Cardiff Council

Cyngor Caerdydd

Type Council of City and County of Cardiff

History

• Founded: 1 April 1996 (1996-04-01)
• Preceded by:
  • Cardiff City Council
  • South Glamorgan County Council

Leadership

• Lord Mayor: Adrian Robson, Conservative (since 22 May 2025)
• Leader: Huw Thomas , Labour (since 25 May 2017)
• Chief Executive: Paul Orders (since 26 September 2013)

Structure

• Seats: 79
• Political groups:
  • Administration (52):
    • Labour (52)
  • Other parties (26):
    • Liberal Democrat (10)
    • Conservative (9)
    • Plaid Cymru (2)
    • Reform UK (1)
    • Green (1)
    • Propel (1)
    • Independent (4)

Length of term: 5 years

Elections

• Voting system: First past the post
• First election: 4 May 1995
• Last election: 5 May 2022
• Next election: 6 May 2027

Meeting place: City Hall , Cathays Park, Cardiff , CF10 3ND

Website: www.cardiff.gov.uk

Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff (Welsh: Cyngor Sir Dinas a Sir Caerdydd), is the governing body for Cardiff , one of the principal areas of Wales . The principal area and its council were established in 1996 to replace the previous Cardiff City Council , which had been a lower-tier authority within South Glamorgan . Cardiff Council consists of 79 councillors, representing 28 electoral wards. Labour has held a majority of the seats on the council since 2012. The last election was in May 2022, and the next election is due in 2027.

History

Municipal life in Cardiff dates back to the 12th century when Cardiff was granted borough status by the Earls of Gloucester . The offices of the mayor, aldermen, and common councillors developed during the Middle Ages. When elected county councils were established in 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888 , Cardiff was considered large enough to run its own services and so it became a county borough , independent from Glamorgan County Council . Cardiff was one of only two county boroughs in Wales created in 1889, the other being Swansea . (Newport was later elevated to county borough status in 1891, followed by Merthyr Tydfil in 1908.) In 1905, Cardiff became a city, and thereafter Cardiff County Borough Council was allowed to call itself Cardiff City Council.

In 1974, local government across Wales and England was restructured into a two-tier system under the Local Government Act 1972 . Cardiff became a lower-tier district council, called Cardiff City Council , within the new county of South Glamorgan . The South Glamorgan County Council provided county-level services in the area.

Further local government restructuring in 1996 under the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 saw the city of Cardiff become a unitary authority : the present Cardiff Council. South Glamorgan County Council was abolished. Ahead of the reforms, the county council had campaigned for a new “Greater Cardiff” authority to reflect the boundaries of South Glamorgan, but the Conservative government of the time decided to keep the Vale of Glamorgan (which covered a marginal Conservative parliamentary seat) separate from Cardiff.

The 1994 Act directed that the new council should be called “Cardiff County Council.” The council’s constitution calls it instead the “County Council of the City and County of Cardiff.” For most purposes, the council styles itself “Cardiff Council,” except where the full legal name is required, when it uses the form from its constitution.

Political Control

The first election to the reconstituted council was held in 1995. It initially operated as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it formally came into its powers on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1996 has been as follows:

Leadership

The role of Lord Mayor of Cardiff is largely ceremonial. Political leadership is provided instead by the leader of the council , although the two roles were temporarily combined between 1999 and 2003. The first leader following the 1996 reforms was Russell Goodway , who had been the last leader of South Glamorgan County Council . The leaders of Cardiff Council since 1996 have been:

At the age of 31, Huw Thomas became Wales’ youngest council leader when he was elected in May 2017.

Composition

Following the 2022 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to October 2025, the composition of the council was:

Of the independent councillors, two sit together as the “Cardiff Independent” group, and the other two (one being a Liberal Democrat currently suspended from the party) do not belong to any group. Common Ground is an alliance of Plaid Cymru and the Greens , with its councillors representing both parties as “Plaid Cymru, Green Party, Common Ground” (Plaid Cymru, Plaid Werdd, Tir Cyffredin). The Green Party won its first seat on the council in its own right (rather than as part of Common Ground) at a by-election for the Grangetown ward on 14 August 2025.

The next full council election is due in 2027.

Elections

Since 2012, Cardiff Council elections have taken place every five years.

The council was run by a Labour majority administration between 1995 and 2004. The Liberal Democrats ran a minority administration from 2004, in coalition with Plaid Cymru.

Following the 2008 local elections in Cardiff , there was still no party with an overall majority. The Lib Dems increased their total number of councillors to 35, forming an administration with Plaid Cymru, with Rodney Berman as leader of the Council. The Conservatives replaced Labour as the official opposition. Labour suffered badly, losing 14 councillors. Plaid Cymru gained four councillors. Three independent councillors were elected; two former Conservatives who had left the group in 2006 were joined by an additional member.

In 2012 , the Labour Party took overall control of the council and remained in overall control following the 2017 and 2022 elections.

Premises

County Hall, Atlantic Wharf, Cardiff

The council’s main offices are at County Hall on Atlantic Wharf. It was built in 1987 as the headquarters of the former South Glamorgan County Council . The council also uses the City Hall on Cathays Park in the city centre, built in 1906 for the former Cardiff City Council . Full council meetings were held at County Hall prior to 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic required meetings to be held virtually. From the resumption of in-person meetings in May 2022, full council meetings were held at City Hall. City Hall closed for refurbishment in 2023 but is planned to be brought back into use as the council’s meeting place once the work is complete, although this may not be until 2026.

Electoral Wards

Main article: List of electoral wards in Cardiff

Numbered map of electoral wards (alphabetical order) of Cardiff

Since the 2022 elections, the unitary authority area has been divided into 28 electoral wards . Many of these wards are coterminous with communities of the same name. The following table lists council wards, communities, and associated geographical areas. Communities with a community council are indicated with an asterisk.

Arms

Coat of arms of Cardiff Council

• Crest: A Tudor rose on three ostrich feathers Argent issuing out of a mural crown Proper. Granted 6 October 1906.
• Escutcheon: Argent on a mount Vert a dragon rampant Gules supporting in front of a leek issuing from the mount a flag staff erect Proper flying therefrom to the sinister a banner of the third charged with three chevronels of the first. Granted 26 August 1906
• Supporters: On the dexter side a goat and on the sinister side a sea horse both Proper as an honourable augmentation Her Majesty’s Royal Badge for Wales videlicet within a circular riband Argent fimbriated Or bearing the motto Y DDRAIG GOCH DDYRY CYCHWYN in letters Vert and ensigned with a representation of the crown Proper an escutcheon per fess Argent and Vert and thereon a Red dragon passant pendent by a Golden chain from the neck of each supporter. Granted 25 February 1907 and augmented 19 October 1956.
• Motto: 1st Deffro Mae’n Ddydd (Awake It Is Day) 2nd Y Ddraig Goch Ddyry Cychwyn (The Red Dragon Shall Lead)

See Also

• Cardiff Bay
• Flat Holm