# 1971 Cardiff City Council election

The 1971 Cardiff City Council election was held on Thursday 13 May 1971 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 1970 and the next elections would be in May 1972. The 1971 election would be the penultimate all-Cardiff election 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 back from the Conservatives.

## 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 1971 would serve for less than three years, before the dissolution of the present Council in April 1974.
The local government elections took place in the context of Edward Heath's new Conservative UK government (which had been elected only 11 months previously) and rising prices and unemployment.

## Overview of the result

Nineteen seats in 19 electoral wards were up for election in May 1971. In what was described as a "night of disaster for the Conservatives" the Labour Party more than recovered the position they had been in Cardiff prior to the 1967 elections. Labour gained a total of 11 seats, including one in the previous Tory stronghold of Whitchurch. A number of former Cardiff Labour councillors won their seats back, including Eva Davies, Emyr Currie-Jones, Philip Dunleavy, Harold Bartlett and Dengar Evans.

### Council composition

Following the May 1970 election the balance on the city council was 57 Conservatives, 18 Labour and one Plaid Cymru. With 11 out of 19 seats changing hands in May 1971, Cardiff Labour chairman Cllr Jack Brooks called for the other two thirds of Cardiff seats to be put up for election, saying it was unfair that the Conservatives should remain in control.

## Ward results

Contests took place in every ward at this election.

### Adamsdown

Adamsdown ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Eva Davies | 1,706 |
| | Conservative | Christopher Matthew Peterson * | 663 |
| | Liberal | Henry Charles Edwards | 153 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,043 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Canton

Canton ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Dengar Robinson Evans | 1,807 |
| | Conservative | Anthea Jean Thomas * | 1,294 |
| | Liberal | Richard Michael James | 205 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 513 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Cathays

Cathays ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Emyr Currie-Jones | 2,730 |
| | Conservative | Hubert George Nunn * | 1,726 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,004 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Central

Central ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Gordon William Fish | 1,563 |
| | Conservative | William Lawford Gower * | 1,118 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 445 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Ely

Ely ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Albert William Buttle * | 3,376 |
| | Conservative | Leslie Albert Roderick | 770 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Charles Stephen Craves | 598 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,606 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |

### Gabalfa

Gabalfa ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Arthur William George Brown | 2,290 |
| | Conservative | Bernard Hugh Rees | 1,243 |
| | Independent Labour | Gertrude Louise Baines | 688 |
| | Liberal | Alan Edward Hiscock | 170 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,047 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Grangetown

Grangetown ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Harold George Bartlett | 1,750 |
| | Conservative | Tim Cronin * | 987 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Peter Staveley McMullen | 324 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 763 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Llanishen

Llanishen ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | Henry Peter Farthing * | 2,447 |
| | Labour | Leslie Bernard Goodrum | 2,108 |
| | Liberal | Olive Mary Langdon | 905 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 339 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Llandaff

Llandaff ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | Beti Jones * | 2,128 |
| | Labour | Lionel John James | 813 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Gwen Humphreys | 724 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,315 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Penylan

Penylan ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | William Vaughan Barraby | 3,674 |
| | Labour | George Ewart Baylis | 1,386 |
| | Liberal | John Evan Lee | 536 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,288 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Plasmawr

Plasmawr ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Albert Arthur Huish | 2,909 |
| | Plaid Cymru | David Eurig Davies | 1,329 |
| | Conservative | Doreen Muriel Norman * | 1,032 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,580 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Plasnewydd

Plasnewydd ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | Tony Lewis * | 1,554 |
| | Labour | Michael John Parry | 1,429 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Philip Brian Richards | 312 |
| | Liberal | Elizabeth Davina Forrest | 158 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 125 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Rhiwbina

Rhiwbina ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | William Davies * | 2,269 |
| | Labour | William Michael Walker | 1,155 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Gwynfor Hughes | 676 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,114 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Riverside

Riverside ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | Joseph Donovan * | 1,271 |
| | Labour | Thomas Clifford Lee | 1,019 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Roy Adam Lee | 326 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 252 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Roath

Roath ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Conservative | Ian Hermer * | 2,257 |
| | Labour | John Scrivens | 945 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,312 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Rumney

Rumney ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | David Myfr Evans | 3,895 |
| | Conservative | Samuel Parker * | 1,593 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Michael Coughlin | 433 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,302 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### South

South ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Philip Dunleavy | 2,165 |
| | Conservative | Stefan Terlezki * | 1,198 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 167 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Splott

Splott ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | John Edward Brooks | 2,600 |
| | Conservative | Robert Edward Glover | 1,342 |
| | Communist | Richard Horatio Spencer | 59 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 258 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |

### Whitchurch

Whitchurch ward 1971 :
| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| | Labour | Henry Gordon Howell | 2,100 |
| | Conservative | Victor Riley | 2,024 |
| | Liberal | Alexander Thomas Reeves | 316 |
| | Plaid Cymru | David Gareth Williams | 247 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 76 |
| | Labour gain from Conservative | Labour gain from Conservative | Swing |
* = 'retiring' ward councillor for re-election