1919 Cardiff City Council election

The 1919 Cardiff City Council election was held on Saturday 1 November 1919 to elect councillors to Cardiff City Council in Cardiff, Glamorgan, Wales.

This was the first all-Cardiff elections for six years, due to the occurrence of 1914-18 Great War.[1] The previous elections were in November 1913 and the next annual all-Cardiff elections were to take place as normal on 1 November 1920.

The election saw control of the council transfer from the Conservative Party to the Liberals.

Background

Cardiff County Borough Council had been created in 1889. Cardiff became a city in 1905. Elections to the local authority were held annually, though not all council seats were included in each contest, because the three councillors in each ward stood down for election in three-yearly rotation.

The council consisted of 30 councillors who were elected by the town's voters and ten aldermen who were elected by the councillors.[2] Ten seats were up for election in November 1919.

Overview of the result

Contests took place in all ten of the Cardiff electoral wards in November 1919. In addition to candidates standing under the Conservative, Liberal and Labour tickets, there were men standing from discharged soldiers' organisations, as Ex-Service men candidates.[3] Press interest was also raised by a 'lady candidate' in the Roath ward, who was standing for the Womens' Council. Mrs Janet Price Williams was unsuccessful in her bid to be Cardiff's first woman councillor.[4]

The election news was dominated by the successes of the Labour and Ex-Servicemen candidates in South Wales. Four Labour and three Ex-Servicemen won seats in Cardiff.[4][1]

Council composition

The composition of the council immediately prior to these elections as Conservatives 20, Liberals 19, Independent 1. Following the November 1919 election the balance had changed, to 17 Liberal, 15 Conservative, 4 Labour, 3 Ex-Servicemen, 1 Independent. [5]

Ward results

Adamsdown
Adamsdown ward 1919 [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour J. Donovan 1,597
Liberal William Jones * 889
Labour gain from Liberal Swing

Canton
Canton ward 1919 [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Ex-Servicemen T. L. Francis 1,549
Liberal William Grey 1,407
Railway Clerks T. H. Spence 1,089
Ex-Servicemen gain from Liberal Swing

Cathays
Cathays ward 1919 [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
N. U. R. A. E. Gough 2,066
Liberal W. R. Williams * 1,627
Labour gain from Liberal Swing

Central
Central ward 1919
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Ex-Servicemen Capt. Thomas W. Langman 983
Conservative F. W. Blower * 444
Ex-Servicemen gain from Conservative Swing

Grangetown
Grangetown ward 1919 [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
N. U. R. Ivor George Dudderidge 1,753
Conservative W. R. Smith * 1,219
Liberal A. B. Sessions 478
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

Park
Park ward 1919 [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal Robert Gerard Hill Snook * 1,087
Allotment Federation D. Skelly 1,027
Independent A. H. Teague 152
Liberal hold Swing

Riverside
Riverside ward 1919
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Ex-Servicemen R. C. Brittan 1,518
Liberal S. Instone 698
Railway Clerks William Alfred Plummer 674
Ex-Servicemen gain from Liberal Swing

Roath
Roath ward 1919 [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Liberal G. Fred Evans 1,446
Labour John W. Pickles 1,159
Conservative William Henry Lever 880
Women's Council Mrs Janet Price Williams 835
Liberal hold Swing

South
South ward 1919
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Conservative John Ash Thompson 784
Seaman Capt. Jaines Griffiths 229
Conservative hold Swing

Splott
Splott ward 1919 [4]
Party Candidate Votes % ±
Labour G. B. Smith 1,964
Liberal T. Williams 1,550
Conservative George Francis Willett * 572
Labour gain from Conservative Swing

* = 'retiring' ward councillor for re-election

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References
  1. "26 Labour gains - Features of South Wales Elections". South Wales Weekly Post. 8 November 1919. p. 6 – via Welsh Newspapers Online.
  2. B. W. Row, F. G. Squire (1974), Cardiff 1889-1974 - The Story of the County Borough, The Corporation of Cardiff, City Hall, Cardiff, pp. 14–16
  3. "Municipal Contests". The Western Mail. 27 October 1919. p. 4.
  4. "In South Wales - Labour Successes - Woman Candidate Defeated - Cardiff - Seven Seats Go To Labour And Ex-Service Men". The Western Mail. 3 November 1919. p. 7.
  5. "Cardiff Council - Balance Of Power Transferred". South Wales Echo. 3 November 1919. p. 5.
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