Islwyn (Welsh Parliament Constituency)
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The Borough of Islwyn was one of five local government
districts A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions ...
of
Gwent Gwent may refer to: Places *Kingdom of Gwent, a post-Roman Welsh kingdom or principality which existed in various forms between about the 5th and 11th centuries, although the name continued in use later *Gwent (preserved county), a preserved count ...
from 1974 to 1996.


History

The borough was formed in 1974 as a local government
district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...
of
Gwent Gwent may refer to: Places *Kingdom of Gwent, a post-Roman Welsh kingdom or principality which existed in various forms between about the 5th and 11th centuries, although the name continued in use later *Gwent (preserved county), a preserved count ...
. It covered the whole area of three former districts and part of a fourth, which were all abolished at the same time: *
Abercarn Abercarn is a town and community in Caerphilly county borough, Wales. It is 10 miles (16 km) northwest of Newport on the A467 between Cwmcarn and Newbridge, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. History An estate at Abe ...
Urban District An urban district is a division generally managed by a local government. It may also refer to a city district, district, urban area or quarter Specific urban districts in some countries include: * Urban districts of Denmark * Districts of Germa ...
*
Bedwellty Bedwellty () is a small village in Caerphilly County Borough in south Wales. The village stands on a ridge of high ground between the Rhymney Valley, Rhymney and Sirhowy Valley, Sirhowy valleys. The village comprises St Sannan's parish church, ...
Urban District - the Argoed,
Blackwood Blackwood may refer to: Botany * African blackwood (''Dalbergia melanoxylon''), a timber tree of Africa * African blackwood ('' Erythrophleum africanum''), (''Peltophorum africanum'') also Rhodesian blackwood, trees from Africa * Australian blac ...
,
Cefn Fforest Cefn Fforest is a community and an electoral ward in Caerphilly County Borough, 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, Engl ...
, and
Pengam Pengam is a former coal village and community in the Rhymney Valley, Caerphilly county borough, in Wales. It is also a community, containing itself and the nearby village of Fleur de Lys, and at the 2001 census it has a population of 3,842, ri ...
wards only (rest became
New Tredegar New Tredegar () is a former mining town and community in the Rhymney Valley, Caerphilly county borough, Wales, within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. New Tredegar is now home to 'The Winding House', a county museum which opened in 20 ...
community in
Rhymney Valley The Rhymney Valley () is one of the South Wales valleys, with the Rhymney River forming the border between the historic counties of Glamorgan and Monmouthshire. Between 1974 and 1996 a Rhymney Valley local government district also existed (on ...
) *
Mynyddislwyn Mynyddislwyn was a civil parish and urban district in Monmouthshire, south east Wales. It was abolished in local government reorganisation in 1974. It is named for the mountain in its centre, Mynydd Islwyn (Islwyn Mountain or Islwyn's Mountain, Is ...
Urban District *
Risca Risca () is a town in the Caerphilly County Borough and within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire in south-east Wales. It is split into two Community (Wales), communities; Risca East an ...
Urban District All the constituent parts of Islwyn had previously been in the
administrative county An administrative county was a first-level administrative division in England and Wales from 1888 to 1974, and in Ireland from 1899 until 1973 in Northern Ireland, 2002 in the Republic of Ireland. They are now abolished, although most Northern ...
of
Monmouthshire Monmouthshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South East Wales, south east of Wales. It borders Powys to the north; the English counties of Herefordshire and Gloucestershire to the north and east; the Severn Estuary to the s ...
prior to the reforms.
Gwent County Council Gwent County Council () was the upper-tier local authority that governed the county of Gwent (county), Gwent in South Wales from its creation in 1974 to its abolition in 1996. For most of its existence, the county council was based in Cwmbran. H ...
provided county-level services to the new borough. The district was named after local poet William Thomas (1832–1878), who used the
bardic name A bardic name (, ) is a pseudonym used in Wales, Cornwall, or Brittany by poets and other artists, especially those involved in the eisteddfod movement. The Welsh language, Welsh term bardd ('poet') originally referred to the Welsh poets of the M ...
'Islwyn'. Islwyn (meaning "below the grove") was part of the name of the ancient parish of Mynyddislwyn which covered its area. This was shown in the borough's
coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...
which represented a mountain below a grove of oak trees. The borough was abolished in 1996, when its area became part of
Caerphilly County Borough Caerphilly County Borough () is a county borough in the south-east of Wales. It is governed by Caerphilly County Borough Council. Its main and largest town is Caerphilly. Other towns in the county borough are, Risca, Ystrad Mynach, Newbrid ...
. Islwyn continues as a Westminster constituency and a
Senedd constituency The Senedd constituencies and electoral regions () are the electoral districts used to elect members of the Senedd (MS; ) to the Senedd (Welsh Parliament; ), and have been used in some form since the first election of the then ''National Assemb ...
. The Westminster constituency's best-known MP was
Neil Kinnock Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock (born 28 March 1942) is a Welsh politician who was Leader of the Opposition (United Kingdom), Leader of the Opposition and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 1983 Labour Party le ...
.


Political control

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 1996 was as follows: (Put "Islwyn" in search box to see specific results.)


Premises

The council built itself a new headquarters in 1977 at Pontllanfraith House on Blackwood Road in
Pontllanfraith Pontllanfraith () is a large village and Community (Wales), community located in the Sirhowy Valley in Caerphilly County Borough, Wales, within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Monmouthshire (historic), Monmouthshire. It is ...
. The building subsequently served as offices for Caerphilly County Borough Council until 2015 and has since been demolished.


References

{{coord, 51.64, N, 3.15, W, display=title Gwent (county) Districts of Wales abolished in 1996 1974 establishments in Wales