Merthyr Tydfil - Government

Government

The current borough boundaries date back to 1974, when the former county borough of Merthyr Tydfil expanded slightly to cover Vaynor in Breconshire and Bedlinog in Glamorgan. Merthyr Tydfil became a local government district in the administrative county of Mid Glamorgan at that time, although it reverted back to a county borough again on 1 April 1996.

Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council is the governing body for the area. It consists of 33 councillors representing 11 wards. During the local government elections of 1 May 2008, the long-ruling Welsh Labour Party lost its majority control of Merthyr council as a cohort of independents took seats and the Liberal Democrats also made a significant breakthrough. The present composition of the council stands at Independents 13; Labour 10; Liberal Democrats 4; Merthyr Independents 3; 2 UKIP (elected as Independents) and 1 other.

Despite being widely regarded as one of its traditional heartlands, support for the Welsh Labour Party has waned significantly in recent years; as indeed the recent local election results confirm. In the 2005 General Election there was a 3.9% swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats and in the 2007 Welsh Assembly Election there was a massive 15.8% swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats. This was followed in the 2010 General Election by a further 16.9% swing from Labour to the Liberal Democrats, the 3rd largest such swing in the United Kingdom. Labour's marority in the seat now stands at 4,000 votes.

The current Member of Parliament for the Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency is Dai Havard, while the Welsh Assembly member is Huw Lewis AM.

Additionally, the Bedlinog Ward in the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, which covers the villages of Trelewis and Bedlinog in the neighbouring Taff Bargoed Valley, is governed by a separate local authority, Bedlinog Community Council, which consists of nine elected members, and whose powers and responsibilities cover the two villages within its area. The Ward is the only electoral area within the Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council area with its own Council. The Council was created in 1974 by the former Gelligaer Urban District Council prior to its abolition and the subsequent transfer of Trelewis and Bedlinog into the Merthyr administrative area upon local government reorganisation in that year, to which most people in Bedlinog and Trelewis were opposed.