# 1972 Cardiff City Council election

The 1972 Cardiff City Council election was held on Thursday 4 May 1972 to elect councillors to Cardiff City Council in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales. It took place on the same day as several other county borough elections in Wales and England.
The previous elections to this one were in May 1971. The 1972 election would be the final all-Cardiff election to this council before the dissolution of the unitary authority and the creation of the new second-tier district authority of Cardiff City Council in 1974.
The election saw the Labour Party taking a significant number of seats, to cut the Conservative Party majority.

## Background

Cardiff County Borough Council had been created in 1889. Cardiff became a city in 1905. Elections to the local authority were held annually, though not all council seats were included in each contest, because each of the three councillors in each ward stood down for election in rotation. The councillors elected in 1972 would only serve for less two years, before the dissolution of the Council in April 1974.
There were a total of 76 seats on the council, including 19 aldermen.

## Overview of the result

Nineteen seats in 19 electoral wards were up for election in May 1972. The Labour Party won an additional ten seats on the council, mainly from the ruling Conservative Party, cutting the Tory majority to 12. One of the gains was in the Whitchurch ward, which until last year had been a Tory stronghold.

## Ward results

Contests for one ward councillor seat took place in each of the nineteen wards at this election.

### Adamsdown

Adamsdown ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | John Iorwerth Jones * | 1,316 |
| | Conservative | Christopher Paterson | 391 |
| | Independent | Thelma Mackie | 57 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 925 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |

### Canton

Canton ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | George E. Bayliss | 1,396 |
| | Conservative | William Albert J. Adams * | 1,316 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 80 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Cathays

Cathays ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Derek Allinson | 1,988 |
| | Conservative | David John Evans * | 1,587 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Gareth Ap Sion | 430 |
| | People's Candidate | Morris W. Bradshaw | 165 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 401 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Central

Central ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | John D. Leonard * | 1,535 |
| | Conservative | Bernard H. Rees | 932 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 603 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |

### Ely

Ely ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Thomas Clifford Lee | 2,674 |
| | Conservative | John F. G. Phillips * | 775 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Charles Stephen Cravos | 524 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,899 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Gabalfa

Gabalfa ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Michael Jn. Parry | 2,290 |
| | Conservative | Gwilym Haydn Jones * | 1,405 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 885 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Grangetown

Grangetown ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | (Mrs) E. M. Matthewson | 1,543 |
| | Conservative | Lawrence Charles Johnson * | 876 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 667 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Llandaff

Llandaff ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | Keith Flynn * | 2,041 |
| | Labour | Carys Meinir Evans | 727 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Gwen Humphreys | 614 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,314 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Llanishen

Llanishen ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | Jeffrey P. Sainsbury * | 2,579 |
| | Labour | Leslie Bernard Goodrum | 2,131 |
| | Liberal | Olive Mary Langdon | 924 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 448 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Penylan

Penylan ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | Stefan Terlezki | 4,087 |
| | Labour | Violet Jones | 2,007 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,080 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Plasmawr

Plasmawr ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Fred George Tyrrell | 2,385 |
| | Plaid Cymru | (Dr) Dafydd Hughes* | 1,584 |
| | Conservative | Doreen Muriel Norman | 859 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 801 |
| | Labour gain from Plaid Cymru | Labour gain from Plaid Cymru | Swing |

### Plasnewydd

Plasnewydd ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | Geoffrey Donald Edmunds * | 1,489 |
| | Labour | Patrick Joseph Troy | 1,361 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Philip Brian Richards | 431 |
| | Liberal | Henry Charles Edwards | 358 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 128 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Rhiwbina

Rhiwbina ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | William John A. Bain * | 2,145 |
| | Plaid Cymru | H. Lloyd Davies | 964 |
| | Liberal | Howard John O'Brien | 803 |
| | Labour | Mervyn G. Powell-Davies | 785 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,191 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Riverside

Riverside ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | Alec Johnson * | 1,219 |
| | Labour | John A. Hennessey | 1,013 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Roy A. Lee | 315 |
| | Liberal | Richard M. James | 131 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 206 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Roath

Roath ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | Gerald Michael Brinks * | 2,093 |
| | Labour | Fred Hodges | 802 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Paul Anthony Cravos | 379 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,291 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Rumney

Rumney ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | John Randall Phillips | 3,122 |
| | Conservative | David Howard Burnett | 1,071 |
| | Independent | (Dr) Bryan Sandford-Hill * | 514 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,051 |
| | Labour gain from Independent | Labour gain from Independent | Swing |

### South

South ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Frederick John Smith | 2,011 |
| | Conservative | David Stanley Cooper * | 779 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,232 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Splott

Splott ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Dermot R. Ormond | 2,239 |
| | Conservative | Cyril Frederick Hutchings * | 1,128 |
| | Communist | Stella Garrett Jones | 94 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,111 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Whitchurch

Whitchurch ward 1972 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Philip Norton | 2,569 |
| | Conservative | John Meurig Davies * | 2,399 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 170 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |
* = 'retiring' ward councillor for re-election