1967 Glamorgan County Council election

The 1967 Glamorgan County Council election was held on Thursday 13 April 1967 in the county of Glamorgan, Wales, to elect members to Glamorgan County Council. The previous full council elections were in 1964^[1] and the final elections to the council would come in 1970.

Overview of the result

The Labour Party lost nine seats at this election but retained a strong majority with 50 councillors, as well as the support of 22 Labour aldermen.^[1] Plaid Cymru representation returned to the council after their candidates beat Labour in two seats, with the victorious candidate in Ferndale being afterwards carried down the road by supporters.^[1] The Liberal Party won two seats, their first on the council. One seat was won by Ratepayers, also their first on the council.^[1] The Conservative Party won two seats, as did the Communist Party. In Hengoed, the previously sitting Labour councillor, who had been expelled from the party prior to the election, was returned as an Independent Labour councillor.^[1]

Both the Labour and Conservative spokespersons described the swing against Labour as being a result of national issues, with the UK Labour government at that time becoming less popular.^[1]

Ward results

Contests took place in thirty electoral wards:^[2]

Aberaman

Aberaman 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Fred Riddiford *	989
Communist	D.P. Bletchley	366
Labour hold		Swing

Aberavon

Aberavon 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Ratepayer	William Arthur Jenkins	1,667
Labour	Joseph Treharne *	1,633
Ratepayer gain from Labour		Swing

Blaengwawr

Blaengwawr 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Communist	Trevor Williams *	979
Labour	Michael Goldberg	773
Communist hold		Swing

Bridgend

Bridgend 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Alfred John Bowen *	1,715
Conservative	John Nigel Baty	1,698
Labour hold		Swing

Caerphilly

Caerphilly 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Bertie Alex Rowland *	2,728
Independent	Herbert Protheroe	2,484
Labour hold		Swing

Castell Coch

Castell Coch 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	Nelson Stuart East	2,000
Labour	Gerald Bailey	1,286
Independent hold		Swing

Cilfynydd

Cilfynydd 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	William Edryd Lewis *	1,821
Liberal	Mary Gwyneth Murphy	1,544
Labour hold		Swing

Coedffranc

Coedffranc 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	Martin Thomas	3,381
Labour	Thomas Lewis Thomas	2,046
Independent hold		Swing

Coity

Coity 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Independent Householders	William Vernon Barnett	1,367
Labour	Harry Davis	1,314
Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Cowbridge

Cowbridge 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	Joseph A. David	2,728
Labour	Terence Williams	2,138
Independent hold		Swing

Cwmavon

Cwmavon 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Edward Gwynfryn Davies *	2,290
Ratepayer	William Edward Ebley	1,697
Labour hold		Swing

Ferndale

Ferndale 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Plaid Cymru	Glyn Powell James	2,325
Labour	Dan Walter Jeffreys *	1,694
Plaid Cymru gain from Labour		Swing

Councillor James had lost the seat to Labour at the 1964 elections. Following his victory he was carried down the street outside the North Road School polling station by "excited" supporters.^[1]

Gadlys

Gadlys 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Rhys James *	903
Plaid Cymru	John Eaton Williams	856
Labour hold		Swing

Garw Valley

Garw Valley 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Rhys Edward Sant *	2,118
Ratepayer	Derek Dillwyn Stephens	1,743
Labour hold		Swing

Gower

Gower 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Liberal	Brian Ernest Keal	2,399
Labour	Frank Lord *	2,102
Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

Councillor Keal became the first Liberal councillor in the area since World War II.^[1]

Hengoed

Hengoed 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Independent Labour	David Samuel Blatchford *	2,925
Labour	Hopkin Lewis	1,692
Independent Labour gain from Labour		Swing

Councillor Blatchford had represented the seat for 7 years for the Labour Party, but was expelled for opposing the official candidate, so stood and won as an Independent.^[1]

Hopkinstown

Hopkinstown 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	George Davies *	1,350
Plaid Cymru	Brian John	708
Labour hold		Swing

Laleston

Laleston 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Conservative	William Evan Board	882
Labour	Glyndwr Evans	809
Independent	Trevor David	539
Conservative gain from Labour		Swing

Llwydcoed

Llwydcoed 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Mervyn Prowle *	1,243
Communist	Stanley Rees	336
Labour hold		Swing

Maesteg

Maesteg 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Liberal	(Mrs) Jennie Thomas Gibbs	2,472
Labour	Robert John Williams	2,247
Liberal gain from Labour		Swing

Gibbs had missed winning the seat, by only 3 votes, in the 1964 election.^[1]

Mountain Ash (Penrhiwceiber ward)

Mountain Ash (Penrhiwceiber ward) 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Eleanor Mary Bath	2,005
Independent	Graham F. Davies *	1,188
Labour gain from Independent		Swing

Neath North

Neath North 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Independent	John Leitz	1,561
Labour	William Powell *	1,432
Independent gain from Labour		Swing

Ogmore Valley

Ogmore Valley 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Plaid Cymru	Edward John Merriman	1,906
Labour	Ivor Owen Thomas *	1,870
Plaid Cymru gain from Labour		Swing

Pontypridd

Pontypridd 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Norman Alfred Stevens *	1,515
Liberal	Derek Gwyn Lewis	1,125
Labour hold		Swing

Porthcawl

Porthcawl 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Conservative	Peter Charles Hubbard-Miles	1,701
Labour	George McBride	1,289
Independent	Llewellyn Rees Lewis	671
Conservative gain from Independent		Swing

Port Talbot East

Port Talbot East 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Llewellyn Heycock	2,906
Ratepayer	John Allen	1,667
Labour hold		Swing

Port Talbot West

Port Talbot West 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	George Albert Morgan *	1,623
Ratepayer	Douglas Albert Weaver Charles	1,309
Labour hold		Swing

Pyle

Pyle 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Mostyn Jones *	2,158
Independent	Christopher Johnson	1,803
Labour hold		Swing

Sandfields (Port Talbot)

Sandfields (Port Talbot) 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	Cyril Lewis *	2,458
Ratepayer	Barrie Morgan Larkworthy	1,535
Labour hold		Swing

Ystrad (Rhondda)

Ystrad (Rhondda) 1967
	Candidate	Votes
Labour	David John Davies *	1,122
Communist	George Baker	828
Labour hold		Swing

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j "Big shocks for Labour in Glamorgan elections". South Wales Echo. 14 April 1967. p. 11.
^ "Big shocks for Labour in Glamorgan elections - How They Voted". South Wales Echo. 14 April 1967. p. 11.