Yscir (electoral ward)
Yscir is the name of an electoral ward in southern Powys, Wales. It covers three local government communities and elects a councillor to Powys County Council. Description. The Yscir ward covers the sparsely populated communities of Merthyr Cynog, Trallong and Yscir, including the valleys of the Nant Brân and Afon Ysgir. The River Usk partly borders the ward to the south. The Llanwrtyd Wells ward borders to the north, Maescar/Llywel to the west and Talybont-on-Usk to the south. The town of Brecon borders the southeast corner of the ward. According to the 2011 UK  Census the population of the ward was 1,038. In early 2018 county councillor Iain McIntosh visited every house in the ward to sign a petition demanding high speed broadband. Yscir had some of the poorest internet connectivity in Wales. County elections. Since the May 1995 local government election, it has been represented by one county councillor on Powys County Council. Councillor Dorothy Thomas, an Independent, represented the ward until 2017. She retired before the May 2017 elections. In May 2017 the ward made news by being the only ward in Wales not to hold an election, because no candidates had  come forward for the vacant seat. This led to a second call for nominations and a by-election arranged to elect a new councillor. Six candidates came forward and, on 22 June 2017, Conservative Party candidate Iain McIntosh won the contest. McIntosh had stood unsuccessfully in Brecon's St John ward in May. Former Conservative, Steve Davies, stood as an Independent in the by-election and, with only 2 votes received possibly the lowest vote in any Powys Council election. References.