reorganisation of local government, the arms were transferred a second time to the present City Council.

See also

• List of parliamentary constituencies in West Glamorgan

References

1. "Long-serving councillor becomes Lord Mayor". Swansea Council. 17 May 2024. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
2. Gregory, Rhys (23 November 2022). "Swansea Council has appointed a new Chief Executive". Wales 247. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
3. "Swansea County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
4. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
5. "Council minutes". Swansea Council. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
6. "Swansea council leader David Phillips steps down". BBC News. 28 August 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2022.
7. "Rob Stewart set to lead Labour-ruling Swansea council". BBC News. 2 September 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2019.
8. "Political make up of the council". Swansea Council. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
9. "Swansea". Local Councils. Thorncliffe. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
10. "Swansea council - Lab lose to NOC". BBC News. 11 June 2004.
11. "Local Election Results 2004 - Swansea". Local Elections Archive Project (Andrew Teale).
12. "Local Election Results 2008 - Swansea". Local Elections Archive Project (Andrew Teale).
13. "Vote 2012 - Swansea". BBC News. 4 May 2012.
14. "Local Election Results 2012 - Swansea". Local Elections Archive Project (Andrew Teale).
15. "Labour increases Swansea lead and holds Neath Port Talbot". BBC News. 5 May 2017.
16. Richard Youle (30 June 2021). "Swansea is to have three more councillors next year as some boundaries change". Wales Online. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
17. "Contact us in person". Swansea Council. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
18. Dalling, Robert (16 March 2024). "The sorry state of Swansea's Civic Centre where there are buckets spread about to catch dripping water". Wales Online. Retrieved 29 July 2024.
19. "New Lord Mayor for Swansea". City of Swansea. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 9 August 2017.
20. "Lord Mayor of Swansea". City of Swansea. Retrieved 14 December 2015.
21. "Ceinwen Thomas installed as the new mayor of Swansea". South Wales Evening Post. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
22. "New Lord Mayor and Deputy Lord Mayor for Swansea". South Wales Evening Post. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
23. ^ "Records relating to the Mayor/Lord Mayor of Swansea". Swansea City Council. Archived from the original on 1 May 2014. Retrieved 30 April 2014.
24. The Local Authorities (Armorial Bearings) (No. 2) (Wales) Order 1996 (1996 No. 1930 ) (OPSI website), accessed October 2, 2007

External links

• Official website
• City and County of Swansea: Council Constitution

v t e City and County of Swansea
History	History of Swansea Gower
Politics	City and County of Swansea Council Swansea Guildhall Swansea Civic Centre List of electoral wards in Swansea Swansea East Constituency Bon-y-maen Cwmbwrla Landore Llansamlet Morriston Mynydd-bach Penderry St. Thomas Waterfront (part) Swansea West Constituency Castle Cockett Dunvant and Killay Mayals Sketty Townhill Uplands Waterfront (part) Waunarlwydd Gower Constituency Bishopston Clydach Fairwood Gorseinon and Penyrheol Gower Gowerton Llangyfelach Llwchwr Mumbles Pen-clawdd Penllergaer Pennard Pontarddulais Pontlliw and Tircoed West Cross
Communities	Birchgrove Bishopston Bonymaen Castle Clydach Cockett Cwmbwrla Dunvant Gorseinon Gowerton Grovesend and Waungron Ilston Killay Landore Llangennith, Llanmadoc and Cheriton Llangyfelach Llanrhidian Higher Llanrhidian Lower Llansamlet Llwchwr Mawr Morriston Mumbles Mynydd-Bach Penderry Penllergaer Pennard Penrice Pontarddulais Pontlliw and Tircoed Port Eynon Reynoldston Rhossili Sketty St Thomas Three Crosses Townhill Uplands Upper Killay Waterfront Waunarlwydd
Culture	Glynn Vivian Art Gallery Royal Institution of South Wales Swansea Grand Theatre
Education	Swansea University University of Wales Trinity Saint David Swansea Metropolitan University Gower College Swansea
Sports	Swansea City A.F.C. Ospreys (rugby union)
Buildings	Listed buildings Grade I Grade II* List of places in Swansea Scheduled monuments Registered parks and gardens
Transport	Roads M4 motorway European route E30 A48 road A483 road A484 road A4067 road A4216 road A4217 road A4240 road A4118 road Bus First Cymru Gorseinon bus station Gower Explorer Metro (Route 4) National Express Swansea bus station Cycling Celtic Trail National Cycle Route 4 National Cycle Route 43 Railway lines South Wales Main Line West Wales line Heart of Wales line Swansea District line Railway stations Gowerton Llansamlet Pontarddulais Swansea Air Swansea Airport Waterways River Tawe Swansea Canal Tennant Canal Sea Swansea docks Swansea Marina Swansea Cork ferry (Fastnet Line) Severn Link

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

• Politics of Swansea
• Local authorities of Wales
• 1996 establishments in Wales