, coa_pic = , coa_res = , coa_alt = , logo_pic = Swansea City Council Logo.svg , logo_res = , logo_alt = , house_type = Unitary authority , jurisdiction = , foundation = 1 April 1996 , preceded_by =

West Glamorgan County Council West Glamorgan County Council ( cy, Cyngor Sir Gorllewin Morgannwg) was the county council of the county of West Glamorgan in south-west Wales, from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. History The county was created in 1974 under the ...

Swansea City Council , coa_pic = , coa_res = , coa_alt = , logo_pic = Swansea City Council Logo.svg , logo_res = , logo_alt = , house_type = Unitary authority , jurisdiction = , foundation = 1 April 1996 , preceded_by = West Glamorgan County Council ...

Lliw Valley Borough Council , leader1_type = Lord Mayor , leader1 = Mike Day , party1 =
Liberal Democrats , election1 = 20 May 2022 , leader2_type =

Leader Leadership, both as a research area and as a practical skill, encompasses the ability of an individual, group or organization to "lead", influence or guide other individuals, teams, or entire organizations. The word "leadership" often gets v ...

, leader2 = Rob Stewart , party2 =
Labour , election2 = 9 September 2014 , leader3_type = Chief Executive , leader3 = Martin Nicholls (interim) , party3 = , election3 = May 2022 , election6 = , seats = 75 councillors , structure1 = , structure1_res = 250 , structure1_alt = Swansea Council composition , political_groups1 = ; Administration : Labour (45) ; Other parties (20) : :

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independe ...

(7) :

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization in ...

(7) :

Uplands Upland or Uplands may refer to: Geography *Hill, an area of higher land, generally *Highland, an area of higher land divided into low and high points *Upland and lowland, conditional descriptions of a plain based on elevation above sea level *I ...

(4) :

Green Green is the color between cyan and yellow on the visible spectrum. It is evoked by light which has a dominant wavelength of roughly 495570 nm. In subtractive color systems, used in painting and color printing, it is created by a combin ...

(1) , committees1 = , joint_committees = , term_length = 5 years , voting_system1 =

First past the post In a first-past-the-post electoral system (FPTP or FPP), formally called single-member plurality voting (SMP) when used in single-member districts or informally choose-one voting in contrast to ranked voting, or score voting, voters cast thei ...

, first_election1 = 4 May 1995 , last_election1 = 4 May 2017 , next_election1 = 5 May 2022 , session_room = The council chamber in Swansea Guildhall - geograph.org.uk - 1491171.jpg , session_res = 250 , session_alt = Council chamber in Swansea Guildhall , meeting_place =

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in some ...

Swansea Swansea (; cy, Abertawe ) is a coastal city and the second-largest city of 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 C ...

, website = , constitution = , footnotes = The City and County of Swansea Council ( cy, Cyngor Dinas a Sir Abertawe), or simply Swansea Council ( cy, Cyngor Abertawe), is the local authority for the city and county of

, one of the principal areas of

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 ...

. The principal area also includes rural areas to the north of the built-up area of Swansea and the

Gower Peninsula Gower ( cy, Gŵyr) or the Gower Peninsula () in southwest Wales, projects towards the Bristol Channel. It is the most westerly part of the historic county of Glamorgan. In 1956, the majority of Gower became the first area in the United Kingdom ...

to the west. The council consists of 75 councillors representing 32 electoral wards. Since 2012 the council has been controlled by the Labour Party.

History

Swansea was an

ancient borough The ancient boroughs were a historic unit of lower-tier local government in England and Wales. The ancient boroughs covered only important towns and were established by charters granted at different times by the monarchy. Their history is larg ...

. The town's first

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the re ...

was granted sometime between 1158 and 1184 by William de Newburgh, 3rd Earl of Warwick. The charter granted the townsmen (called burgesses) certain rights to develop the area. A second charter was granted in 1215 by King John. The borough was reformed under the

Municipal Corporations Act 1835 The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 (5 & 6 Will 4 c 76), sometimes known as the Municipal Reform Act, was an Act of Parliament, Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in the incorporated boroughs of England and ...

to become a

municipal borough Municipal boroughs were a type of local government district which existed in England and Wales between 1835 and 1974, in Northern Ireland from 1840 to 1973 and in the Republic of Ireland from 1840 to 2002. Broadly similar structures existed in S ...

. When elected county councils were established in 1889 under 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 ...

, Swansea was considered large enough to run its own county-level services, and so it became a

county borough County borough is a term introduced in 1889 in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, to refer to a borough or a city independent of county council control, similar to the unitary authorities created since the 1990s. An equivalent te ...

, independent from Glamorgan County Council. Swansea County Borough Council was the local authority from 1889 until 1974. It gained city status in 1969, allowing the council to call itself Swansea City Council. In 1974, under the

Local Government Act 1972 The Local Government Act 1972 (c. 70) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales on 1 April 1974. It was one of the most significant Acts of Parliament to be passed by the Heath Gov ...

, Swansea became a lower-tier district council, with the new

providing county-level services. The

district of Swansea , Map= Swansea au pays de Galles (1974-1996).svg , HQ= Swansea , image= Guildhall, Swansea , Status= City , Start= 1 April 1974 , End= 31 March 1996 ...

created in 1974 was larger than the old county borough, also covering the area of the abolished Gower Rural District. In 1996, under 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 ...

, further local government reform saw West Glamorgan County Council abolished and the district of Swansea merged with parts of the

Lliw Valley , HQ= Penllergaer , subdivision_type= Borough , Start= 1 April 1974 , End= 31 March 1996 , Replace= SwanseaNeath Port Talbot , Civic= , Motto= Nid d ...

district to form a

unitary authority 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 governmen ...

, called the 'City and County of Swansea' ( cy, Dinas a Sir Abertawe.)

Political control

The first election to the new 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 first

leader of the council In England, local authorities are required to adopt one of three types of executive arrangements, having either an "elected mayor and cabinet", a "leader and cabinet", or a "committee system". The type of arrangement used determines how decisions ...

following the reforms in 1996, Tom Jones, was the last leader of West Glamorgan County Council. The leaders of Swansea Council since 1996 have been:

Current composition

As at 5 May 2022: Party with majority control in bold.

Elections

Since 2012, elections have taken place every five years. The last election was 5 May 2022. Party with the most elected councillors in bold. Coalition agreements in notes column. Between 1996 and 2004, the council was under Labour control. Between 2004 and 2012 there was no overall control and the council was led by a coalition of the Liberal Democrats, Independents and the Conservatives, termed the Swansea Administration. Labour regained control of the council at the 2012 election and retained control at the 2017 and 2022 elections.

Mayoralty

The Lord Mayor of Swansea (

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

: ''Arglwydd Faer Abertawe'') is a senior member of the elected Council. Swansea has had a Mayor since it became a borough in 1835. The dignity of Lord Mayor was conferred on the city by Queen Elizabeth II on 22 March 1982 to celebrate the wedding of

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

. The status was confirmed on 1 April 1996 when the Unitary Authority of the City and County of Swansea came into being. The style of the Lord Mayor is "The Right Worshipful the Lord Mayor of Swansea". The official residence is the Mansion House in Ffynone, which was originally built as the home of a previous mayor, Evan Matthew Richards. It was purchased by the then County Borough of Swansea in 1922 and renamed the Mansion House.

Lord Mayors of Swansea

Electoral divisions

Following a local government boundary review, the number of wards in Swansea was reduced from 36 to 32. The changes took effect from the 2022 local elections. The boundaries of 15 wards remained unchanged, but a number of other wards were merged, or radically altered, with new wards such as Mumbles and Waterfront created. The following table lists the post-2022 county/community wards, the numbers of councillors elected and the communities they cover. Communities with 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. I ...

are indicated with a '*': * = Communities which elect a

^c = Ward coterminous with community of the same name

Corporate identity

Logo

The logo of the City and County of Swansea depicts a stylised

Osprey The osprey (''Pandion haliaetus''), , also called sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor reaching more than in length and across the wings. It is brown o ...

. It is shown with the name of the council written beneath it or beside it, both in Welsh (Cyngor Abertawe) and English (Swansea Council). An older version of the logo displayed the text written in a ring around the Osprey pictogram.

Coat of arms

The official coat of arms used by the council today were granted by the

College of Arms The College of Arms, or Heralds' College, is a royal corporation consisting of professional officers of arms, with jurisdiction over England, Wales, Northern Ireland and some Commonwealth realms. The heralds are appointed by the British Sover ...

in 1922. The motto is 'Floreat Swansea'. The Arms are blazoned as follows: :Per Fess wavy Azure and barry wavy of six Argent, of the first a double-towered Castle or, in Chief on an Inescutcheon of the third a Lion passant guardant Gules; And for the Crest, On a Wreath of the Colours an Osprey rising holding in the Beak a Fish proper; Supporters: on the dexter side a Lion Gules gorged with a Mural Crown or, and on the sinister side a Dragon Gules gorged with a Mural Crown or'. The Arms are symbolic to an extent: the blue and white wavy bars represent the sea, since Swansea is a port town; the Castle represents the Medieval fortifications of the Town; the lion as dexter supporter and on the Inescutcheon commemorates the link with the de Breos family; and the dragon as sinister supporter is the National Emblem of Wales and is a supporter in the Achievement of Arms of the present Lord Swansea. In April 1974, the City of Swansea was merged with the Gower Rural District to form the new District and City of Swansea. The Arms granted to the Corporation of the County Borough of Swansea in 1922 were transferred unchanged to the new City Council in May 1975. The Certificate of Transfer of the College of Arms dated 11 March 1976 confirmed the re-granting of the Arms. With the 1996 reorganisation of local government, the arms were transferred a second time to the present City Council.The Local Authorities (Armorial Bearings) (No. 2) (Wales) Order 1996 (1996 No. 1930 ) (OPSI website), accessed October 2, 2007
/ref>

Council premises

* Civic Centre, formerly West Glamorgan County Hall *

* Mansion House *

Palace Theatre, Swansea The Palace Theatre is a Grade II listed building in Swansea, Wales, located at the northern end of High Street and recognisable for its distinctive wedge shape. It is Wales' oldest surviving theatre. History Originally built in 1888 as a trad ...

References

External links

*
City and County of Swansea: Council Constitution
{{Authority control Politics of Swansea

1996 establishments in Wales