1983 Cardiff City Council election

The 1983 Cardiff City Council election was held on Thursday 5 May 1983 to the district council known as Cardiff City Council, in Cardiff, South Glamorgan, Wales. It took place on the same day as other district council elections in Wales and England. The Conservative Party regained control of the council from the Labour Party.^[1]

The previous Cardiff City Council election took place in 1979 and the next full elections took place in 1987. ^[2]

Ward changes

This was the first election to be affected by the changes resulting from The City of Cardiff (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1982.^[3] Boundaries were redrawn and the number of electoral wards increased from 21 to 26, with a reduction in the numbers of councillors elected per ward. New wards of Butetown, Caerau, Cyncoed, Fairwater, Heath, Lisvane and St Mellons, Llandaff North, Llanrumney, Pentwyn, Radyr & St Fagans, Trowbridge and Whitchurch & Tongwynlais were introduced. The number of councillors reduced overall from 75 to 65.^[2]

Overview

Labour had been in control of the council for the previous four years, but at the 1983 election the Conservatives regained control. With 34 councillors, they had an overall majority of three.^[1] Winning only three seats, the SDP-Liberal Alliance did not perform as well as they expected.^[4]

Labour blamed the ward boundary changes for the outcome. The former Labour council leader, Cllr John Reynolds, suggested it was a good performance, considering the number of council seats available had been reduced particularly in Labour voting areas.^[1] The Alliance failed to win seats in wards such as Gabalfa and blamed this on UK politics dominating the contest (with a possible general election on the horizon).^[1] The new Conservative council leader, Cllt Ron Watkiss, pledged to use the Tory majority to put some of the council's services out to private contractors.^[1]

The next designated next Lord Mayor, Olwen Watkin and her designated deputy, Stan James, came top of the poll in Plasnewydd. Alliance husband and wife team, Mike German and Georgette German, won seats in neighbouring wards.^[4] Eileen Roberts, recently widowed by the death of Conservative MP Michael Roberts, won a council seat in Rhiwbina.^[1]

Cardiff Council election result 1983^[2]

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	34	19	3	+16	52.3
	Labour	28	13	6	+7	43.0
	Alliance	3	3	0	+3	4.6
	Plaid Cymru	0	0	0	±0	0.0		4,037
	Ecology	0	0	0	±0	0.0		1,661	N/A
	Communist	0	0	0	±0	0.0		214

Ward Results

Contests took place in all twenty six wards.^[2](a)[5](b)

Adamsdown (2 seats)

Adamsdown^[5][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	J. A. Phillips	1,063	61.8	N/A
	Labour	William P. Herbert *	1,062
	Conservative	W. Lewis	400	23.3	N/A
	Conservative	A. L. Kelly	391
	Alliance	A. Miles	178	10.3	N/A
	Alliance	H. Minor	173
	Plaid Cymru	Sian A. Edwards	79	4.6	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Gwerfyl Arthur	47
Turnout				30.6	N/A
Registered electors			5,626
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Butetown (1 seat)

Butetown^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Gaynor A. Legall	870	77.6	N/A
	Conservative	L. J. Day	251	22.4	N/A
Turnout				46.2	N/A
Registered electors			2,427
	Labour win (new seat)

Caerau (2 seats)

Caerau^[5][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. H. Carling o	1,462	54.6	N/A
	Labour	David J. Seligman o	1,237
	Conservative	A. H. Hinder	658	24.6	N/A
	Conservative	F. C. McAndrews	571
	Alliance	J. R. Blain	364	13.6	N/A
	Ecology	G. P. Jones	195	7.3	N/A
Turnout				35.7	N/A
Registered electors			7,501
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Canton (3 seats)

Canton^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Bella Brown*	2,530	50.8	N/A
	Conservative	D. O. Davey	2,215
	Conservative	Trevor C. Tyrrell	2,170
	Labour	C. D. Eccles	1,637	32.9	N/A
	Labour	Mark Drakeford	1,600
	Labour	J. Winslade	1,549
	Alliance	M. Lawson	599	12.0	N/A
	Alliance	G. Shepherd	546
	Alliance	W. M. Smith	534
	Plaid Cymru	Keith Parry	212	4.3	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Peter J. Keelan	147
Turnout				47.5	N/A
Registered electors			10,484
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Cathays (3 seats)

Cathays^[5][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Alliance	Michael J. German	1,742	36.9	N/A
	Alliance	Fred J. Hornblow	1,639
	Labour	Derek R. Allinson *	1,531	32.4	N/A
	Alliance	D. W. T. Rees	1,524
	Labour	M. F. Harris	1,496
	Labour	W. C. Laing	1,335
	Conservative	F. Moorcraft	961	20.4	N/A
	Conservative	S. Phillips	909
	Conservative	E. Robinson	861
	Plaid Cymru	Owen John Thomas	261	5.5	N/A
	Ecology	K. J. Pearson	225	4.8
Turnout				45.7	N/A
Registered electors			10,321
	Alliance gain from Labour		Swing
	Alliance gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Cyncoed (3 seats)

Cyncoed^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. A. Hennessey o	2,977	62.1	N/A
	Conservative	A. John o	2,957
	Conservative	Stefan Terlezki o	2,926
	Alliance	J. A. Bryant	1,335	27.8	N/A
	Alliance	P. J. D. Bramall	1,308
	Alliance	G. S. Sagoo	1,556
	Labour	P. J. Williams	483	10.1	N/A
	Labour	A. R. Lipman	468
	Labour	M. J. Parkinson	460
Turnout				55.6	N/A
Registered electors			8,624
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Ely (3 seats)

Ely^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	A. Buttle *	2,083	66.9	N/A
	Labour	M. Buttle *	1,926
	Labour	Charlie Gale *	1,904
	Conservative	H. Derrick	1,031	33.1	N/A
	Conservative	B. Sullivan	1,007
	Conservative	J. Bushrod	980
Turnout				28.8	N/A
Registered electors			10,826
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Fairwater (3 seats)

Fairwater^[5][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	T. J. Ward o	1,845	46.5	N/A
	Labour	M. J. Phillips o	1,807
	Labour	D. M. Evans o	1,685
	Conservative	B. Hall	1,452	36.6	N/A
	Conservative	M. A. Hallinan	1,324
	Conservative	F. B. Bowles	1,317
	Alliance	D. A. Griffin	669	16.9	N/A
	Alliance	Jacqui Gasson	500
Turnout				38.7	N/A
Registered electors			10,253
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Gabalfa (1 seat)

Gabalfa^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. Hutchinson	929	40.0	N/A
	Alliance	H. J. O'Brien	766	32.9	N/A
	Conservative	J. R. Turner	630	27.1	N/A
Turnout				49.0	N/A
Registered electors			4,749
	Labour hold		Swing

Grangetown (3 seats)

Grangetown^[5][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Smith o	2,221	52.9	N/A
	Labour	P. Bowen o	2,074
	Labour	C. Sheehan	2,032
	Conservative	J. P. O'Reilly *	1,978	47.1	N/A
	Conservative	G. E. Judd *	1,894
	Conservative	B. F. Moorcraft *	1,795
Turnout				45.7	N/A
Registered electors			9,182
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Smith and Bowen were previously councillors for the South ward.

Heath (3 seats)

Heath^[5][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. D. Milsom o	2,840	57.4	N/A
	Conservative	Ronald F. Watkiss o	2,830
	Conservative	T. D. Merridew	2,702
	Alliance	P. Eldon	822	16.6	N/A
	Alliance	P. H. Williams	732
	Labour	R. S. Hughes	702	14.2	N/A
	Alliance	E. Fitzgerald-Kuhl	685
	Labour	B. R. Jones	650
	Labour	E. Scheeres	629
	Ecology	M. J. Evans	344	7.0	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	H. M. Jones	241	4.9	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	E. A. Coyle	185
Turnout			9,357	52.9	N/A
Registered electors			9,182
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Milsom and Watkiss were previously councillors in the Llanishen ward.

Lisvane and St Mellons (1 seat)

Lisvane and St Mellons^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	T. H. Davies o	1,152	71.5	N/A
	Alliance	D. I. Harrison	260	16.1	N/A
	Labour	M. G. Picardie	199	12.4	N/A
Turnout				33.9	N/A
Registered electors			4,752
	Conservative win (new seat)

Davies was the sitting councillor in the preceding ward of Lisvane, Llanedeyrn & St Mellons.

Llandaff (2 seats)

Llandaff^[5][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	M. E. Jones *	1,828	57.0	N/A
	Conservative	Julius Hermer *	1,807
	Alliance	W. A. Slack	446	13.9	N/A
	Labour	R. W. Rees	359	11.2	N/A
	Labour	C. P. Byers	328
	Ecology	R. J. Rendell	299	9.3	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	D. Cadog	275	8.6	N/A
Turnout				47.6	N/A
Registered electors			6,739
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Llandaff North (2 seats)

Llandaff North^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M. D. Flynn o	1,576	44.7	N/A
	Labour	E. M. Matthewson o	1,433
	Alliance	M. J. Sheppard	1,014	28.8	N/A
	Alliance	T. O. Jenkins	920
	Conservative	D. C.Porter	866	24.6	N/A
	Conservative	M. E. W. Lindsay	824
	Plaid Cymru	T. O'Neill	67	1.9	N/A
Turnout				57.8	N/A
Registered electors			6,091
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

Llanishen (3 seats)

Llanishen^[5][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L. O. Smith *	1,999	45.3	N/A
	Conservative	A. J. Thomas *	1,904
	Conservative	C. M. Saunders	1,890
	Labour	T. James o	1,578	35.7	N/A
	Labour	A. Hobbs-Staff	1,550
	Labour	A. K. Verma o	1,506
	Alliance	T. J. Fitzgerald-Khul	707	16.0	N/A
	Alliance	J. D. Gough	705
	Alliance	S. M Adalja	599
	Plaid Cymru	A. Couch	130	2.9	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	D. Balch	110
Turnout				41.1	N/A
Registered electors			10,740
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Representation reduced from six seats to three at this election.

Llanrumney (3 seats)

Llanrumney^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	M. B. Llewellyn o	1,901	44.8	N/A
	Labour	John R. Phillips o	1,711
	Labour	John A. Reynolds o	1,646
	Alliance	Vita V. Jones	1,297	30.6	N/A
	Conservative	E. R. McCarthy	1,041	24.6	N/A
	Alliance	K. Tobin	1,028
	Conservative	S. Woods	1,028
	Alliance	E. Morgan	1,010
	Conservative	S. Brown	987
Turnout				45.7	N/A
Registered electors			9,267
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

South Glamorgan councillor Vita Jones had recently defected from Labour to the SDP-Liberal Alliance.^[4]

Pentwyn (3 seats)

Pentwyn^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Lewis o	1,763	42.1	N/A
	Conservative	M. Newman o	1,746
	Conservative	W. J. Pursey	1,687
	Labour	S. J. Caesar	1,128	26.9	N/A
	Labour	R. Longworth	1,116
	Labour	S. G. Lewis	1,041
	Alliance	M. McMahon	1,030	24.6	N/A
	Alliance	M. Litchfield	1,024
	Alliance	F. A. J. Adams	985
	Plaid Cymru	A. Morgan	271	6.5	N/A
Turnout				35.8	N/A
Registered electors			11,701
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

Plasnewydd (4 seats)

Plasnewydd^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Olwen M. Watkin *	2,227	36.4	N/A
	Conservative	S. A. James *	2,052
	Conservative	D. J. Evans *	1,969
	Alliance	Georgette O. J. German	1,819	29.7	N/A
	Conservative	R. C. Oldridge	1,743
	Labour	G. E. Jenkins	1,532	25.5	N/A
	Labour	M. Phelps	1,475
	Alliance	D. E. Hill	1,395
	Alliance	A. D. Powell	1,391
	Labour	J. Wilkinson	1,368
	Alliance	Jenny Randerson	1,346
	Labour	M. Walsh	1,346
	Ecology	P. Taylor	282	4.6	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	G. M. Rees	191	3.1	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	N. Hoyle	170
	Plaid Cymru	N. J. ap Glyn	162
	Plaid Cymru	C. H. Morgan	155
	Communist	R. Macmillan	74	1.2	N/A
	Communist	R. Spencer	72
	Communist	J. Warhurst	68
Turnout				50.9	N/A
Registered electors			12,039
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Alliance win (new seat)

The number of seats available increased from three to four at this election.

Radyr & St Fagans (1 seat)

Radyr & St Fagans^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	L. Clarke o	1,156	55.1	N/A
	Alliance	Marion Drake	703	33.5	N/A
	Labour	B. Drew o	240	11.4	N/A
Turnout				54.3	N/A
Registered electors			3,869
	Conservative win (new seat)

Clarke was the sitting councillor for Radyr St Fagans & Tongwynlais. Drew was a councillor in the Rumney ward.

Rhiwbina (3 seats)

Rhiwbina^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. J. Roberts	3,200	58.2	N/A
	Conservative	Gareth J. J. Neale *	3,117
	Conservative	Jeffrey P. Sainsbury	3,099
	Alliance	S. R. Crossley	1,303	23.7	N/A
	Alliance	G. M. James	1,037
	Alliance	P. M. O'Brien	1,032
	Labour	S. I. Walters	783	14.2	N/A
	Labour	J. R. Cocks	753
	Labour	R. T. Hill	665
	Plaid Cymru	L. R. Evans	211	3.8	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	J. A. M. Jones	153
Turnout				58.5	N/A
Registered electors			9,399
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Riverside (3 seats)

Riverside^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	W. M. Walker *	1,699	43.4	N/A
	Labour	J. M. Southern *	1,660
	Labour	Sue Essex	1,653
	Conservative	A. Johnson	1,301	33.2	N/A
	Conservative	M. Hughes	1,296
	Conservative	R. de Souza	1,272
	Alliance	D. Mathias	601	15.3	N/A
	Alliance	J. N. Roberts	469
	Alliance	D. Sura	418
	Ecology	A. S. Lukes	316	8.1	N/A
Turnout				41.7	N/A
Registered electors			9,400
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Roath (3 seats)

Roath^[5][2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	C. F. Hutchings *	2,498	60.2	N/A
	Conservative	N. Lloyd-Edwards *	2,477
	Conservative	G. M. Brinks *	2,457
	Alliance	L. W. Kelloway	861	20.7	N/A
	Alliance	S. J. Soffa	823
	Alliance	P. Callaghan	818
	Labour	I. S. Albrow	668	16.1	N/A
	Labour	N. M. Davies	663
	Labour	E. A. Screen	625
	Plaid Cymru	G. Adams	123	3.0	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	B. M. Smith	118
	Plaid Cymru	S. W. Evans	115
Turnout				42.1	N/A
Registered electors			9,852
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing
	Conservative hold		Swing

Rumney (2 seats)

Rumney^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. B. Joslyn	1,677	53.4	N/A
	Conservative	L. D. Quinn	1,508
	Labour	P. H. Owen *	1,126	35.8	N/A
	Labour	M. Longden *	1,113
	Alliance	M. J. Morgan	340	10.8	N/A
Turnout				46.9	N/A
Registered electors			6,696
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Splott (2 seats)

Splott^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. R. Ormonde *	1,860	55.0	N/A
	Labour	E. Price *	1,759
	Conservative	F. Chichester	820	24.2	N/A
	Conservative	R. D. James	751
	Alliance	P. M. Evans	603	7.8	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	S. Lake	100	3.0	N/A
Turnout				42.6	N/A
Registered electors			7,941
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Trowbridge (2 seats)

Trowbridge^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	D. M. English o	1,120	76.2	N/A
	Labour	Alun E. Michael o	1,103
	Conservative	A. T. McCabe	350	23.8	N/A
Turnout				17.5	N/A
Registered electors			8,408
	Labour win (new seat)
	Labour win (new seat)

English and Michael were previously councillors in a larger Rumney ward.

Whitchurch & Tongwynlais (4 seats)

Whitchurch & Tongwynlais^[2]

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	W. H. Griffiths o	3,460	54.7	N/A
	Conservative	B. J. Griffiths	3,320
	Conservative	Timothy H. Davies o	3,294
	Conservative	Victor Riley o	3,221
	Labour	T. Crews	1,445	22.8	N/A
	Labour	D. Hutchinson	1,383
	Labour	J. Williams	1,291
	Labour	V. White	1,265
	Alliance	P. Hickey	1,141	18.0	N/A
	Alliance	H.Howell	999
	Alliance	A. Holder	993
	Alliance	S. Morton	933
	Plaid Cymru	Harri Pritchard-Jones	285	4.5	N/A
	Plaid Cymru	Alan Jobbins	209
Turnout				54.6	N/A
Registered electors			11,600
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)
	Conservative win (new seat)

(a) Elections Centre source also compares the percentage vote of the lead candidate for each party in the ward.
(b) South Wales Echo source also indicates existing councillors "but, because of boundary changes, not necessarily representing the ward being contested". It gives middle initials. It lists the 'green' candidates as "Ecology" and the 'Liberal/SDP' as "Alliance".

* existing councillor, for the same ward
^o existing councillor, though because of boundary changes not for the same ward

References

1. Michael Thomas (6 May 1983). "Cardiff is back in Tory hands". South Wales Echo. p. 1.
2. "Cardiff Welsh District Council Election Results 1973-1991" (PDF). The Elections Centre (Plymouth University). Retrieved 27 June 2019.
3. "The City of Cardiff (Electoral Arrangements) Order 1982" (PDF). legislation.gov.uk. The National Archives. 15 April 1982. Retrieved 27 June 2019.
4. Michael Thomas (6 May 1983). "Cardiff could go 'private'". South Wales Echo. p. 6.
5. "Election Results S. Glam. - Cardiff City Council". South Wales Echo. 6 May 1983. pp. 6–7.