1919 Glamorgan County Council election

The tenth election to Glamorgan County Council, south Wales, took place in March 1919. It was preceded by the 1913 election and followed by the 1922 election.

Overview of the Result

In this first post-war election a significant advance was made by the Labour Party, which captured a number of seats, and established a comfortable majority on the Council for the first time.^[1]

Boundary Changes

A number of boundary changes had taken place since the previous election. The extension of the Swansea Borough boundary caused the disappearance of the Llansamlet, Morriston, Sketty, and Oystermouth divisions which were no longer part of the county. Four new divisions were created in other parts of the county. The old Margam division was divided into two (Margam East and Port Talbot West), and the Llantrisant division was likewise divided into two new wards, namely Gilfach Goch and Tonyrefail. Llantwit Fardre, a new division was also created at Hopkinstown, Pontypridd and the old Aber division was divided into the Cwm Aber and Llanfabon divisions.^[2] The number of wards remained at 66.

Candidates

38 of the 66 councilors were returned unopposed.^[3]

Party	Unopposed Returns
Conservative	8
Labour	10
Liberal	12
Independent	0
Liberal-Labour	1

Most of the re-elected Conservatives represented wards on the outskirts of Cardiff and in the Vale of Glamorgan. Labour candidates were returned unopposed in a number of the mining valleys although sitting Liberals were also unopposed in some of these localities.

Of the eleven retiring aldermen, seven sought re-election to the Council. Three of these namely E.H. Fleming (Lab, Hopkinstown), William Jones (Lab, Mountain Ash) and William Llewellyn (Lib, Ogmore Vale) were returned unopposed.

Contested Elections

Many of the contested elections resulted in the decision of the Labour Party to run more candidates than ever before. The distribution of these candidates was not uniform, with candidates being run in all Rhondda wards bar two (where two long-serving Liberals went unopposed). In contrast there was only one contested elections in the Aberdare district, and this was more personal than political.^[4] Despite the Labour advance at district level in the pre-war period they fielded no candidates.

Outcome

A number of seats changed hands as Labour captured twelve seats and lost only one. Most attention focused on the defeat of two members who had served since 1889, namely Alderman J.M. Smith (Aberavon) and Alderman W.H. Mathias (Rhondda) lost to Labour challengers, but Labour victories occurred in most parts of the county .^[5] A third retiring alderman, Evan Davies (Lib, Maesteg) was also defeated while the Rev D.H. Williams (Lib, Barry) sought off a Labour challenger.

Results

Aberaman

Aberaman 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Lewis	Unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Aberavon

Aberavon 1919
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	David Rees	1,016
Conservative	John Morgan Smith**	1,010
Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Abercynon

Abercynon 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Dr I. Llewelyn Morris*	Unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Aberdare Town

Aberdare Town 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Thomas*	Unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Bargoed

Bargoed 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Rev D. Leyshon Evans*	1,460
	Labour	Morgan Jones	1,146
Majority			314
	Liberal hold		Swing

Barry

Barry 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Rev D.H. Williams**	901
	Labour	Dr C.E.G. Sixsmith	406
Majority			495
	Liberal hold		Swing

Barry Dock

Barry Dock 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	W.M. Davies*	774
	Labour	Rev Ingli James	268
Majority			506
	Liberal hold		Swing

Blaengwawr

Blaengwawr 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Gwilym Alexander Treharne*	Unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Bridgend

Bridgend 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Morgan Randall*	Unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Briton Ferry

Briton Ferry 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Joseph Branch	1,063
	Liberal	James Morris	987
Majority			76
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Cadoxton

Cadoxton 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	J.R. Llewellyn*	Unopposed
Majority
	Conservative hold		Swing

Caerphilly

Caerphilly 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Joseph Howells*	1,304
	Labour	Claude Denscombe	896
Majority			408
	Liberal hold		Swing

Cilfynydd

Cilfynydd 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Daniel Rees	1,294
	Liberal	J.E. Brooks	689
Majority			685
	Labour hold		Swing

Coedffranc

Coedffranc 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Dr W.D. Lewis Jones	936
	Labour	T.W. Davies*	689
	Labour	John Rees	430
Majority			247
	Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Coity

Coity 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	W.A. Howell	1,242
	Liberal	John Rees*	395
Majority			847
	Independent gain from Liberal		Swing

Cowbridge

Cowbridge 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Colonel H.R. Homfray*
	Labour	Kenneth James
Majority
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cwm Aber

Cwm Aber 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Hubert Jenkins*	Unopposed
Majority
	Labour hold		Swing

Cwmavon

Cwmavon 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	John Jones Edwards	1,135
	Conservative	John Hanbury	563
	Independent	Yilliam McNeil	289
Majority			572
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing

Cymmer

Cymmer 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	David Watts-Morgan*	1,343
	Independent	D. Roberts Powell	301
Majority			1,042
	Labour hold		Swing

Dinas Powys

Dinas Powys 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Claude D. Thompson*	Unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Dulais Valley

Dulais Valley 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Daniel Daniels*	Unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Ferndale

Ferndale 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Davies	Unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

Gadlys

The sitting member was heavily defeated by the minister of Tabernacle, Aberdare.^[6]

Gadlys 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Rev T. Madoc Jeffreys	841
	Liberal	T. Walter Williams*	272
Majority			569
	Liberal hold		Swing

Garw Valley

Garw Valley 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Lib-Lab	Rev William Saunders*	Unopposed
Majority
	Lib-Lab hold		Swing

Glyncorrwg

Glyncorrwg 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	William Jenkins*	Unopposed
	Labour hold

Gower

Gower 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	W.H. Davies	1,126
	Independent	George E. Gordon*	586
Majority			540
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Hengoed

Hengoed 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Edward Richards*	1,343
	Conservative	William James Price	615
Majority			728
	Liberal hold		Swing

Hopkinstown

Hopkinstown 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	E.H. Fleming**	Unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

Kibbor

Kibbor 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	H. Spence Thomas	Unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Llandaff

Llandaff 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	William Forrest	Unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Llandeilo Talybont

Llandeilo Talybont 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	David Geoffrey Williams	850
	Independent	Albert Morgan	554
Majority			296
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Llanfabon

Llanfabon 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	H.E. Morgan Lindsay	997
	Labour	David Bouldin	559
Majority			348
	Conservative win (new seat)

Llantrisant

Llantrisant 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Thomas Jenkins	733
	Labour	Tom Young	711
	Liberal	George Thomas Davies*	581
Majority			22
	Conservative win (new seat)

Llwydcoed

Llwydcoed 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Morgan Llewellyn	unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Llwynypia

Llwynypia 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	John Hammond	Unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

Loughor

Loughor 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Albert Harding	Unopposed
	Independent hold		Swing

Maesteg, Caerau and Nantyffyllon

Maesteg, Caerau and Nantyffyllon 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	John Evans*	Unopposed
Majority
	Labour hold		Swing

Maesteg, East and West

Maesteg East and West 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Edwin Barnett	1,852
	Liberal	Evan E. Davies**	769
Majority			1,063
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Mountain Ash

Lord Aberdare was initially nominated but withdrew, allowing retiring alderman William Jones to be returned unopposed.^[7]

Mountain Ash 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Jones**	Unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Neath (North)

Neath (North) 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Progressive	David Griffith Davies	494
	Liberal	J. Morris	365
	Independent	Rev Degwell Thomas	296
Majority			129
	Progressive hold		Swing

Neath (South)

Neath (South) 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick William Gibbins*	Unopposed
	Liberal hold

Newcastle

Newcastle 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Edward H. Mole	1,613
	Conservative	William H.C. Llewellyn*	1,040
Majority			573
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Ogmore Valley

Ogmore Valley 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Llewellyn**	Unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Penarth North

Penarth North 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Walter Hallett	Unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Penarth South

Penarth South 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	Samuel Thomas*	Unopposed
	Conservative hold		Swing

Penrhiwceiber

Penrhiwceiber 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Dr. Ben Phillips-Jones*	Unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Pentre

Pentre 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Thomas Alfred Thomas	Unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Pontardawe

Pontardawe 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	David Daniel Davies*	1,008
	Progressive	F.R. Phillips	699
	Independent Labour	David Lewis	375
Majority			309
	Labour hold		Swing

Port Talbot East

Port Talbot East 1919
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	John Thomas	787
Labour	William Lewis	446
Labour win (new seat)

Port Talbot West

Port Talbot West 1919
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	Llewelyn David*	986
Labour	Thomas Griffiths	446
Independent win (new seat)

Porthcawl

Porthcawl 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Progressive	Thomas G. Jones	953
	Labour	Jenkin Jones	659
	Conservative	J.I.D. Nicholl	557
Majority			294
	Progressive gain from Liberal		Swing

Pontlottyn

Alderman William Williams withdrew in favour of sitting councillor William Hammond.^[7]

Pontlottyn 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Hammond	Unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Pontypridd

Pontypridd 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Ben Davies	1,008
	Liberal	Hopkin Morgan*	999
Majority			9
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Penygraig

Penygraig 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Bowen	Unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

Porth

Porth 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	William Evans	Unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Swansea Valley

Swansea Valley 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Progressive	Richard Thomas	1,157
	Labour	J.L. Rees	1,074
	Independent	R.A. Jones	269
Majority
	Progressive hold		Swing

Tonyrefail and Gilfach Goch

The Liberal candidate had sought to withdraw before polling day but missed the deadline and his name was therefore included on the ballot.^[7]

Tonyrefail and Gilfach Goch 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	William Arthur Jones	834
	Independent	William Evans	772
	Liberal	David Naunton Morgan	19
Majority			62
	Labour win (new seat)

Trealaw

The sitting member, David Charles Evans, licensed victualler, withdrew, allowing the Labour candidate to be returned unopposed.^[7]

Trealaw 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	Enoch Treharne	Unopposed
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Treforest

Treforest 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	W.H. May	1,194
	Conservative	Dr W. Miles	828
Majority			366
	Labour gain from Independent		Swing

Treherbert

Treherbert 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Edward Williams	Unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

Treorchy

Long-serving councillor, Thomas Jones, was defeated and W.P. Thomas withdrew before the poll.^[7]

Treorchy 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Rhys Evans	2,309
	Liberal	Thomas Jones*	1,708
Majority			501
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Tylorstown

Tylorstown 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	David Lewis*	Unopposed
	Labour hold		Swing

Vale of Neath

Vale of Neath 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal	Rev Aneurin Davies	1,768
	Conservative	Col. J. Edwards-Vaughan*	1,267
Majority
	Liberal gain from Conservative		Swing

Ynyshir

Ynyshir 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	George Dolling	1,501
	Liberal	W.H. Mathias**	1,317
Majority			184
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Ystalyfera

Ystalyfera 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Daniel T. Jones	1,112
	Liberal	D.W. Davies*	986
Majority			126
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Ystrad

Ystrad 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Dr W.E. Thomas	Unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Election of Aldermen

In addition to the elected councillors the County Council consisted of 22 county aldermen. Aldermen were elected by the council, and served a six-year term. Following the 1919 election, there were twelve aldermanic vacancies, following the resignation of Alderman J.E. Evans.^[8]

It was initially resolved to re-elect the four retiring aldermen who had been successful at the recent election, namely:

E.H. Fleming (Lab, Hopkinstown)
William Jones (Lib, Mountain Ash)
William Llewellyn (Lib, Ogmore Vale)
Rev D.H. Williams (Lib, Barry)

In addition, the following eight new aldermen were elected:

Llewellyn David (Ind, Port Talbot)
Daniel Daniels (Lib, Dulais Valley)
W.H. Davies (Lab, Gower)
Joseph Howells (Lib, Caerphilly)
Hubert Jenkins (Lab, Cwm Aber) - elected alderman for three years
William Jenkins (Lab, Glyncorrwg)
David Lewis (Lab, Tylorstown)
William Thomas (Lib, Aberdare)

By-elections

Eleven vacancies were caused by the election of aldermen.

Aberdare

Retired grocer F.W. Mander was returned unopposed following William Thomas's election as alderman.^[9]

Aberdare by-election 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Frederick William Mander	Unopposed
	Liberal hold		Swing

Barry by-election

The by-election at Barry was caused by the re-election of the Rev, D.H. Williams as alderman. John Lowden, who had held the seat for fifteen years and had stood down in favour of D.H. Williams at the recent election, was defeated by a Labour candidate.^[10]

Barry by-election 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	J.C. Finch	1,174
	Liberal	J. Lowden	1,014
Majority			170
	Labour gain from Liberal		Swing

Caerphilly by-election

A Conservative replaced a Liberal at this by-election.^[11]

Caerphilly by-election 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Conservative	Thomas Edwards	1,525
	Labour	Claude Denscombe	1,134
Majority			391
	Conservative hold		Swing

Gower by-election

Farmer Charles Bevan of Port Eynon held the seat for Labour following W.H. Davies's appointment as alderman.^[9]

Gower by-election 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Charles Bevan	779
	Liberal	Daniel Williams	702
Majority			77
	Labour hold		Swing

Hopkinstown by-election

The successful candidate, John Tristram, was an engine driver on the Taff Vale Railway and the local secretary of the National Union of Railwaymen.^[12]

Hopkinstown by-election 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	John Tristram	1,555
	Liberal	Hugh Bramwell	1,043
Majority			512
	Labour hold		Swing

Port Talbot West by-election

Edward Lowther, general manager of the Port Talbot Railway and Docks company chosen as joint Conservative and Liberal candidate defeated Thomas Griffiths (Lab).^[13]

Port Talbot West by-election 1919
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Independent	Edward Lowther	1,048
	Labour	Thomas Griffiths	921
Majority			127
	Independent hold		Swing

Notes

References

^ "Labour's Good Day. Election Surprises in Glamorgan". Western Mail. 4 March 1919. p. 3. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
^ "Council Elections. The Nominations for Glamorgan". Western Mail. 25 February 1919. p. 3. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
^ "Some Surprises. Glamorgan Council Elections". Cambria Daily Leader. 4 March 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 10 December 2015.
^ "County Council Elections". Aberdare Leader. 1 March 1919. p. 8. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
^ "Glamorgan's New Council. Labour Gains at the Liberal Expense". Western Mail. 5 March 1919. p. 3. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
^ "County Council Election". Aberdare Leader. 8 March 1919. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2015.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e "County Council Elections". Western Mail. 26 February 1919. p. 3. Retrieved 19 January 2021.
^ "New Aldermen. Changes in Glamorgan Council". Western Mail. 14 March 1919. p. 4. Retrieved 20 January 2021.
^ ^a ^b "New County Councillors". Western Mail. 1 April 1919. p. 7. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
^ "Labour Achievement. Prominent Barry Educationalist Defeated in Bye-Election". Western Mail. 14 April 1919. p. 6. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
^ "New County Councillor". Western Mail. 16 April 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 3 February 2021.
^ "Rhondda Bye-Election. New Labour Member for Glamorgan County Council". Western Mail. 19 April 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
^ "Election Results". Western Mail. 7 April 1919. p. 6. Retrieved 3 February 2021.

Bibliography

Williams, Chris (1996). Democratic Rhondda: Politics and society 1885-1951. Cardiff: University of Wales Press.

[WM_4-3-19-1] "Labour's Good Day. Election Surprises in Glamorgan". Western Mail. 4 March 1919. p. 3. Retrieved 18 January 2021.

[WM_25-2-19-2] "Council Elections. The Nominations for Glamorgan". Western Mail. 25 February 1919. p. 3. Retrieved 18 January 2021.

[CDL_4-3-19_Glam_results-3] "Some Surprises. Glamorgan Council Elections". Cambria Daily Leader. 4 March 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 10 December 2015.

[AL_1-3-1919_CC_Aberdare-4] "County Council Elections". Aberdare Leader. 1 March 1919. p. 8. Retrieved 21 December 2015.

[WM_5-3-19-5] "Glamorgan's New Council. Labour Gains at the Liberal Expense". Western Mail. 5 March 1919. p. 3. Retrieved 19 January 2021.

[AL_8-3-19_CC-6] "County Council Election". Aberdare Leader. 8 March 1919. p. 2. Retrieved 21 December 2015.

[WM_26-2-19-7] "County Council Elections". Western Mail. 26 February 1919. p. 3. Retrieved 19 January 2021.

[WM_14-3-19-8] "New Aldermen. Changes in Glamorgan Council". Western Mail. 14 March 1919. p. 4. Retrieved 20 January 2021.

[WM_1-4-19-9] "New County Councillors". Western Mail. 1 April 1919. p. 7. Retrieved 2 February 2021.

[WM_14-4-19-10] "Labour Achievement. Prominent Barry Educationalist Defeated in Bye-Election". Western Mail. 14 April 1919. p. 6. Retrieved 27 January 2021.

[WM_16-4-19-11] "New County Councillor". Western Mail. 16 April 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 3 February 2021.

[WM_19-4-19-12] "Rhondda Bye-Election. New Labour Member for Glamorgan County Council". Western Mail. 19 April 1919. p. 5. Retrieved 27 January 2021.

[WM_7-4-19-13] "Election Results". Western Mail. 7 April 1919. p. 6. Retrieved 3 February 2021.

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