Mid Glamorgan County Council


Mid Glamorgan County Council was the local authority administering the Welsh county of Mid Glamorgan between its creation in 1974 and its abolition in 1996.

Background

Local government in England and Wales was reorganised following the Local Government Act 1972. The old administrative county of Glamorgan was subdivided, forming Mid Glamorgan, South Glamorgan and West Glamorgan, which came into existence on 1 April 1974. County Hall in Cathays Park, Cardiff had been the headquarters for Glamorgan County Council prior to 1974 and, although Cardiff was in South Glamorgan, not Mid Glamorgan, it was decided to use the Glamorgan Building as the new headquarters for Mid Glamorgan County Council.
Mid Glamorgan was the largest and the poorest of the new county councils in Glamorgan. In 1974 it had a population of 531,847 and the council had a revenue expenditure of £60 million.

Leadership

In 1974 the chairman, Councillor Philip Squire became leader of the new council. He had previously been a member of Glamorgan County Council since 1946. The chief executive was solicitor, Tom Vivian Walters, who had worked for Glamorgan County Council since 1943.
Squire continued as leader of the council for 15 years, until retiring in 1989 at the age of 83. Because of the dominance of the Labour Party on the council, it was sometimes referred to as a "Squirearchy".

Elections

The first Mid Glamorgan Council elections took place in April 1973. Eighty-five county councillors were elected from sixty eight electoral wards.
Following The County of Mid Glamorgan Order 1988 the number of wards were increased to 74, taking effect from the 1989 elections. Each ward elected one councillor, totalling 74.

Historic results

LabPlaidConLibCommIndOther
197362932233
1977481782154
198163932143
198568712142

LabPlaidConSLDCommIndOther
1989655-1-21
199360101--3-