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More Vale councillors on the cards?

Wednesday, 10 September 2025 at 15:12

By Bro Radio Newsroom

The number of county councillors in the Vale of Glamorgan looks set to increase from 54 to 59 at the next local elections.

The Democracy and Boundary Commission Cymru (DBCC) has been holding an electoral review, which could see boundary changes to wards in time for the next polls in 2027.

The last review, held in 2021, led to the introduction of seven new seats, taking the total number of county councillors to 54.

The Commission has yet to publish its draft proposals, but in a recent scrutiny committee meeting, council chief executive Rob Thomas that the Welsh Government had accepted the findings of a community review led by the local authority, as part of the review.

Mr Thomas, who is also the returning officer for the Vale, said: "The DBCC then launched its statutory electoral review of the Vale on 5th June, which included a public consultation that closed on 16th July."

"That offered all interested stakeholders, including the council, town and community councils, political groups, and individuals, the opportunity to share their views on the subject."

"The council's draft response was considered first by the Community Liaison scrutiny committee before being approved by a meeting of all councillors on 14th July."

"Following this, the Commission will publish its draft proposals, triggering a second round of consultation with stakeholders and the public. This offers another chance for people to offer their opinion before any firm decisions are made."

"After considering all submissions, the Commission will issue its final recommendations to Welsh Government, which must be approved and implemented ahead of the 2027 local elections."

But a former Welsh Conservative leader has criticised proposals for more councillors, claiming it would "infuriate Vale residents".

Andrew RT Davies said: "Families across the Vale are having to grapple with eye-watering council tax rises and massive town hall boss salaries, and the last thing they want to see their money spent on is more politicians."

"Any cash available to the council should be spent on delivering the key services people rely on, not on more councillors."

When the initial consultation launched in June, the DBCC said it will look to bring all wards to within 20% of the council average rate of electors to councillors.

Currently, five wards fall outside of that range - with the Cosmeston ward being over 50% below the average, meaning it has few fewer voters per councillor than most.

But the commission did not rule out making boundary changes to wards even if they are already within the 20% target - which may be due to knock-on effects of changing neighbouring wards or because local residents and stakeholders have identified a need to change boundaries to better match community ties.

The DBCC's draft proposals for a new map of council wards will be published later in the year before a second public consultation takes place.

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