2022 Wrexham County Borough Council election

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2022 Wrexham County Borough Council election
← 2017 5 May 2022 2027 →
All 56 (previously 52) seats to Wrexham County Borough Council
29 seats needed for a majority
  First party Second party Third party
  Blank Blank Blank
Leader Mark Pritchard Dana Davies Hugh Jones
Party Independent Welsh Labour Welsh Conservatives
Leader's seat Esclusham Ruabon Rossett
Seats before 18 11 8
  Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party
 
Leader David A Bithell Marc Jones
Party Wrexham Independents Plaid Cymru Non-aligned
Leader's seat Johnstown Grosvenor
Seats before 8 5 2
Council control before election

Independent–Welsh Conservatives coalition

 Council control after election

TBD

Map of Wrexham County Borough in Wales
Location of Wrexham County Borough in Wales

The 2022 Wrexham County Borough Council election is due to take place on 5 May 2022 to elect 56 members to Wrexham County Borough Council, the principal council of Wrexham County Borough, Wales. On the same day, elections will be held to the other 21 local authorities, and community councils in Wales as part of the 2022 Welsh local elections. The previous Wrexham County Borough all-council election took place in May 2017 and future elections will take place every five years, with the next scheduled for 2027.

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 four years to five years to avoid future clashes,[1] meaning (after 2022) the next council election is expected in 2027. The number of councillors is to be increased from fifty-two to fifty-six at the 2022 election, with several ward changes to ensure better electoral parity. There would be forty-nine wards up for election, up from forty-seven in the 2017 election following a recent local boundary review.

An Independent–Welsh Conservatives coalition group was formed following the 2017 local election and have been in control of the council since 2017.

Local political context[]

In the 2019 United Kingdom general election, Conservative candidates won the constituencies of Wrexham and Clwyd South for the first time in their existence. The constituencies were generally considered to be Labour heartlands part of its "red wall",[2] and were won by Labour in the June 2017 election.[3][4] Sarah Atherton was elected for the Conservatives to represent the Wrexham constituency with 15,199 votes, and Simon Baynes for Clwyd South with 16,222 votes.[5] Atherton is the first Female MP to be elected to the Wrexham seat since its creation in 1918, and the first female Conservative MP elected to Westminster representing a Welsh constituency.[3][6][7][8]

On 31 January 2020, the UK left the EU, with the county borough in the 2016 referendum, voting 59% in favour of Leave.[3]

In the 2021 Senedd election, Welsh Labour incumbents for the Senedd consituencies of Wrexham and Clwyd South covering the county borough were re-elected,[3] despite media predictions and polling stating that one or both constituencies should follow the 2019 UK general election results and be won by Welsh Conservative candidates with a tight margin.[3][9][10][11] For the 2021 Police and Crime Commissioner election, Andy Dunbobbin of the Labour and Co-operative party received the most votes (98,034) in the county borough.[3]

Between 2017 and 2021, various community councils had by-elections, leading to three independent, four Welsh Labour, one Plaid Cymru, and five non-aligned candidates elected. An additional independent candidate was elected to Rhosllanerchrugog Community Council's Pant ward in September 2017 but was replaced by a Welsh Labour candidate in a by-election five months later.[3] Eight elections in this period were uncontested.

On 20 September 2018, an independent candidate for community councillor for Gwersyllt North was elected with 98 votes.[3] The councillor was later replaced in another by-election on 27 February 2020 leading to the Plaid Cymru candidate being elected with 189 votes.

On 18 March 2021, a by-election for the council's Maesydre ward occurred, leading to the Plaid Cymru candidate being elected with 150 votes, over the Welsh Labour (133 votes) and Welsh Conservative (123 votes) candidates.[3][12]

On 28 October 2021, a by-election in the ward of Gresford East and West was held following the resignation of the incumbent Conservative candidate.[13] The Welsh Conservatives were able to hold onto the ward, with Jeremy Kent being elected for the ward with 351 votes.[3][14][15]

On 17 December 2021, in the neighbouring English constituency of North Shropshire, the Liberal Democrat candidate overturned a 23,000 (2019) Conservative majority following the former MP Owen Paterson's scandal.[16][17]

Council context[]

In 2021, the council submitted bids for UK City of Culture 2025 on behalf of the county borough, and a separate bid for awarding the town of Wrexham the status of a city for the 2022 Platinum Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.[18] In October 2021, the council's bid for UK City of Culture 2025 made it onto the competition's shortlist of only 8 shortlisted places in the UK, outbidding 12 other places (20 applied in total) and being the only one of the five bids from Wales making it onto the shortlist. In March 2022, Wrexham County Borough's bid for City of Culture made onto the competition's shortlist of only four places.[19][20] Wrexham's city status bid was submitted in December 2021 to local controversy.[21][22] Protests against the city status bid, lead by Plaid Cymru, were held outside Wrexham's Guildhall, the council's main building.[23][24] A public consultation into the city status bid revealed that of those surveyed, 61% did not believe Wrexham should be awarded city status at all.[25] Within the council, political groups threatened to walk out over the debate of city status.[26] The council was criticised for ignoring the survey's results by submitting a bid. Wrexham's city status bid is one of 39 bids across the UK and territories, it is the only bid from Wales, following Merthyr Tydfil's withdrawal of their bid. It is hoped that being the only Welsh bid leads to increased chances of Wrexham winning city status if the Queen awards city status to at least one town in the four countries of the United Kingdom. Wrexham has applied for city status three other times, in 2000, 2002 and 2012, with the 2012 bid lost to St Asaph, Denbighshire.

In January 2022, the council considered raising salaries for councillors to encourage more skilled and more diverse candidates for the 2022 election.[27][28][29][30]

Ward changes[]

In July 2021, the Welsh Government accepted the various ward change proposals made by the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales, with only slight modification, for Wrexham County Borough.[31] The number of councillors will increase by four, from 52 to a total of 56, giving an average of 1,801 electors per councillor.[31] These are expected take effect during this election in 2022. The changes gave a better parity of representation. The Welsh Government rejected three recommendations on the names of three wards.[31] Twenty-four wards remained unchanged. Seven wards have two councillors, up from four wards having two councillors in 2017. [31]

Of the other wards, and not mentioning minor boundary changes, the major changes are:[32][33]

  • New wards; Acrefair North (from Plas Madoc ward and Cefn community), Bangor Is-y-Coed and Rhos.
  • Acton ward expanded to include Maesydre as Acton and Maesydre
  • Bronington ward expanded to include Hanmer as Bronington and Hanmer
  • Bryn Cefn expanded to include parts of Brynteg ward
  • Gwenfro ward expanded to include parts of New Broughton and Brynteg wards
  • Parts of Abenbury wards moved to Whitegate ward, parts of Whitegate ward (near Newton Street) moved to Smithfield ward, and parts of Smithfield ward moved to Wynnstay ward
  • Split Cefn ward (a two councillor ward) into separate East and West wards (one councillor each), as Cefn East and Cefn West.
  • Refer to the dually named Dyffryn Ceiriog/Ceiriog Valley ward by only its Welsh name, Dyffryn Ceiriog
  • Parts of Offa ward transferred to Erddig ward
  • Parts of Brynyffynnon ward transferred to Offa ward
  • Split Gwersyllt East and South (a two councillor ward) into separate East and South wards (one councillor each), as Gwersyllt East and Gwersyllt South
  • Abolish Johnstown ward, Plas Madoc ward, and Maesydre ward
  • Overton ward expanded to include Maelor South as Overton and Maelor South
  • Pant ward merged with Johnstown ward as Pant and Johnstown with two councillors.
  • Various minor boundary changes
  • Shrink the Ponciau ward, removing one of its two councillors.
  • Wards of Acton and Maesydre (merged ward), Brymbo, Pant and Johnstown (merged ward), Rhosnesni, and Rossett, become two-councillor wards.
  • Introduction of Welsh language names used alongside English language names for some wards.

No changes performed on the following wards:[32]

Overview of results[]

The election is scheduled for 5 May 2022

Ward results[]

TBA

Acrefair North (one seat)[]

Acton and Maesydre (two seats)[]

Bangor Is-y-Coed (one seat)[]

Borras Park (one seat)[]

Bronington and Hanmer (one seat)[]

Brymbo (two seats)[]

Bryn Cefn (one seat)[]

Brynyffynnon (one seat)[]

Cartrefle (one seat)[]

Cefn East (one seat)[]

Cefn West (one seat)[]

Dyffryn Ceiriog (one seat)[]

Chirk North (one seat)[]

Chirk South (one seat)[]

Coedpoeth (two seats)[]

Erddig (one seat)[]

Esclusham (one seat)[]

Garden Village (one seat)[]

Gresford East and West (one seat)[]

Grosvenor (one seat)[]

Gwenfro (one seat)[]

Gwersyllt East (one seat)[]

Gwersyllt North (one seat)[]

Gwersyllt South (one seat)[]

Gwersyllt West (one seat)[]

Hermitage (one seat)[]

Holt (one seat)[]

Little Acton (one seat)[]

Llangollen Rural (one seat)[]

Llay (two seats)[]

Marchwiel (one seat)[]

Marford and Hoseley (one seat)[]

Minera (one seat)[]

New Broughton (one seat)[]

Offa (one seat)[]

Overton and Maelor South (one seat)[]

Pant and Johnstown (two seats)[]

Penycae (one seat)[]

Penycae and Ruabon South (one seat)[]

Ponciau (one seat)[]

Queensway (one seat)[]

Rhos (one seat)[]

Rhosnesni (two seats)[]

Rossett (two seats)[]

Ruabon (one seat)[]

Smithfield (one seat)[]

Stansty (one seat)[]

Whitegate (one seat)[]

Wynnstay (one seat)[]

References[]

  1. ^ Mosalski, Ruth (24 September 2019). "The date of the next council elections in Wales has moved". Wales Online. Retrieved 30 November 2021.
  2. ^ "The Tories are well ahead in Wrexham, part of Labour's "Red Wall"". The Economist. 5 December 2019. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Election results | Wrexham County Borough Council". www.wrexham.gov.uk. Retrieved 17 January 2022.
  4. ^ "'People are fed up, tired and scared': the battle for Wrexham". the Guardian. 6 December 2019. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  5. ^ "Wrexham parliamentary constituency - Election 2019 - BBC News". Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  6. ^ Randall, Liam. "Sarah Atherton: Wrexham elects Conservative MP for first time in history". Leader Live. Archived from the original on 13 December 2019. Retrieved 13 December 2019.
  7. ^ "In Wrexham, voters are abandoning Labour over Brexit". New Statesman. 8 June 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  8. ^ "General Election 2019 - Wrexham turns blue for the first time". www.shropshirestar.com. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  9. ^ Randall, Liam (7 May 2021). "Senedd Election 2021: Wrexham constituency result in full". North Wales Live. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  10. ^ Mosalski, Ruth; Burkitt, Sian (7 May 2021). "Senedd election 2021 result in Wrexham: Labour hold seat". WalesOnline. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  11. ^ "Seat projection: Conservatives on course to gain seats from Labour". ITV News. 7 May 2021. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  12. ^ "Plaid Cymru gain council seat from Labour in Wrexham as by-elections resume after pandemic pause". Nation.Cymru. 19 March 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Voters set to go to the polls at Gresford by-election in October". The Leader. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  14. ^ "Candidates confirmed in race to replace Wrexham councillor who relocated to Panama". The Leader. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  15. ^ "Jeremy Kent wins Gresford election – Welsh Conservatives Hold". Wrexham.com. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  16. ^ "North Shropshire by-election 'drubbing' will send shockwaves through the Tory party". Sky News. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  17. ^ "'Party is over': UK's ruling Tories lose safe seat they've always held". euronews. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  18. ^ "Wrexham mulls launching fourth bid for city status". BBC News. 7 July 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  19. ^ "UK city of culture 2025: Southampton and Bradford among those on shortlist". the Guardian. 18 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  20. ^ "UK City of Culture 2025: Derby misses out on shortlist". BBC News. 18 March 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
  21. ^ "Wrexham to make fourth city status bid despite opposition". BBC News. 7 December 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  22. ^ Randall, Liam (7 December 2021). "Wrexham pushes ahead with fourth city status bid despite backlash over plans". North Wales Live. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  23. ^ "Wrexham's city status bid plan opposed by protesters". BBC News. 4 December 2021. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  24. ^ "'Say No To City Status' - protesters demonstrate outside Wrexham Guildhall". The Leader. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  25. ^ "Majority say Wrexham does not deserve city status – council say "people lack confidence in their town"". Wrexham.com. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  26. ^ "Council issue statement 70 days after mess of Full Council meeting on City Status bid". Wrexham.com. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  27. ^ "Councillors set to back action plan aiming to increase diversity in 2022's local government elections". Wrexham.com. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  28. ^ "Councillor pay could rise by 16.9% in 'significant reset' to encourage more candidates for May 2022 elections". Wrexham.com. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  29. ^ ""You said we did" – Public again suggest cutting Mayoral role, trimming councillor pay and numbers". Wrexham.com. Retrieved 18 January 2022.
  30. ^ "Wrexham politicians to discuss £2,400 a year councillor pay rise proposals". Border Counties Advertizer. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  31. ^ a b c d "Wrexham Council Boundary Reforms Confirmed | LDBC". ldbc.gov.wales. Retrieved 16 January 2022.
  32. ^ a b "Review of the Electoral Arrangements of the County Borough of Wrexham – Final Recommendations Report" (PDF). ldbc.gov.wales. Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales. November 2020. p. 12. Archived (PDF) from the original on 19 January 2022. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
  33. ^ "Shake up of Wrexham council wards would see more councillors and boundary changes". Wrexham.com. Retrieved 19 January 2022.
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