Monmouthshire County Council

Monmouthshire County Council Cyngor Sir Fynwy
History
Founded	1 April 1996
Preceded by	Gwent County Council
Leadership
Chairman of Monmouthshire County Council	Cllr Mat Feakins, Conservative since May 2021
Leader of the Council	Cllr Richard John, Conservative since May 2021
Deputy Leader	Cllr Robert Greenland Cllr Sara Jones, Conservative
Leader of the Opposition	Cllr Dimitri Batrouni, Labour since May 2013[1]
Chief Executive	Paul Matthews since 2009[2]
Structure
Seats	43[3]
Political groups	Administration (25)   Conservative (25) Opposition (18)   Labour (10)   Independent (5)   Liberal Democrat (3)
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
First election
Last election	4 May 2017
Next election
Motto
Utrique Fidelis (Faithful to both)[4]
Website
monmouthshire.gov.uk

Monmouthshire County Council (or simply Monmouthshire Council) (Welsh: Cyngor Sir Fynwy) is the governing body for the Monmouthshire principal area – one of the unitary authorities of Wales.

The current unitary authority was created in 1996 and covers the eastern three-fifths of the historic county. As of May 2021, the council is led by Richard John (Conservative), with Robert Greenland and Sara Jones (both Conservative) as deputy leaders.^[5] The leader of the opposition is Dimitri Batrouni (Labour). The chief executive is Paul Matthews.^[6]

History[]

A Monmouthshire County Council was originally formed in 1889, covering the administrative county of Monmouthshire. The council was based at Shire Hall in Newport. In 1891 Newport became a county borough and therefore outside the jurisdiction of the county council, although the council continued to be based there. The council was abolished in 1974, being absorbed into Gwent. However, a new Monmouthshire County Council was formed in 1996 covering the principal area of Monmouthshire. This council was a successor to the previous Monmouth District Council along with a small part of the former Blaenau Gwent District Council area, which had also been created in 1974.

From 1996 until April 2012, the council's administrative headquarters were at the six-storey former Gwent County Hall at Croesyceiliog, Cwmbran – outside its own jurisdiction in the neighbouring borough of Torfaen and shared with Torfaen County Borough Council. It was closed because of "concrete cancer" and later demolished.^[7] In 2010 the authority had decided to relocate its headquarters functions to new offices in Usk.^[8] In May 2010 it was reported that the council had purchased additional offices at the Wales 1 Business Park at Magor.^[9] Planning permission for the new Usk office building, to provide the authority's central facilities, was granted in September 2011.^[10] The new £6 million county hall was opened in mid 2013.^[11]

A BBC television documentary "Carrying On at the Council" was broadcast in February 2012, after being filmed with Monmouthshire County Council over a period of seven months, in the lead up to their office move.^[12]

Elections[]

Elections take place every five years. Following the election on 3 May 2012, a working arrangement was established by the Conservative and Liberal Democrat groups to run the authority. Peter Fox (Conservative) was appointed as Leader, with Robert Greenland (Conservative) and Phylip Hobson (Liberal Democrat) as Deputy Leaders. In the elections, the two parties won a combined total of 22 seats, giving them an overall majority of one.^[13] In May 2017, the Conservative party won overall control. Cllr Peter Fox began his fifth term in office.^[14] Monmouthshire County Council became the only council in Wales under Conservative majority control.

The Conservatives had previously controlled the authority from the 2004 elections, when they took it from no overall control. They increased their majority in the council election of 2008.

Historic results[]

Current composition (2017)[]

Leadership[]

Peter Fox, Conservative councillor for Portskewett, entered his fifth term as council leader in May 2017.^[14] Cllr Fox had been council leader continuously since May 2008, when he replaced Raglan councillor, Andrew Crump. Crump had been leader since 2004, but resigned from the Conservative group after Fox's election as leader and joined the Independents. Prior to 2004 Crump had been leader of the hung council for a year.^[17]

Fox was elected as a Member of the Senedd (MS) for the Monmouth constituency in May 2021, and stepped down from his position as council leader. Councillor Richard John, who has represented the Mitchel Troy district since 2017, was appointed as leader, becoming the youngest council leader in Wales. Councillor Sara Jones was appointed deputy leader alongside councillor Robert Greenland.^[5]

Electoral districts, areas and communities[]

Electoral divisions in Monmouthshire

For the purposes of electing councillors, the principal area is divided into forty-two electoral divisions, each returning one councillor, except Llanelly, known as , which has two councillors. These divisions date from 2004.^[18]

The council operates a decentralised system of administration, with four area committees:

• Bryn y Cwm, covering the Abergavenny area
• Central Monmouthshire, centred on Monmouth
• Lower Wye, for the Chepstow area
• Severnside, the area around Caldicot^[19]

Although the council is described as a "unitary authority", there is in fact a second tier of government, with the entire area being divided into communities, all of which has either a town or community council.

Bryn y Cwm area[]

Central Monmouthshire area[]

Lower Wye area[]

Severnside[]

References[]