The final ward-by-ward (and town/community council) preview for this year’s local elections looks at wards in and around Bridgend town itself as well as Pencoed.
Which county councillors are standing down this year?
- Nicole Burnett (Lab, Morfa) – former Cabinet Member.
- Pam Davies (Lab, Bryntirion Laleston & Merthyr Mawr) – former Mayor of Bridgend County Borough Council.
- Tom Giffard (Con, Brackla) – elected as MS for South Wales West in 2021.
- John McCarthy (Lab, Felindre) – former Mayor of Bridgend County Borough Council.
- Bridie Sedgebeer (Lab, Hendre)
- Lyn Walters (Con, Oldcastle)
- Carolyn Webster (Ind, Newcastle)
- Julia Williams (Ind, Felindre)
- Sadie Vidal (Con, Litchard)
- Richard Young (Lab, Pendre) – former Cabinet Member and Mayor of Bridgend County Borough Council.
Once again, if you’re not sure which ward you are in, enter your postcode into the widget below and it’ll tell you.
Sitting councillors seeking re-election are in italics. Candidates are listed in alphabetical order by party and then surname.
Bridgend Central (elects 3 councillors)
- Electoral History: New ward.
Candidates:
- Conservative: Thomas Dwyer, Alexander Hughes-Howells, Marco Pucella.
- Independent: Steven Bletsoe, Steven Easterbrook, Tim Wood.
- Labour: Stuart Baldwin, Ceri Evans, David White.
The new ward covering Bridgend town centre and Wildmill has been created by the merger of the old Newcastle and Morfa wards.
In 2017, the two wards elected three Labour councillors and one Conservative – but with the number of councillors reduced to three in total, it’s set to prove to be a potentially decisive contest.
The combination of the two wards has arguably made the Conservative’s chances of keeping a seat harder as perhaps the only Tory-leaning demographic area (concentrated in the old Newcastle ward) is Park Street and the area around Oaklands Road.
The Labour vote across the new ward is likely to be significant and should be enough to guarantee them at least one seat. However, the failure to deal with issues like rubbish collections/fly-tipping in Wildmill and the ongoing debate around the future of the town centre may provide a boost to the Independent’s chances of winning at least one seat of their own and have been consistently stronger opposition than the Tories.
If Labour does, somehow, manage to pull off a clean sweep then it would set them well on the way towards a majority.
Brackla East & Coychurch (elects 2 councillors)
- Electoral History: New ward.
Candidates
- Conservative: Rebekah Fudge, Kay Rowlands.
- Independent: Cheryl Pickering, Phil Pickering.
- Labour: Eugene Caparros, Simon Griffiths.
- Plaid Cymru: Yasmin Zahra.
As this is a new ward with new boundaries here’s a map to avoid confusion (image).
This new ward includes most of the “Coity End” of Brackla, Coychurch itself and Waterton – meaning in future it’ll include the proposed Parc Afon Ewenni development.
In terms of land area it’s more Coychurch than Brackla, but in terms of population it’s more Brackla than Coychurch – and that’s critical.
Coychurch itself has long voted Independent, but with a popular local councillor with a large personal vote standing down (Elaine Venables), it’s unclear if that would transfer across to the Pickerings.
The ward contains proportionally more of the leafier suburban streets of Brackla (the streets around St. Michael’s Way, Honeysuckle Way, Ty Gwyn Drive etc.), which perhaps boosts the Conservative’s chances of retaining their seat. Coychurch isn’t exactly a down-at-heel place either.
Of all of the new Brackla wards, this is perhaps the toughest for Labour to secure representation. Despite that, because it’s the largest – population-wise – they’ll always have a chance. Any swing against the Conservatives will likely go in their favour.
The Brackla East & Coychurch is one of the chosen few wards taking part in a Welsh Government voting pilot. All electors in the ward will be able to vote early at polling stations on Tuesday 3rd May and Wednesday 4th May (as well as the usual Thursday election day).
Bryntirion, Laleston & Merthyr Mawr (elects 3 councillors)
- Electoral History: 2 Lib Dem (1999, 2004, 2008); 1 Lab, 1 Lib Dem (2012, 2017).
Candidates
- Conservative: Nathan Adams, Samantha Chohan, Betty Kettley.
- Independent: Anthony Berrow, Ian Spiller.
- Labour: Joanne Cook, Colin Davies, Stephen Sloan.
- Liberal Democrats: Briony Davies, Cheryl Green.
- Plaid Cymru: Stephen Lake.
An increase in the number of councillors here has been long overdue due to Broadlands, though the ward itself is massive by Bridgend standards, taking in Laleston village and even going as far as the far more rural Stormy Down, Tythegston and Merthyr Mawr.
Cheryl Green is one of the most well-known and longest-serving county councillors. You would expect her to retain her seat. Labour will probably be confident they can retain a seat as well.
The ward has never elected a Conservative county councillor, but the increase to three seats perhaps presents the Tories with a chance. The Chohan family are considered rising stars in the local Conservative party and are standing several candidates across multiple wards.
Independent candidate, Ian Spiller, has campaigned on several local issues over many years and will certainly be in with a fighting chance of picking up a seat if there’s a swing against Labour (or the Tories don’t do particularly well).
