1966 Cardiff City Council election
# 1966 Cardiff City Council election

The 1966 Cardiff City Council election was held on Thursday 12 May 1966 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 1965 and the next elections would be in May 1967.

The election saw the Labour Party lose control of the council to 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 council also included aldermen who were elected for a six-year period by the councillors.

At the 1965 Cardiff election the Conservatives had won seven seats from Labour and the Liberal Party, leaving Labour in control of the City Council as a result of the Lord Mayor's casting vote.

## Overview of the result

Seventeen seats in 17 electoral wards were up for election in May 1966. All seats were contested by Labour and the Conservatives, three seats were contested by the Liberals, Independents stood in Grangetown and Gabalfa (where the Tories had won seats in 1965) and a sole Plaid Cymru candidate stood in Splott.

In Grangetown, the sitting Labour councillor Maxwell Christie was deselected by the Cardiff Labour Party, but stood as an Independent Labour candidate.

The Conservatives won two seats from Labour, in Grangetown and Canton, giving them a majority on the Council.

### Council composition

Prior to the election the council had been divided with 34 seats held by Labour and 34 by the Conservatives. By dint of winning two seats, the Conservatives now had a majority of 36 to 32.

## Ward results

Contests took place in every ward at this election.

### Adamsdown

Adamsdown ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | John Iorwerth Jones * | 1,485 |
| | Conservative | Jeffrey Paul Sainsbury | 647 |
| | Liberal | Henry Charles Edwards | 483 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 838 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |

### Canton

Canton ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | William Albert John Adams | 1,753 |
| | Labour | George Thomas Cashman * | 1,473 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 280 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing |

### Cathays

Cathays ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Emyr Currie-Jones * | 2,057 |
| | Conservative | Thomas H. Ablett | 1,617 |
| | Liberal | George Parsons | 1,489 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 440 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |

### Central

Central ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | Cecil Herbert Rapport * | 2,021 |
| | Labour | Manuel C. Delgado | 1,149 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 872 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Ely

Ely ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Blanche Adelaide McDonald * | 1,955 |
| | Conservative | Roger Hambleton | 1,265 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 690 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |

### Gabalfa

Gabalfa ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Gertrude Louise Baines * | 1,762 |
| | Conservative | Henry Peter Farthing | 1,528 |
| | Independent Labour | John Francis O'Sullivan | 546 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 234 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |

### Grangetown

Grangetown ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | Norman William Henry Leworthy | 1,345 |
| | Labour | David Joseph Seligman | 1,289 |
| | Independent Labour | Maxwell Christie * | 1,147 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 56 |
| | Conservative gain from Labour | Conservative gain from Labour | Swing |

Councillor Maxwell Christie was deselected by the Cardiff Labour Party, but stood as an Independent Labour candidate. He had been a Grangetown councillor since 1962. The local Labour Party threatened to expel him and his two main supporters.

### Llandaff

Llandaff ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | (Sir) Charles Hallinan * | 3,018 |
| | Labour | Elizabeth Diane Toogood | 836 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,182 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Llanishen

Llanishen ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | Joseph Gerald Gaskell * | 3,349 |
| | Labour | William John Phillips | 1,375 |
| | Liberal | John Evan Lee | 1,086 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 1,974 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Penylan

Penylan ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | Gerard Alan Smith Turnbull * | 4,295 |
| | Labour | Armour Bernard Matthewson | 920 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 3,375 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Plasmawr

Plasmawr ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | William Campbell-Belfour | 2,096 |
| | Conservative | Robert Clive Mogridge | 1,447 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 649 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |

### Plasnewydd

Plasnewydd ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Margaret Sylvia Jacobs * | 1,928 |
| | Conservative | Desmond Griffith Rees | 1,748 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 180 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |

### Riverside

Riverside ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | Sidney William Doxsey * | 1,853 |
| | Labour | Doris Elizabeth Cashman | 1,114 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 739 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Roath

Roath ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Conservative | Norman Lloyd-Edwards * | 3,339 |
| | Labour | David Melville Porter | 843 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 2,496 |
| | Conservative hold | Conservative hold | Swing |

### Rumney

Rumney ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Lilian Clarice Scrivens * | 2,463 |
| | Conservative | Joan Taylor | 1,802 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 661 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |

### South

South ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | Philip Dunleavy | 1,724 |
| | Conservative | John Anthony Clarke | 1,165 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 559 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |

### Splott

Splott ward 1966 :

| Party | Party | Candidate | Votes |
| - | - | - | - |
| | Labour | David Myfyr Evans * | 2,207 |
| | Conservative | Brian Sandford Hill | 1,471 |
| | Plaid Cymru | Donald Arthur Nicholson | 387 |
| Majority | Majority | Majority | 736 |
| | Labour hold | Labour hold | Swing |

* = 'retiring' ward councillor for re-election
