Central was the name of an original
electoral ward in the centre of the county borough and, from 1905, city of
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. It forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a ...
,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. It elected representatives to the
Cardiff County Borough Council and, from 1974,
South Glamorgan County Council. The ward ceased to exist in 1996.
Description and background
In July 1890, following the creation of
Cardiff County Borough Council, Central was a new electoral ward created, one of the ten in the county borough.
The ward was bordered to the west by the
River Taff, to the east by the
Taff Vale Railway
The Taff Vale Railway (TVR) was a standard gauge railway in South Wales, built by the Taff Vale Railway Company to serve the iron and coal industries around Merthyr Tydfil and to connect them with docks in Cardiff. It was opened in stag ...
and to the south by the
Great Western Railway line. The
Riverside ward lay on the other side of the River Taff, the
Cathays ward to the northeast (of the Taff Vale Railway) and the
South ward lay to the south.
Before the electoral reforms of the 20th century, councillors were elected by burgesses i.e. ratepayers in the ward.
The electorate of the Central ward in 1985 was 4217, increasing to 4908 in 1993.
The
Cathays ward was expanded to incorporate the area of the Central ward in 1996.
South Glamorgan County Council 1973-1996
In 1973 elections were held for the new
South Glamorgan County Council. The Central ward continued as a ward to this authority, electing two county councillors in 1973, 1977 and 1981, then one county councillor from 1985.
The party representing Central changed at every election, from
Labour in 1973, to
Conservative in 1977, back to Labour in 1981,
Liberal in 1985, back to Labour in 1983, then finally
Liberal Democrat in 1993.
1993
Central's Liberal Democrat Cllr Rowland stood in the
Cathays ward in the 1995
City and County of Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United King ...
election, but was not successful.
Cardiff County Borough Council 1889-1974
Until Cardiff County Borough was superseded in 1974, the three ward councillors took turns to stand down for re-election. Initially (with annual Cardiff elections prior to
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
) on a three-yearly cycle.
1970
At the local elections
on 7 May 1970 (the final elections to the county borough council), Labour recovered some ground on the Conservative Party, winning back seats in the city. The Conservative Lady Mayoress, Mary Hallinan, had represented the Central ward for the previous nine years and was the most prominent casualty in the election, losing her seat to Labour's Bill Herbert. Herbert was chairman of the Cardiff United Residents' Association and a leading campaigner against the proposed new
hook road.
1890–2
In November 1890, following the redistribution of councillors across the ten Cardiff wards, Central (like the South ward having many businesses and non-resident ratepayer voters) lost the long-standing Liberal councillor to the Conservatives. The result was declared from the rear of the Town Hall and the margin was only two votes.
Mr Proger, a master plumber by trade, had been a member of the council for the previous 12 years.
In 1891 the Conservative candidate also won against the sitting Liberal councillor.
* = retiring ward councillor for re-election
Succession
The Central ward was replaced from 1974 on the new
Cardiff City Council by an expanded Cathays ward. The boundary of Cathays ward expanded to include the city centre (and
Castle community
A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...
). Several of the Central ward councillors on South Glamorgan County Council also represented the Cathays ward concurrently.
References
{{Politics and Government in Cardiff, state=collapsed
1890 establishments in Wales
1996 disestablishments in Wales
Former electoral wards of Cardiff