1983 Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council election

The 1983 Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council election was held on Thursday 5 May 1983 to the Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council in South Glamorgan, Wales. It took place on the same day as other district council elections in Wales and England. The Conservative Party won a healthy majority on the council.

The previous Vale of Glamorgan Council election took place in 1979 and the next full elections took place in 1987.

Ward changes

A number of ward changes came into effect at this election, particularly in the town of Penarth, which was divided into three new wards, Alexandra, Cornerswell and Stanwell. The overall number of councillors elected reduced to 46.

Overview

The Conservatives increased their majority at this election. After the results of the Alexandra ward were declared the following day, they held 32 of the 46 seats.

Despite taking control of Penarth Town Council the previous year, the SDP-Liberal Alliance had a very disappointing result, failing to win a seat. They had hoped to win seats in Barry, where Labour's Allan Maidment and Hector Gosling had defected to the Alliance.

In the Llandough ward, the sitting Conservative Mayor of the Vale of Glamorgan, Susan Thomas, lost her seat, though by only three votes.

Vale of Glamorgan Borough Council election result 1983

Party		Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss	Seats %	Votes %	Votes	+/−
	Conservative	32				69.5
	Labour	10				21.7
	Plaid Cymru	2				4.3
	Independent	2				4.3
	Alliance	0				0.0
	Ecology	0				0.0		174

Ward Results

Contests took place in 19 of the 21 wards.^(a)(b)

Alexandra (five seats)

Alexandra (Penarth) 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. Ernest *	2,098	34.5
	Conservative	P. Davies	2,003
	Conservative	D. Leddington *	1,993
	Conservative	R. Parsons *	1,715
	Conservative	A. Wicks	1,334
	Alliance	J. Sibert	1,244	20.5
	Alliance	J. Janes	1,008
	Labour	E. Davies	945	15.6
	Ind. Conservative	H. Reynolds *	927	15.3
	Labour	L. Hales	911
	Alliance	E. Hill	911
	Alliance	F. Rattray	899
	Labour	J. Birch	879
	Alliance	P. Dresser	872
	Plaid Cymru	S. Fford	860	14.2
	Labour	C. Couper	847
	Ind. Conservative	T. Waugh *	774
	Plaid Cymru	A. Packer	167
	Plaid Cymru	R. Maccarthy	154

Counting was not completed overnight and had to be resumed the following day.

Baruc (two seats)

Baruc (Barry) 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	B. D. J. Edmunds *	1,342	49.9
	Conservative	J. Cotter *	1,119
	Alliance	J. Mason	688	25.6
	Labour	E. G. Payne *	659	24.5

Buttrills (two seats)

Buttrills (Barry) 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. Connell	768	37.5
	Labour	D. Lewis	734	35.8
	Labour	C. Hookings	730
	Conservative	J. Mansfield *	588
	Alliance	H. Gosling *	546	26.7

Cadoc (three seats)

Cadoc (Barry) 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. T. Price *	1,070	49.0
	Conservative	D. J. Whitchurch	959	43.9
	Labour	R. Brabrook	940
	Labour	M. S. Heffernan	871
	Conservative	A. H. Pugh	819
	Conservative	G. W. R. Elmos	677
	Plaid Cymru	R. Perriam	154	7.1
	Plaid Cymru	C. I. Bere	130

Castleland (two seats)

Castleland (Barry) 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	H. J. Holmes *	843	55.5
	Labour	F. C. Mitchell *	648
	Conservative	M. R. Searle	439	28.9
	Alliance	D. Bennett	237	15.6

Cornerswell (two seats)

Cornerswell (Penarth) 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	J. L. Flanigan *	1,059	50.0
	Conservative	E. E. LLoyd *	926
	Labour	D. A. Eastwood *	566	26.7
	Labour	M. E. J. Birch	564
	Alliance	E. M. Humphreys	378	17.9
	Alliance	L. Waters	374
	Plaid Cymru	M. Evans	114	5.4
	Plaid Cymru	D. Swaffield	88

Court (two seats)

Court (Barry) 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. Dunkley *	893	48.6
	Labour	J. W. Smith *	836
	Conservative	J. E. Coombes	483	26.3
	Conservative	R. Williams	460
	Alliance	Allan Maidment *	391	21.3
	Plaid Cymru	R. Hughes	71	3.9
	Plaid Cymru	S. Biddiscombe	59

Cowbridge (three seats)

Cowbridge 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	(Ms) C. V. L. Clay	1,290	47.9
	Conservative	J. L. Arnott *	1,270
	Conservative	T. H. Jarvie *	1,074
	Independent	B. A. Gibbon	980	36.4
	Independent	D. C. H. Busher	860
	Alliance	H. M. Davey	423	15.7
	Alliance	J. M. Sutton	327
	Alliance	R. M. Sutton	290

Dinas Powys (four seats)

Dinas Powys 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	A. J. Dixon *	1,570	34.8
	Conservative	M. L. Pound *	1,516	33.6
	Conservative	E. G. Davies *	1,511
	Conservative	A. H. Beavan	1,382
	Conservative	A. W. L. Hill	1,269
	Plaid Cymru	M. N. Thomas	1,217
	Plaid Cymru	J. P. Stiff	937
	Plaid Cymru	R. I. Reeves	872
	Alliance	M. J. Adams	808	17.9
	Labour	S. Collins	617	13.7
	Labour	P. Barker	593
	Labour	T. Davies	528
	Labour	J. Morgan	494

Dyfan (two seats)

Dyfan (Barry) 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	N. G. Martin	813	45.6
	Conservative	B. J. Mepham	745
	Labour	W. M. James *	624	35.0
	Labour	B. W. Hepworth	509
	Alliance	M. C. Bond	346	19.4
	Alliance	D. N. Bond	307

Gibbonsdown (two seats)

Gibbonsdown (Barry) 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	C. Clemo *	939	65.0
	Labour	M. F. Nugent	888
	Conservative	E. G. Butts	505	35.0
	Conservative	A. B. Hopkins	500

Illtyd (three seats)

Illtyd (Barry) 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	E. T. Williams	1,037	40.3
	Conservative	C. D. Lakin *	1,029
	Conservative	J. R. Griffiths *	960
	Labour	R. M. Dunkley *	936	36.3
	Labour	J. Pett	742
	Alliance	M. Goodyear	603	23.4
	Labour	B. G. Smith	476

Llandough (one seat)

Llandough 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	Derek E. Grenville	323	45.3
	Conservative	Susan Thomas *	320	44.9
	Alliance	C. S. Inker	70	9.8

Mayor of the Vale of Glamorgan, Susan Thomas, lost by only three votes after three recounts.

Llandow (one seat)

Llandow 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Thomas	Unopposed

Llantwit Major (four seats)

Llantwit Major 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Labour	(Ms) L. S. Hughes *	1,740	51.3
	Conservative	J. George *	1,649	48.7
	Conservative	P. Jones *	1,594
	Conservative	M. F. Casewell	1,209
	Labour	(Ms) J. Pearce	1,201
	Labour	M. Pearce	1,079
	Conservative	R. S. Berry	996
	Labour	S. L. Mills	889

Peterston-super-Ely (one seat)

Peterston-super-Ely 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	A. J. Williams *	706	69.8
	Ecology	R. M. Baker	174	17.2
	Independent	T. J. Humphries	131	13.0

Rhoose (two seats)

Rhoose 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	(Ms) H. J. W. James *	1,015	60.2
	Conservative	L. J. Dimond *	943
	Labour	R. V. Goodway	670	39.8
	Labour	H. Germaine	563

St Athan (one seat)

St Athan 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Independent	J. B. Hewartson	553	61.6
	Independent	J. V. James *	345	38.4

Stanwell (two seats)

Stanwell (Penarth) 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Plaid Cymru	R. D. Thomas	897	43.6
	Conservative	A. C. Williams	581	28.2
	Conservative	E. H. Massey	570
	Plaid Cymru	D. B. Haswell	442
	Labour	S. Wolstenholme	394	19.2
	Labour	L. J. Barrett	281
	Alliance	V. Bird	185	9.0
	Alliance	A. Redford	157

Sully (one seat)

Sully 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. C. Sampson	627	77.3
	Plaid Cymru	C. P. Greedy	184	22.7

Wenvoe (one seat)

Wenvoe 1983

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	R. Davies	Unopposed

(a) Elections Centre source also compares the percentage vote of the lead candidate for each party in the ward. It indicates (in some wards) which candidates are female.
(b) South Wales Echo source also indicates existing councillors "but, because of boundary changes, not necessarily representing the ward being contested". It gives middle initials. It lists the 'green' candidates as "Ecology" and the 'Liberal/SDP' as "Alliance".

* existing councillor, standing for re-election