Cardiff City Council was the local government district authority that administered the city of

Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...

, capital of

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, from 1974 until 1996. The district council replaced the pre-1974 county borough council. It was succeeded in 1996 by

Cardiff Council Cardiff Council, formally the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff () is the governing body for Cardiff, one of the Administrative divisions of Wales, principal areas of Wales. The principal area and its council were established ...

History

Local government in England and Wales was reorganised following 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 ...

. The old administrative county of

Glamorgan Glamorgan (), or sometimes Glamorganshire ( or ), was Historic counties of Wales, one of the thirteen counties of Wales that existed from 1536 until their abolishment in 1974. It is located in the South Wales, south of Wales. Originally an ea ...

was subdivided, with Cardiff and the ''Vale'' between Cardiff and Bridgend forming

South Glamorgan South Glamorgan () is a preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Wales. It was originally formed in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, as a county council area. It consisted of the county borough of Cardiff along with the south ...

South Glamorgan County Council South Glamorgan County Council () was the local government authority that administered the county of South Glamorgan, Wales from its creation in 1974 until its abolition in 1996. History Local government in England and Wales was reorganised in 1 ...

came into existence on 1 April 1974. The administration of the area was further subdivided between the two district councils, Cardiff City Council (later

) and the

Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council The Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council was the local authority for the Vale of Glamorgan in South Glamorgan, Wales, created in 1974 and reconstituted in 1996 as the Vale of Glamorgan Council unitary authority. It was a second tier district authority ...

(later the

Vale of Glamorgan Council The Vale of Glamorgan Council is the governing body for the Vale of Glamorgan, one of the Subdivisions of Wales, Principal Areas of Wales. History The new Vale of Glamorgan Council unitary authority came into effect on 1 April 1996, following th ...

). Cardiff City Council ceased to exist following the 1996 local government reorganisation, replaced by the

unitary authority A unitary authority is a type of local government, local authority in New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Unitary authorities are responsible for all local government functions within its area or performing additional functions that elsewhere are ...

of the

. In effect, the old city council took over the county level functions of the abolished

Political control

Prior to 1974, Cardiff had traditionally been a Conservative Party stronghold, but the city council's first administration in 1974 had a Labour Party majority, reflecting the changing social composition of the city. Control of the council changed regularly during its existence, between Labour, Conservative and a period from 1987 to 1991 when no party had a majority.Capital Cardiff 1975-2020: Regeneration, Competitiveness and the Urban Environment, page 35. The first election to the reconstituted council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 1996 was held by the following parties:

Leadership

The leaders of the council included: Labour's

Philip Dunleavy Philip Dunleavy CBE (5 October 1915 - 13 January 1996) was a Labour Party councillor in Cardiff, Wales. He was Lord Mayor of Cardiff 1982-83 and leader of Cardiff City Council for five years.Tony Heat"OBITUARY: Philip Dunleavy" ''The Independent ...

was the first leader of the council from 1974 to 1976, then again from 1979 to 1982 (when Labour regained its majority). He became

Lord Mayor Lord mayor is a title of a mayor of what is usually a major city in a Commonwealth realm, with special recognition bestowed by the sovereign. However, the title or an equivalent is present in other countries, including forms such as "high mayor". A ...

of Cardiff in 1982-3. Dunleavy was a driving force behind the creation of

St David's Hall St David's Hall () is a performing arts and conference venue in the heart of Cardiff, Wales. St David's Hall is the National Concert Hall and Conference Centre of Wales. It hosts the annual Welsh Proms and the biennial BBC Cardiff Singer of t ...

, the Cardiff Ice Rink and other initiatives. Councillor Ron Watkiss was Conservative leader of the council during their majority administration, which ended in May 1987.

Llanrumney Llanrumney () is a suburb, community and electoral ward in east Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal ...

councillor John Reynolds became leader of the minority Labour administration in 1987 (he had been leader of the Labour group since 1983). He died in 1990. Councillor John Phillips subsequently became leader of the Labour group. Described as a Labour 'traditionalist', in 1994 he was ousted by

Sue Essex Susan Linda Essex (; born 29 August 1945) is a British politician who served in the Welsh Assembly Government as Minister for the Environment from 2000 to 2003 and Minister for Finance, Local Government and Public Services from 2003 to 2007. A ...

of the 'new urban left', who had been promoting a green agenda in Cardiff through the 1990s. The last leader of the city council, Sue Essex, narrowly lost to

Russell Goodway Russell Vivian Goodway (born 23 December 1955) is a Welsh Labour Party councillor for Ely, Cardiff; and the former Lord Mayor of Cardiff and former CEO of Cardiff Chamber of Commerce. He was Britain's youngest council leader when he led South Gl ...

(the last leader of South Glamorgan County Council) in the election to be leader of the Labour group and hence the new council.Capital Cardiff 1975–2020: Regeneration, Competitiveness and the Urban Environment
pp. 35-36

Elections

At the first Cardiff City Council elections in 1973, 75 city councillors were elected from 21

electoral wards The wards and electoral divisions in the United Kingdom are electoral districts at sub-national level, represented by one or more councillors. The ''ward (subnational entity), ward'' is the primary unit of English electoral geography for civil pa ...

. From 1983, the number of wards increased to 26. From 1987, the number of councillors reduced to 65. Party with most elected councillors in bold.

Premises

The council was headquartered at

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

Cathays Park Cathays Park () or Cardiff Civic Centre is a civic centre area in the Cardiff City Centre, city centre of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales, consisting of a number of early 20th century buildings and a central park area, Alexandra Gardens. It ...

, which had been built in 1905 for the former

Cardiff County Borough Council Cardiff County Borough Council, known as Cardiff City Council after Cardiff achieved city status in 1905, was the elected local authority that administered the town (later city) and county borough of Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales between 1889 and ...

Bibliography

*Alan Hooper; John Punter (Eds.)
Capital Cardiff 1975–2020: Regeneration, Competitiveness and the Urban Environment
'. University of Wales Press (2006), .

References

{{South Glamorgan elections 1974 establishments in Wales 1996 disestablishments in Wales 20th century in Cardiff District councils of Wales Politics of Cardiff South Glamorgan