Vale of Glamorgan Council

The Vale of Glamorgan Council is the governing body for the Vale of Glamorgan, one of the Principal Areas of Wales.

Vale of Glamorgan Council Cyngor Bro Morgannwg
Type
Type	County Borough
History
Founded	1 April 1996
Preceded by	Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council South Glamorgan County Council
Leadership
Mayor	Naomi Marshallsea, Labour since 7 May 2025[1]
Leader	Lis Burnett, Labour since 23 May 2022
Chief Executive	Rob Thomas since 1 May 2015[2]
Structure
Seats	54 councillors[3][4]
Political groups	Administration (30)   Labour (25)   Llantwit First (4)   Independent (1) Other parties (24)   Conservative (13)   Plaid Cymru (8)   Independent (3)
Length of term	5 years
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
First election	4 May 1995
Last election	5 May 2022
Next election	6 May 2027
Meeting place
Civic Offices, Holton Road, Barry, CF63 4RU
Website
www.valeofglamorgan.gov.uk

History

The new Vale of Glamorgan Council unitary authority came into effect on 1 April 1996, following the dissolution of South Glamorgan. It replaced the Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council, which had been created in 1974 as a second-tier authority to South Glamorgan County Council.

Political control

The council has been under no overall control since 2012. Since the 2022 election the council has been run by a coalition of Labour, the Llantwit First Independents, and one of the independent councillors.^[5]

The first election to the reconstituted council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1996 has been as follows:^[6]

Party in control		Years
	Labour	1996–1999
	No overall control	1999–2008
	Conservative	2008–2012
	No overall control	2012–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Vale of Glamorgan, with political leadership provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1999 have been:

Councillor	Party		From	To
Jeff James[7]		Conservative	May 1999	6 Dec 2006
Margaret Alexander[8]		Labour	6 Dec 2006	May 2008
Gordon Kemp[9]		Conservative	May 2008	May 2012
Neil Moore[10]		Labour	May 2012	May 2017
John Thomas[11][12]		Conservative	24 May 2017	May 2019
Neil Moore[13][10]		Labour	20 May 2019	May 2022
Lis Burnett[14]		Labour	23 May 2022

Composition

Following the 2022 election the composition of the council was:

Party		Councillors
	Labour	25
	Conservative	13
	Plaid Cymru	8
	Llantwit First Independent	4
	Independent	4
Total		54

One of the independent councillors forms part of the ruling coalition with Labour and local party the Llantwit First Independents.^[5] The next election is due in 2027.^[15]

Elections

Since 2012, elections have taken place every five years. The last election was on 5 May 2022.^[6]

Year	Seats	Labour	Conservative	Plaid Cymru	Independent	Liberal Democrats	UKIP	Notes
1995[16]	47	36	6	5	0	0	0	Labour majority control
1999	47	18	22	6	0	1	0
2004[17]	47	16	20	8	3	0	0
2008	47	13	25	6	3	0	0
2012	47	22	11	6	7	0	1	[18]
2017[19]	47	14	23	4	6	0	0
2022[20]	54	25	13	8	8	0	0	[20]

Party with the most elected councillors in bold. Coalition agreements in notes column.

Premises

The council is based at the Civic Offices on Holton Road in Barry, which were built in 1981 for the old Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council.^[7]

Electoral divisions

Electoral ward boundaries in the Vale of Glamorgan from 2022

Pre-2022 electoral ward boundaries in the Vale of Glamorgan

Until 2022 the county borough was divided into 23 electoral wards returning 47 councillors. Some of these wards are coterminous with communities (parishes) of the same name. Other wards may encompass several communities and in some cases communities can encompass more than one ward. The following table lists council wards, communities and associated geographical areas prior to the 2022 boundary changes. Communities with a community council are indicated with a '*':

Ward	Communities (Parishes)	Other geographic areas
Baruc	Barry Town* (Baruc ward)	The Knap, Garden Suburb, Barry Island
Buttrills	Barry Town* (Buttrills ward)
Cadoc	Barry Town* (Cadoc ward)	Cadoxton, Palmerstown
Castleland	Barry Town* (Castleland ward)	Bendricks
Cornerswell	Penarth Town* (Cornerswell ward)	Cogan
Court	Barry Town* (Court ward)
Cowbridge	Cowbridge with Llanblethian Town* Llanfair* Penllyn*	Aberthin, City, Craig Penllyn, Llanblethian, Llandough, Llansannor, Penllyn, Pentre Meyrick, St Mary Church, St. Hillary, Trehyngyll, Ystradowen
Dinas Powys	Dinas Powys* Michaelston*	Eastbrook, Leckwith, Michaelston le Pit, Murch, St Andrew's Major, Westra
Dyfan	Barry Town* (Dyfan ward)	Colcot, Highlight Park
Gibbonsdown	Barry Town* (Gibbonsdown ward)	Merthyr Dyfan
Illtyd	Barry Town* (Illtyd ward)	Cwm Talwg
Llandough	Llandough*
Llandow/Ewenny	Colwinston* Ewenny* Llandow* Llangan*	Colwinston, Corntown, Llysworney, Ruthin, St. Mary Hill, Sigingstone, Troes,
Llantwit Major	Llan-maes* Llantwit Major Town* St. Donats*	Boverton, Llanmaes, Monknash
Peterston-super-Ely	Pendoylan* Peterston-super-Ely* St. Georges-super-Ely* Welsh St. Donats*	Clawdd Coch, Downs, Drope, Gwern y Steeple, Hensol, Pendoylan, St. Brides-super-Ely, St. George's
Plymouth	Penarth Town* (Plymouth ward)	Lower Penarth, Cosmeston
Rhoose	Llancarfan* Rhoose	East Aberthaw, Fonmon, Font-y-gari, Llanbethery, Llancadle, Llancarfan, Llantrithyd, Moulton, Penmark, Porthkerry, Tredogan, Walerston,
St Athan	St Athan*	Flemingston, Gileston, West Aberthaw, East Camp, Eglwys Brewis
St Augustine's	Penarth Town* (St. Augustine ward)	Headlands, Penarth Marina,
St. Bride's Major	St. Bride's Major* Wick*	Boughton, Ogmore, Ogmore-by-Sea, Southerndown
Stanwell	Penarth Town* (Stanwell ward)
Sully	Sully and Lavernock*	Cog, Cosmeston, Swanbridge
Wenvoe	St Nicholas and Bonvilston Wenvoe*	Dyffryn, St. Lythans