Ely is an

electoral ward A ward is a local authority area, typically used for electoral purposes. In some countries, wards are usually named after neighbourhoods, thoroughfares, parishes, landmarks, geographical features and in some cases historical figures connected t ...

in the west of 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 ...

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 ...

, which covers its namesake

community A community is a social unit (a group of people) with a shared socially-significant characteristic, such as place, set of norms, culture, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given g ...

, Ely. The ward elects three county councillors to the County Council of the City and County of Cardiff. It has previously been represented by the Labour Party, until February 2019 when

Plaid Cymru Plaid Cymru ( ; , ; officially Plaid Cymru – the Party of Wales, and often referred to simply as Plaid) is a centre-left, Welsh nationalist list of political parties in Wales, political party in Wales, committed to Welsh independence from th ...

won one of the council seats.

Description

The ward boundaries are coterminous with the community of Ely, north of Cowbridge Road West. To the south is the Caerau ward, to the north are the Creigiau & St. Fagans and Fairwater wards. According to the 2011 census the population of the ward was 14,603.

County elections

2019 by-election

Labour councillor (since 2012) Jim Murphy died in December 2018 aged 72. A by-election was arranged for 21 February 2019 which was won by Andrea Gibson for

by 52 votes over the Labour candidate, a swing of 18% in comparison with the May 2017 election. The Labour leader of Cardiff Council described it as " a bad day, in a week of absolute political chaos nationally" (referring to the formation of

The Independent Group Change UK, founded as The Independent Group (TIG) and later The Independent Group for Change, was a British centrist, pro–European Union political party, which lasted for ten months in 2019. Established in February and formally recognised ...

Westminster Westminster is the main settlement of the City of Westminster in Central London, Central London, England. It extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street and has many famous landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Buckingham Palace, ...

). In October 2019 Councillor Gibson resigned the Plaid Cymru party whip in protest at the treatment of colleague Neil McEvoy. She remained as an independent councillor.

Elections 1995 to 2017

The ward had elected three Labour county councillors since 1995, when the new

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 ...

was created. Cllr

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 ...

has been an Ely councillor continuously since 1995 and was leader of Cardiff Council until 2004 (prior to 1995 he was a

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 ...

councillor for the Canton ward). * = sitting councillor prior to the election Councillors Goddard, Murphy and Goodway were also the winners of the May 2012 elections. At the 2004 elections, the Ely ward's Labour councillor of 30 years, Charlie Gale, stood as an Independent in an attempt to unseat (the then unpopular) Cllr Goodway. Goodway retained his seat by only 63 votes. Goodway immediately stood down as Council leader, but accused senior Labour figures of conspiring against him.

1973-1995

Prior to the formation of the new Cardiff unitary authority, Ely was a ward to Cardiff City Council (a district council of South Glamorgan). Six city councillors were elected at the

1973 Events January * January 1 – The United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland and Denmark 1973 enlargement of the European Communities, enter the European Economic Community, which later becomes the European Union. * January 14 - The 16-0 19 ...

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

and

1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...

elections. This was reduced to three from the 1983 election onwards. Cllr Bill Buttle was one of the ward's representatives for 23 years, until stepping down in 1991. He was responsible for the Western Leisure Centre being built in Ely. Cllr Charlie Gale was an Ely councillor for 30 years from 1973 before standing as an Independent in 2004.

References

{{coord, 51.4792, -3.2497, display=title Cardiff electoral wards