Gwent County Council

Gwent County Council

*Cyngor Sir Gwent*
Gwent County Council ; Cyngor Sir Gwent
	Coat of arms of the county council, inherited from Monmouthshire CC
History
Founded	1 April 1974; 47 years ago
Disbanded	31 March 1996; 25 years ago
Preceded by	Monmouthshire County Council (1889-1974); Newport County Borough Council (1891-1974); Breconshire County Council (part) (1889-1974);
Succeeded by	Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council; Caerphilly County Borough Council; Monmouthshire County Council; Newport County Borough Council; Torfaen County Borough Council;
Elections
First election	12 April 1973
Last election
Meeting place
	County Hall, Cwmbran, from 1977

Gwent County Council (Welsh: Cyngor Sir Gwent) was the upper-tier local authority that governed the county of Gwent in South Wales from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. It was created by the Local Government Act 1972 and abolished by the Local Government (Wales) Act 1994.

The council took over the geographical area and main roles of the previous councils, Monmouthshire County Council (1889–1974) and Newport County Borough Council (1891–1974). Five district councils provided a second tier of government, namely Blaenau Gwent, Islwyn, Monmouth, Newport and Torfaen.^[1]

The first elections to the council took place on 12 April 1973, with 78 councillors elected from 66 electoral wards.^[2] Councillors acted in a shadow capacity until the new council came into full effect on 1 April 1974.

The council was initially based at the Monmouthshire Shire Hall in Newport, while a new headquarters was being built in Cwmbran,^[3] completed in 1977.^[4]

The first Chief Executive of Gwent County Council was James Bray, who had previously been deputy clerk of Monmouthshire County Council.^[1] The Chairman of Gwent County Council from 1974 was 78-year-old Councillor Barney O'Neill, who had previously been a representative on Monmouthshire County Council and Chepstow Urban District Council.^[1]

Historic election results[]

Year ^[5]	Labour	Conservative	Liberals (Lib Dems)	Plaid Cymru	Communist	Ratepayers	Independent
	55	6	1	1	-	-	-
	55	7	-	-	-	-	1
	65	9	1	1	-	-	-
	63	12	1	1	-	-	1
	36	27	1	2	1	4	6
1973	59	12	3	1	-	2	1

References[]

^ ^a ^b ^c "The Counties and Districts - Gwent". Western Mail ("The New Wales" supplement). Wales. 22 March 1974. p. 8.
^ "Dad gets her vote - but he still loses seat - Gwent (results)". South Wales Echo. 13 April 1973. p. 8.
^ Niall Griffiths (20 August 2019). "Old Gwent County Council headquarters site in Croesyceiliog to get almost 150 new homes". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
^ Newman, John (2000). Gwent/Monmouthshire. Yale University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0300096309.
^ "Gwent County Council Election Results 1973-1993" (PDF). The Elections Centre (Plymouth University). Retrieved 15 September 2019.

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[1974_New_Wales-1] "The Counties and Districts - Gwent". Western Mail ("The New Wales" supplement). Wales. 22 March 1974. p. 8.

[Gwent_results-2] "Dad gets her vote - but he still loses seat - Gwent (results)". South Wales Echo. 13 April 1973. p. 8.

[3] Niall Griffiths (20 August 2019). "Old Gwent County Council headquarters site in Croesyceiliog to get almost 150 new homes". South Wales Argus. Retrieved 15 September 2019.

[newman-4] Newman, John (2000). Gwent/Monmouthshire. Yale University Press. p. 79. ISBN 978-0300096309.

[Gwent_EC-5] "Gwent County Council Election Results 1973-1993" (PDF). The Elections Centre (Plymouth University). Retrieved 15 September 2019.

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