Carmarthenshire County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Gaerfyrddin) is the local authority for the county of

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire ( cy, Sir Gaerfyrddin; or informally ') is a county in the south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. The county is known as ...

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 provides a range of services including education, planning, transport, social services and public safety. The council is one of twenty-two

unitary authorities A unitary authority is a local authority responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are usually performed by a higher level of sub-national government or the national governme ...

that came into existence on 1 April 1996 under the provisions of the

Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to create the current local government structure in Wales of 22 unitary authority areas, referred to as ...

. It took over local government functions previously provided by the three district councils of

Carmarthen Carmarthen (, RP: ; cy, Caerfyrddin , "Merlin's fort" or "Sea-town fort") is the county town of Carmarthenshire and a community in Wales, lying on the River Towy. north of its estuary in Carmarthen Bay. The population was 14,185 in 2011, ...

, Dinefwr, and

Llanelli Llanelli (" St Elli's Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of Swansea and south-east of the county town, Carmarth ...

, as well as the county-level services in the area from

Dyfed County Council Dyfed County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Dyfed) was the county council of the non-metropolitan county of Dyfed in south west Wales. It operated between 1974 and 1996. The county council was based at County Hall, Carmarthen. History Dyfed County Co ...

, all of which councils were abolished at the same time. The council is based at County Hall in

History

It is the second body of this name; the previous Carmarthenshire County Council was formed on 1 April 1889 by the

Local Government Act 1888 Local may refer to: Geography and transportation * Local (train), a train serving local traffic demand * Local, Missouri, a community in the United States * Local government, a form of public administration, usually the lowest tier of administrat ...

, taking over the local government functions of the

Quarter Sessions The courts of quarter sessions or quarter sessions were local courts traditionally held at four set times each year in the Kingdom of England from 1388 (extending also to Wales following the Laws in Wales Act 1535). They were also established in ...

. The first election to the original council was held in January 1889 and the majority of the seats were won by the Liberals. This pattern continued until the 1920s from which time most rural seats were held by independents, while the Labour Party dominated the industrial part of the county. The original Carmarthenshire County Council was abolished under the Local Government Act 1972, with the area becoming part of the county of

Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales. It is a mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed was also the name of the area's county council and the name remains in use f ...

, which also covered the former administrative counties of Pembrokeshire and Cardiganshire. From 1974 until 1996 the area of the former administrative county of Carmarthenshire was split into the three districts of Carmarthen, Dinefwr, and Llanelli, with Dyfed County Council providing county-level services. Under the

these councils established in 1974 were all abolished, and Carmarthenshire County Council was re-established as a unitary authority for the area.

Political control

The first election to the re-established council was held in 1995, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1996. Political control of the council since 1996 has been held by the following parties:

Leadership

The leaders of the council since 1996 have been: The council's chief executive since 2019 has been Wendy Walters. She succeeded Mark James, who had held the post for 17 years.

Current composition

As of 5 May 2022: Party with majority control in bold

Elections

Elections take place every five years. The last election was held on 5 May 2022. Party with the most elected councillors in bold. Coalition agreements in Notes column * Includes candidates elected as Independent Labour and/or Ratepayers Association.

Electoral divisions

The county is divided into 51 electoral wards returning 75 councillors. In July 2021 Welsh Government accepted a number of ward change proposals by the Local Democracy and Boundary Commission for Wales, the changes gave a better parity of representation. Thirty-four wards remained unchanged. Most of these wards are coterminous with communities. Most communities in

have a

community council A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain. In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies. In ...

. For each ward, councillors are elected to sit on Carmarthenshire County Council. The following table lists council wards, community councils and associated geographical areas. Communities with their own community council are marked with a *.

Arms

References

{{Dyfed elections County councils of Wales Local government in Carmarthenshire 1996 establishments in Wales