1999 Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council election

The second election to Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council following the re-organization of local government in Wales was held on 6 May 1999.[1] It was preceded by the 1995 election and followed by the 2004 election. On the same day the first elections to the Welsh Assembly were held as well as elections to the other 21 local authorities in Wales.

Labour lost thirteen seats and their majority on the council.[2]

Overview

All council seats were up for election. These were the second elections held following local government reorganisation and the abolition of Mid Glamorgan County Council. The ward boundaries for the new authority were based on the previous Merthyr Tydfil Borough Council.

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council election result 1999

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Labour	16	0	13	-13
	Conservative	0
	Liberal Democrats	0
	Plaid Cymru	4	4	0	+4
	Green	0
	Independent	13	9	0	+9

Results

Bedlinog (two seats)

Bedlinog 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Leighton Smart	828
	Labour	Helen Thomas*	664
	Labour	Ian Thomas	392
Turnout				56.2	+14.7
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Cyfarthfa (three seats)

Cyfarthfa 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Les Elliott*	1,483
	Independent	Len Goodwin	1,140
	Independent	Lynda Williams	989
	Labour	S. Paul Brown	754
	Labour	Alison. Chaplin	679
	Labour	Pamela. Watkins	517
Turnout				47.6	+10.0
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Dowlais (four seats)

Pritchard had been elected as a Labour candidate in 1995.

Dowlais 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	H. Len Hargreaves	947
	Labour	Ray Thomas*	878
	Independent	John Pritchard*	823
	Independent	Phillip Owens	822
	Independent	Julian Amos	806
	Plaid Cymru	Alan Cowdell	804
	Labour	Tom Lewis*	769
	Labour	Mike Sullivan*	727
	Labour	Harry Harbord	712
Turnout				41.0	+4.6
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Gurnos (four seats)

Labour won all four seats in 1995 when Phillips had been elected as a Labour councilor for the Park ward.

Gurnos 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Dave Phillips*	743
	Labour	Bernard Driscoll*	681
	Labour	Allan Davies	635
	Labour	William Smith*	619
	Independent	John Mantle	548
	Labour	Dave Jarrett*	531
Turnout				35.8	+6.8
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour win (new seat)

Merthyr Vale (two seats)

Merthyr Vale 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Jeff Edwards	1,266
	Labour	David Lewis*	896
	Labour	Enos Sims*	672
Turnout				72.0	+11.1
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Park (three seats)

Labour won all three seats in 1995 but one of the sitting members joined Plaid Cymru while another stood as an Independent candidate in the Gurnos ward.

Park 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Brendan Toomey	783
	Labour	J. Leon Stanfield*	731
	Labour	Louise Garcia	652
	Independent	Ann. Amos	596
	Plaid Cymru	Marion Morris	592
	Plaid Cymru	Elizabeth Tate*	484
	Liberal Democrats	Huw Eynon	408
Turnout				68.6	+28.8
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Penydarren (three seats)

Penydarren 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	D. James	1,117
	Labour	P. Saunders*	931
	Labour	T. Mahoney*	851
	Labour	I. Jones	752
Turnout				50.3	10.2
	Independent gain from Labour		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Plymouth (three seats)

Plymouth 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. Jones*	1,190
	Labour	R. Clark	1,024
	Labour	D. Games*	966
	Plaid Cymru	H. Voyle	935
	Independent	A. Challis	852
Turnout				77.5	+30.1
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

Town (four seats)

Town 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	W. Thomas	1,421
	Plaid Cymru	V. Pugh	1,183
	Plaid Cymru	D. Griffiths	1,101
	Plaid Cymru	Ms S. Pengelly	983
	Labour	I. Clark*	969
	Labour	C. Jones*	931
	Labour	Ms L. Matthews*	929
	Labour	T. Davies*	841
	Independent	A. Green	590
Turnout				56.7	+13.1
	Plaid Cymru gain from Labour		Swing
	Plaid Cymru gain from Labour		Swing
	Plaid Cymru gain from Labour		Swing
	Plaid Cymru gain from Labour		Swing

Treharris (four seats)

Galsworthy had been elected as an Independent in 1995.

Treharris 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E. Galsworthy*	889
	Labour	Ms G. Evans*	821
	Independent	R. Whitehouse	819
	Labour	A. Jones*	771
	Independent	Ms M. Shankland	664
	Plaid Cymru	R. Hughes	595
	Independent	M. Moran	407
	Liberal Democrats	C. Richards	373
	Independent	J. Gilbert	301
	Green	K. Williams	189
Turnout				59.3	+20.7
	Labour hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing
	Independent hold		Swing

Vaynor (two seats)

Vaynor 1999

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	A. Baynham*	1,050
	Independent	M. Vaughan	765
	Labour	C. Owen	318
	Labour	G. Watkins	257
	Communist	R. Evans	171
Turnout				58.8	+3.0
	Independent hold		Swing
	Labour hold		Swing

References

1. "Results". Western Mail. 8 May 1999.
2. "Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council Election Results 1995-2012" (PDF). The Elections Cente, Plymouth University. Retrieved 9 June 2016.