2022 Carmarthenshire County Council election

The 2022 Carmarthenshire County Council election took place on Thursday 5 May 2022^[1] to elect 75 members to Carmarthenshire Council. On the same day, elections were held to the other 21 local authorities and to community councils in Wales as part of the 2022 Welsh local elections.

Plaid Cymru won a majority of seats for the first time, whilst losing their leader, Emlyn Dole. ^[2] Welsh Labour regained some ground in Carmarthenshire by winning seats in the Amman Valley and Llanelli constituency from Plaid Cymru. New Independent lost one seat overall and their leader, Jeff Edmunds and the Conservatives' only Councillor, Shahana Najmi, also lost her seat.

Despite winning a majority of seats, Plaid Cymru formed a coalition with eight Independent Councillors.

Background

Council elections in Wales were originally scheduled for May 2021, but were delayed to avoid a conflict with the 2021 Senedd election. The frequency of the elections was also increased from 4 years to five years to avoid future clashes, meaning (after 2022) the next council election is expected in 2027.

The number of councillors were increased by 1 after the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales recommended the change in a report in August 2019.^[3] Although there was an increase from 74 to 75 seats in the council, the number of wards were decreased to 51 from 58.^[4]

The Plaid Cymru group in conjunction with Independent group had been in control of the council since May 2015.^[5] Labour claimed to be confident of success, though had suffered a number of resignations from the party since the last election. Many former Labour members were standing in this election as New Independents.^[6]

Boundary changes

In July 2021 Welsh Government accepted a number of ward change proposals by the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales, with slight modifications on Welsh language names for some wards. These are to take effect from the 2022 council election.^[7] The changes gave a better parity of representation. Thirty-four wards remained unchanged.^[4] Of the other wards:^[8]

• Carmarthen Town North ward merges with Carmarthen Town South ward and is renamed "Carmarthen Town North and South", with total decrease in councillors from 4 to 3.
• Ammanford ward merges with Pontamman ward with a 2 councillor seat, and renamed "Ammanford".
• Tycroes community of Llanedi Ward merges with Llanedi community of Hendy Ward with 1 councillor, and renamed "Tycroes".
• Hendy community of Hendy ward becomes a ward of its self with 1 councillor.
• Brynea ward would have an increase from 1 to 2 councillors.
• Dafen ward merges with Felinfoel ward with a 2 councillor seat, and renamed "Dafen and Felinfoel".
• Bigyn ward would have an increase from 2 to 3 councillors.
• Tyisha ward merges with a part of Elli Ward (known as 'Lakefield' - Polling district TYI-B) with 2 councillors, and named "Tyisha".
• Elli ward loses area 'Lakefield' (Polling district TYI-B) and remains with 1 councillor.
• Kidwelly ward merges with St. Ishmael town of St. Ishmael ward with a 2 councillor seat, and renamed "Kidwelly and St. Ishmael".
• Llangyndeyrn ward merges with Llandyfaelog community of St. Ishmael ward with a 2 councillor seat, and renamed "Llangyndeyrn".
• Llansteffan ward merges with St. Clears ward with a 2 councillor seat, and renamed "St. Clears with Llansteffan".
• Trelech ward merges with Newchurch and Merthyr community of Cynwyl Elfed ward, remains with a 1 councillor seat, and named "Trelech".
• Cynwyl Elfed ward loses Newchurch and Merthyr community, remains with a 1 councillor seat, and named "Cynwyl Elfed".
• Cenarth ward merges with Llangeler ward with a 2 councillor seat, and renamed "Cenarth and Llangeler".
• Cilycwm ward merges with Cynwyl Gaeo and Llanycrwys communities of Cynwyl Gaeo ward, with 1 councillor seat, and named "Cilycwm".
• Manordeilo and Salem ward merges with Llansawel community of Cynwyl Gaeo ward, with 1 councillor seat, and named "Manordeilo and Salem".

Overview of results

Plaid Cymru won 38 out of 75 seats to gain a majority on the council for the first time, despite the defeat of their leader, Emlyn Dole.

Ward results

(* denotes sitting councillor before election).

Abergwili (1 Seat)

Abergwili 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Neil Lewis	730	71	+11
	Conservative	Havard Hughes	303	29	+29
Majority			427	41.3	+22
Turnout			1,033	52.2
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing	5.5

Ammanford (2 Seats)

Ammanford 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Colin Evans	853	46	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Deian Harris*	800	44	N/A
	Labour	Anthony Jones	757	41	N/A
	Labour	Calum Higgins	715	39	N/A
	Conservative	Huw Roberts	183	10	N/A
Turnout			1,836	42.8
	Plaid Cymru win (new seat)
	Plaid Cymru win (new seat)

Evans was formerly councillor for the Pontamman ward.

Betws (1 Seat)

Betws 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Betsan Wyn Jones*	494	69	+18
	Labour	Paul Allchurch	223	31	–8
Majority			271	38	+26
Turnout			717	40.3
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing	14

Bigyn (3 Seats)

Michael Cranham was sitting Mayor of Llanelli and Independent town councillor.

Two Labour candidates tied for the third seat with Philip Thomas Warlow beating David Darkin to the third seat on the toss of a coin.^{[citation needed]}

Sitting Councillors, Jeff Edmunds and Eryl Morgan, who were elected in 2017 as Labour Councillors but subsequently left Labour and formed their own political party.^{[citation needed]}

Bigyn 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Michael David Cranham	758	50
	Labour	Janet Williams	621	41
	Labour	Philip Thomas Warlow	597	40
	Labour	David Darkin	596	40
	Independent	Jeff Edmunds*	494	33
	Independent	Eryl Morgan*	411	27
	Plaid Cymru	Kathryn Jane Driscoll	338	22
Turnout			1,507	31.3
	Independent gain from Independent
	Labour gain from Independent
	Labour win (new seat)

Burry Port (2 Seats)

Burry Port 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John James*	948	64
	Labour	Shelly Godfrey-Coles	767	52
	Independent	Mike Theodoulou	471	32
	Plaid Cymru	Emyr Evans	301	20
Turnout			1,485	43.4
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Bynea (2 Seats)

Bynea 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Deryk Cundy*	596	50
	Labour	Michelle Donoghue	470	39
	Independent	Simon Ford	429	36
	Independent	Shelley Williams	404	34
	Plaid Cymru	Laura Kemp	272	23
Turnout			1,193	33.6
	Labour hold
	Labour win (new seat)

Carmarthen Town North and South (3 Seats)

Carmarthen Town North and South 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Peter Hughes Griffiths*	1,188	47
	Plaid Cymru	Gareth Howell John*	1,178	46
	Plaid Cymru	Alun Lenny*	1,073	42
	Labour	Nia Maynard	1,067	42
	Labour	Mike Maynard	1,063	42
	Labour	Amanda Aldridge	971	38
	Green	Bar Rowlands	256	10
Turnout			2,539	37
	Plaid Cymru win (new seat)
	Plaid Cymru win (new seat)
	Plaid Cymru win (new seat)

Carmarthen Town West (2 Seat)

Carmarthen Town West 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Emlyn Schiavone*	968	68
	Plaid Cymru	Russell Sparks	733	52
	Labour	Edi Diong	398	28
	Independent	Dai Evans	285	20
Turnout			1,417	36.4
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing
	Plaid Cymru gain from Independent		Swing

Cenarth and Llangeler (2 Seats)

Cenarth and Llangeler 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Hazel Evans*	1,449	74
	Plaid Cymru	Ken Howell*	1,277	65
	Liberal Democrats	Philip Gibbons	418	21
Turnout			1592	42.5
	Plaid Cymru win (new seat)
	Plaid Cymru win (new seat)

Cilycwm (1 Seat)

Cilycwm 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Thomas Arwel Joseph Davies*	706	64.59
	Conservative	Steven Holmes	250	22.87
	Independent	Jacqui Thompson	137	12.53
Turnout			1,093	50.66
Majority
	Plaid Cymru gain from Independent		Swing

Cwarter Bach (1 Seat)

Cwarter Bach 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	John Glynog Davies*	455	45	–11
	Labour	Tom Addey	437	43	+4
	Independent	Tony Strutt	67	7	+7
	Conservative	Lee Stabbins	53	5	+5
Majority			18	2	–210
Turnout			1012	45.7
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing	–7.5

Cynwyl Elfed (1 Seat)

Cynwyl Elfed 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Bryan Davies	712	74
	Conservative	Malcom Berry	253	26
Turnout			965	49.49
Majority
	Plaid Cymru gain from Independent		Swing

Dafen and Felinfoel (2 Seats)

Dafen and Felinfoel 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rob Evans*	881	62
	Labour	Nysia Evans	643	45
	Independent	Tegwen Devichand	320	22
	Independent	Hugh Richards	289	20
	Plaid Cymru	Alan Cameron Williams	224	16
	Conservative	Norma Gregory	120	8
	Gwlad	Clem Thomas	73	5
	Liberal Democrats	Justin Mark Griffiths	51	4
	Labour hold
	Labour hold

Elli (1 Seat)

Elli 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	John Paul Jenkins*	333	48	+7
	Labour	Nick Pearce	185	27	+1
	Plaid Cymru	Robert William Snaith	72	10	–3
	Conservative	Christopher Griffiths	54	8	–12
	Independent	Jane Jones	49	7	+7
Turnout			693	42.03
Majority
	Independent hold		Swing

Garnant (1 Seat)

Garnant 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Kevin Madge*	490	70
	Plaid Cymru	Ffion Lewis	207	30
Turnout			697	43.29
Majority
	Labour hold		Swing	{{{swing}}}

Glanamman (1 Seat)

Glanamman 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Emyr Rees	423	56
	Plaid Cymru	David Jenkins*	330	44

Glanymor (2 Seats)

Sean Rees had stood in Glanymor in 2017 as a Plaid Cymru candidate and missed out on being elected by a single vote. In 2022, standing as an independent candidate, he topped the poll with a 407 vote majority over the second-placed candidate.

That second seat was won by incumbent councillor, Louvain Roberts, who was elected as a Labour councillor in 2017 but left the Labour Party in 2019. At this election she stood as an Independent, retaining her seat. The other independent candidate, Amanda Carter, failed to be elected.

Glanymor 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Sean Lucas Rees	1,055	65
	Independent	Louvain Roberts*	648	40
	Labour	Lillith Fenris	363	22
	Labour	Julian Hunt	344	21
	Independent	Amanda Carter	270	17
	Plaid Cymru	Jordan Phillip Griffiths	164	10
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

Glyn (1 Seat)

Glyn 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Alex Evans	511	64
	Independent	Cath Saunders	196	24
	Conservative	Jordan Spencer Randall	69	9
	Liberal Democrats	Jonathan Edward Burree	28	3

Gorslas (2 Seats)

Gorslas 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Darren Price*	1,216	75
	Plaid Cymru	Aled Vaughan Owen*	1,157	72
	Labour	Darren James	456	28
Turnout			2829	40.19
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Hendy (1 Seat)

Hendy 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Gareth Thomas*	437	52
	Labour	Ian Wooldridge	336	40
	Gwlad	Wayne Erasmus	71	8
Majority
Turnout			844	33.95
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Hengoed (2 Seats)

Hengoed 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Edward Skinner	480	35
	Labour	Martyn Palfreman	435	32
	Plaid Cymru	Susan Phillips*	395	29
	Independent	Ray Duncan Jones	322	24
	Plaid Cymru	Martin Davies	314	23
	Independent	Colin Jones	198	15
	Gwlad	Siân Mair Caiach	150	11
	Independent	Lee Fox	146	11
	Liberal Democrats	Christopher David William Passmore	80	6

Kidwelly and St. Ishmael (2 Seats)

Kidwelly and St Ishmael 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Crish Davies	1,033	55
	Labour	Lewis Davies	952	51
	Plaid Cymru	Jeanette Gilasbey*	775	42
	Plaid Cymru	June James	483	26
	Green	Rob Davies	201	11
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Gilasbey had been the councillor for the former Kidwelly ward.

Laugharne Township (1 Seat)

Laugharne Township 2022

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jane Tremlett*	Unopposed
	Independent hold

Llanboidy (1 Seat)

Llanboidy 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Dorian Phillips*	783	85
	Conservative	Valerie Jones	134	15
Majority
Turnout			917	52.69
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Llanddarog (1 Seat)

Llanddarog 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Ann Davies*	739	84
	Liberal Democrats	Sian Elizabeth Collins	138	16
Majority
Turnout			877	51.49
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Llandeilo (1 Seat)

Llandeilo 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Edward Gwynne Thomas*	827	63
	Plaid Cymru	Christoph Florian Fischer	493	37
Majority
Turnout			1,320	54.55
	Independent hold

Llandovery (1 Seat)

Llandovery 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Handel Davies*	770	86
	Conservative	Samuel Barnett	122	14
Majority
Turnout			892	44.65
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Llandybie (2 Seat)

Llandybie 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Anthony (Whitey) Davies*	869	58
	Plaid Cymru	Dai Nicholas*	789	53
	Labour	Helen Bjork	622	42
	Liberal Democrats	Lynne Susan Wilkins	129	9

Llanegwad (1 Seat)

Llanegwad 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Mansel Charles*	751	65
	Independent	Meirion Jones	244	21
	Conservative	Mike Beech	169	15
Majority
Turnout			1,164	56.29
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Llanfihangel Aberbythych (1 Seat)

Llanfihangel Aberbythych 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Hefin Jones	426	65
	Conservative	Tara-Jane Louise Sutcliffe	128	20
	Liberal Democrats	Monica Mary French	62	9
	Propel	Trisha Breckman	39	6
Majority
Turnout			655	43.14
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Llanfihangel-ar-Arth (1 Seat)

Llanfihangel-ar-Arth 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Linda Evans*	950	87
	Conservative	Sandra Morgan	140	13
Majority
Turnout			1,090	49.18
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Llangadog (1 Seat)

Llangadog 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Andrew Davies	446	51
	Independent	Hywel Morgan	422	49

Llangennech (2 Seats)

Llangennech 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gary Jones*	981	63
	Labour	Jacqueline Seward	686	44
	Plaid Cymru	Ian Morlais Williams	590	38
	Plaid Cymru	Iwan Griffiths	587	38

Llangunnor (1 Seat)

Llangunnor 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Elwyn Williams*	478	46
	Conservative	Charlie Evans	348	34
	Independent	Lee Williams	205	20
Majority
Turnout			1,031	48.74
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Llangyndeyrn (2 Seats)

Llangydeyrn 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Tyssul Evans*	1,064	56
	Plaid Cymru	Meinir James	944	50
	Independent	Gary David Price	690	37
	Labour	Shane Morrison	549	29

Llannon (2 Seats)

Llannon 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Dot Jones*	594	40
	Plaid Cymru	Llinos Mai Davies	568	38
	Plaid Cymru	Emlyn Dole*	561	37
	Labour	Rhys Jones	445	30
	Independent	Kim (Cross Hands) Thomas	409	27
	Gwlad	Iwan Evans	79	5
	Liberal Democrats	Nicholas Paul Beckett	75	5

Llanybydder (1 Seat)

Llanybydder 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Denise Owen	602	75
	Labour	Wynne Jones	200	25

Lliedi (2 Seats)

Rob James, leader of the Labour Group on Carmarthenshire County Council, was re-elected.

The other incumbent Councillor, Shahana Najmi, had been elected in 2017 as a Labour Councillor, was one of several Labour Councillors in Llanelli to leave the Labour Party in 2019. Initially sitting as an Independent Councillor, Najmi joined the Conservative Party in 2021^{[citation needed]} but was not re-elected as a Conservative in Lliedi in 2022.

Independent candidate, Heather Peters, was initially selected as a Labour Party candidate in this ward but in March 2022^{[citation needed]} announced she was standing for the New Independent Party, the Party formed out of many of those who left the Labour Party in 2019, instead.

The other Independent candidate, Sharon Burdess, also stood for the New Independent Party having failed to secure a Labour Party nomination at these elections.^{[citation needed]}

Lliedi 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Rob James*	838	61
	Labour	Anthony Leyshon	652	48
	Independent	Sharon Burdess	374	27
	Independent	Heather Peters	373	27
	Conservative	Shahana Najmi*	226	17

Llwynhendy (2 Seats)

Llwynhendy 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Sharen Davies*	581	54
	Independent	Jason Peter Hart	560	52
	Labour	Fozia Akhtar*	477	45
	Labour	Gary Jones	341	32
	Liberal Democrats	Tim Freeman	57	5

Manordeilo and Salem (1 Seat)

Manordeilo and Salem 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Fiona Walters	640	59
	Plaid Cymru	Elizabeth Nakielny	444	41
Majority
Turnout			1,084	49.12
	Independent hold

Pembrey (2 Seats)

Pembrey 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Hugh Shepardson*	854	62
	Labour	Michael Thomas	630	46
	Plaid Cymru	Peter Freeman	453	33

Penygroes (1 Seat)

Penygroes 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	David Thomas*	453	46
	Labour	Rachel Williams	260	26
	Liberal Democrats	Julian William Tandy	188	19
	Breakthrough Party	Ewan Phillip Chappell	87	9
Majority
Turnout			988	41.14
	Plaid Cymru hold

Pontyberem (1 Seat)

Pontyberem 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Liam Bowen*	739	71
	Labour	Michael Jones	297	29
Majority
Turnout			1,036	46.48
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Saron (2 Seats)

Saron 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Karen Davies*	668	51
	Labour	Peter Cooper	660	51
	Plaid Cymru	Darran Jones	516	40
	Independent	Nigel Evans	225	17
	Liberal Democrats	Caryl Evelyn Tandy	130	10

St. Clears and Llansteffan (2 Seats)

St Clears and Llansteffan 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Carys Jones*	1,151	54
	Independent	Philip Hughes*	1,110	52
	Independent	Edmund Davies	677	32
	Independent	Ran Foster-Mason	565	26

Swiss Valley (1 Seat)

Swiss Valley 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Anthony Giles Morgan*	687	75	+24
	Conservative	Sarah Griffiths	131	14	+4
	Independent	Darren Harries	92	10	+10
Majority			556	62	+38
Turnout
	Independent hold

Trelech (1 Seat)

Trelech 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Jean Lewis*	1,055	85
	Conservative	Lee Wiseman	192	15
Majority
Turnout			1,247	53.23
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Trimsaran (1 Seat)

Trimsaran 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	Kim Broom*	483	65
	Labour	Barry Kirby	264	35
Majority
Turnout			747	38.58
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Tycroes (1 Seat)

Tycroes 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Tina Higgins*	772	71
	Plaid Cymru	Geraint Rhys Jones	315	29
Majority
Turnout			1,087	49.71
	Labour hold

Tyisha (2 Seat)

Tyisha 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Suzy Curry*	606	53
	Plaid Cymru	Terry Davies	548	48
	Labour	Andre McPherson*	426	38
	Independent	Andrew Stephens	338	30

Whitland (1 Seat)

Whitland 2022^[9]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Sue Allen*	544	68
	Independent	Barry Alan Chapman	256	32
Majority
Turnout			800	42.34
	Independent hold

References