Local elections in Wales were held on 5 May 2022 to elect members to the twenty-two local authorities. They were held alongside other local elections in the United Kingdom. The previous elections were held in 2017.

The Welsh Conservatives lost over a third of their seats and their majority on Monmouthshire County Council. Plaid Cymru won outright control of four councils, which was the highest number in the party's history, however their overall number of councillors elected decreased.

Background In the local elections in 2017, 1,271 seats were elected. Welsh Labour won 468 seats, independent candidates won 309 seats, Plaid Cymru won 208 seats, the Welsh Conservatives won 184 seats, and the Welsh Liberal Democrats won 63 seats. Other parties including the Wales Green Party won 22 seats. The 2022 Welsh local elections were initially scheduled for 2021, to give councillors a four-year term, but they were delayed to 2022 to avoid clashing with the 2021 Senedd election. The 2021 Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act permanently changed the term length for councillors from four years to five years.

Ahead of the 2022 elections, eleven of the twenty-two councils in Wales were under no overall control with no single party holding more than half of the seats. Labour controlled seven councils, Independents controlled two councils, and the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru each controlled one council.

Process To have been able to vote in the 2022 local elections in Wales a person must be aged 16 or over on the day of the election (also called "polling day"), have been registered to vote by the morning of the 14 April 2022, registered at an address in Wales, and not be legally excluded from voting. The deadline for applications to vote by post was 19 April 2022, of which a request must have been put in writing. Persons wishing to vote must also be one of the following:

a British citizen an Irish or EU citizen a qualifying Commonwealth citizen a citizen of another country living in Scotland or Wales who has permission to enter or stay in the UK, or who does not need permission

For this election, councils in Wales use first-past-the-post voting (FPTP) in single-member wards and block voting in multi-member wards. For the next election in 2027, councils will choose whether to conduct elections under FPTP or the single transferable vote, due to changes in legislation in Wales.

Principal councils

Elections were held for all councillors in all 22 local authorities, all of which were conducted under new boundaries. These boundary changes mean a number of seats have been redrawn and the total number of councillors in Wales will fall from 1,254 to 1,233, a decrease of 21. Council Seats New Prior Difference Anglesey 35 30 +5 Blaenau Gwent 33 42 –9 Bridgend 51 54 –3 Caerphilly 69 73 –4 Cardiff 79 75 +4 Carmarthenshire 75 74 +1 Ceredigion 38 42 –4 Conwy 55 59 –4 Denbighshire 48 47 +1 Flintshire 66 70 –4 Gwynedd 69 75 –6 Merthyr Tydfil 30 33 –3 Monmouthshire 46 43 +2 Neath Port Talbot 60 64 –4 Newport 51 50 +1 Pembrokeshire 60 60 0 Powys 68 73 –5 Rhondda Cynon Taf 75 75 0 Swansea 75 72 +3 Torfaen 40 44 –4 Vale of Glamorgan 54 47 +7 Wrexham 56 52 +4 Totals 1,233 1,254 –21

Candidates 2,436 candidates sought election to 1,231 seats.

Candidates Party # Difference from 2017 863 –47 683 –187 669 –48 526 –23 284 +4 115 +37 47 24 10 4 1 1 1 1 18 53 1.Plaid Cymru figures include Plaid Cymru and Green Party Common Ground Alliance candidates in Cardiff.

Councils Council Seats Party control Details Previous New Anglesey 35 (Plaid Cymru/independent coalition) Details Blaenau Gwent 33 Details Bridgend 51 (Labour minority) Details Caerphilly 69 Details Cardiff 79 Details Carmarthenshire 75 (Plaid Cymru/independent coalition) Details Ceredigion 38 (Plaid Cymru/independent coalition) Details Conwy 55 (Conservative/independent coalition) Details Denbighshire 48 (Conservative/independent coalition) Details Flintshire 66 (Labour minority) Details Gwynedd 69 Details Merthyr Tydfil 30 Details Monmouthshire 46 Details Neath Port Talbot 60 Details Newport 51 Details Pembrokeshire 60 (independent/Labour/Plaid Cymru/Lib Dem coalition) Details Powys 68 (independent/Conservative coalition) Details Rhondda Cynon Taf 75 Details Swansea 75 Details Torfaen 40 Details Vale of Glamorgan 54 (Labour/independent coalition) Details Wrexham 56 (independent/Conservative coalition) Details All 22 councils 1,233

Results Party Votes % +/- Councils +/- Seats +/- 323,07534%3.6%8152666 206,70321.76%0.74%033072 160,28416.87%0.37%432026 145,11515.28%3.52%0111186 66,1806.97%0.17%06910 21,5852.27%0.97%087 26,9392.84%0.34%0912 n/a n/a n/a101 n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a n/a 2 n/a

The Conservatives lost 86 councillors and lost control of the one council which they administered, Monmouthshire. Though Plaid Cymru lost a small amount of councillors, they consolidated and gained three councils. The Liberal Democrats became the largest party in Powys council. The Wales Green Party gained 8 councillors across 7 councils. Propel gained one councillor in Cardiff.

Whilst Labour gained two councils and lost one, they gained 66 councillors across the country.

Analysis

Ward result maps By council

See also List of political parties in Wales Local government in Wales Politics of Wales

References