Changes in political colour, a couple of shock losses and natural churn see a wave of new leaders set to take control of some of the councils in Wales. However, a number of incumbent leaders have managed to retain their seats and will continue their role as leaders for the next five years - subject to approval - after results were called on the 2022 council elections on Friday. Those in charge will see a 17% rise in the leader's salary which will jump from £55,027 to £63,000, although we've previously reported not everyone is happy about this.
All councils in Wales operate a leader and cabinet model. If one party's won a majority - that's more than half the councillors - it can start running the council. The majority party nominates one of their councillors to be the leader of the party. At the council's annual general meeting (AGM) the full council votes to elect them to become the leader of the council.
Keep up to date with results and the reaction as they unfold on our live blog here.
The leader is the political face of the council and does other duties as well as representing their ward. It's the leader who appoints and chairs the cabinet. Each cabinet member has a specific area of responsibility – for example children and young people, housing or finance.
But there are some authorities in Wales - like Powys - which have no overall control. That is to say, no party or political group has achieved a majority of seats and is the localised equivalent to a hung parliament. In this instance, it's common for two or more political groups to form a majority through a formal coalition and operate on a power sharing basis.
Alternatively, it's also possible for the largest political group to govern as a minority administration and do it alone, if the other groups don’t agree on enough to oppose them effectively.
In no overall control councils a leader will still be elected by the council to form the ruling administration, from a coalition or the largest party governing alone.
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Outgoing leader Nigel Daniels lost his seat as Labour won 21 seats overall and wrestled back control of Blaenau Gwent from the independents. Out of the 69 candidates and wannabe Blaenau Gwent councillors, 28 stood as independents. Just 12 Independents were elected today. Read the full results here.
Mr Daniels - who faced a vote of no confidence back in March - lost his seat in Abertillery. He came under fire earlier this year over allegations that he had been passed information by a whistleblower at the council's Silent Valley Waste Services company and chosen to withhold it during an investigation. Mr Daniels, who firmly denies the accusation, survived a subsequent vote-of-no-confidence.
Blaenau Gwent’s 21-strong Labour group will meet next week to discuss who will form part of the executive for the council. It’s expected that Cllr Steve Thomas, for Tredegar Central and West, will take up the position of leader of the council.
Bridgend County Borough Council
Labour's Cllr Huw David, for Cefn Cribwr, has led the council since 2016. His party took back control of a council it lost five years ago which meant it did not have overall control for 2017-2022. This time round however, Labour and independents saw big gains, with Labour securing 27 seats and independent candidates winning 21, leaving Labour firmly in charge.
Labour is yet to confirm its leader but it appears Huw David will most likely reinstate his position as leader. He said: "We are thrilled with the results that we have had today. We will deliver on our manifesto pledges."
Caerphilly County Borough Council
Caerphilly County Borough Council will have to elect a new leader after the current leader Philippa Marsden was defeated this time round. The Labour councillor won just 213 votes this year compared to 720 at the last election in 2017. The two independent candidates now elected into her former Ynysddu ward each have more than 1100 votes each. Jan Jones won 1162, while Janine Reed won 1150. Read about the shock landslide result here.
But Labour held the constituency, meaning the new leader will have to be decided by the party before the Council AGM. Cllr Jamie Pritchard became the new deputy leader of Caerphilly in July 2021. Representing the Morgan Jones ward, he is also cabinet member for infrastructure and property. The party will have to decide if he will take on the role of leader however.
Carmarthenshire County Council
Plaid Cymru councillor Emlyn Dole, who headed up Carmarthenshire council, lost his seat this time round after standing in the Llannon ward. He received 561 votes, but was surpassed by his fellow Plaid Cymru candidate Llinos Mai Davies who received 568 votes, and Labour's Dot Jones, who received 594 votes. Read what he said after his loss here.
Mr Dole has spent 14 years elected as a county councillor and seven of those as leader. In 2014 Mr Dole became Plaid opposition leader and a year later, in somewhat bizarre circumstances, Mr Dole became council leader. It occurred when the Labour party, which was in coalition with the Independents, removed their own council leader, Kevin Madge. The Independents chose not to work with his successor, Jeff Edmunds, and turned to Plaid. Read more about his journey here. Plaid Cymru will now have to elect a new leader at their AGM, which takes place three days before Carmarthenshire Council's AGM.
Ceredigion County Council
The leader of Ceredigion council, Ellen ap Gwynn, stepped down at the 2022 local government elections. The Plaid Cymru councillor has been leader of the local authority since 2012. The party elected Bryan Davies, who represents Llannarth, as her successor as its group leader. With Plaid Cymru gaining from a no party majority on Friday, it's likely Cllr Davies will take up the reins as leader for the next five years. Plaid Cymru won 20 seats, the same number as in 2017, while the independents dropped a seat to leave them with 10 after the vote had been counted. Read the full result here.
City and County of Swansea
Labour has held onto power in Swansea after securing 45 seats in the council elections. It was a loss of three compared to the 2017 election but still a large majority with 75 councillor seats up for grabs. Read how it unfolded here. Incumbent Swansea Labour leader Rob Stewart, who continues to serve Morriston, said: "We were very close to the record-breaking result that we had at the last election. It's a really strong Labour vote that came out again. We are grateful to the people of Swansea and will carry on with the delivery that we promised. We are disappointed we lost a couple, but overall we're pretty much where we were."
City of Cardiff Council
Labour retained control of Cardiff council with leader Cllr Huw Thomas set to remain in charge. Read how the result unfolded here. Cllr Thomas said it was a "great result". He said the success was down to a combination of his party's track record and a positive campaign as well as commitments on big issues like climate change and building schools. "We took nothing for granted," he said. "Today we've taken seats off the Tories, Lib Dems and Plaid Cymru".
He said his party's priorities looking forward are to make the city "stronger, greener and fairer". "This is a historic third term, no other party in the history Cardiff council since it was established in 1995 has won a third term," he added. "It's a mandate to get on with our manifesto, build more housing, more schools and make sure that Cardiff's economy works for our citizens and delivers for Wales".
Conwy County Borough Council
No one emerged with overall control after all 55 seats had been declared. The independents came away with the biggest share on seats, picking up four more than in 2017 to finish on 22. Labour also performed well to end on 11 while the Tories lost six seats to finish on 10. Read the full results here.
The Liberal Democrats have been strong here in the past and Plaid Cymru has also controlled this authority too. But it's likely that post-election talks will eventually decide which groups assume control and who will lead any coalition.
Denbighshire County Council
There is no overall control in Denbighshire following the 2022 result. The Conservatives had been part of an independent coalition in Denbighshire, but have plummeted from first to fourth as Labour emerged as the biggest party. The council has been headed up by farmer Cllr Hugh Evans OBE since 2007. With the Tories losing nine Denbighshire seats, these results could give Labour a chance to form a new coalition at Denbighshire's county hall. The leader for the next five years will have to be agreed depending on the outcome of this.
Flintshire County Council
Labour and Independent candidates won 28 wards each with two wards yet to be declared in Flintshire. A recount is required in the Connah's Quay South and Buckley Bistre West wards, that will take place on Saturday morning. It was a mixed day for Labour and they will fall short of an overall majority as Independents increased both their seats and share of the vote. Read more here.
The incumbent Flintshire Council leader, Labour's Ian Roberts was successful in the Flint Castle ward once again. He reflected on a mixed day for his party. Cllr Roberts said: "Personally, my result was the first to be declared today. I was very pleased with how it went in my ward." It remains to be seen who will take the leadership going forward.
Gwynedd Council
Plaid Cymru retained Gwynedd winning 44 of the 69 seats on the council, which Plaid has governed since 1996. Incumbent leader Cllr Dyfrig Siencyn, for Dolgellau ward, looks set to stay in place. Read here for a full breakdown of the results.
Isle of Anglesey County Council
Plaid Cymru has taken control of Ynys Mon council meaning incumbent leader Cllr Llinos Medi Huws will likely continue. The party had been working in a coalition since the previous election. The party has now managed to cross the threshold for majority which is 18 members. Of the 35 seats for the taking, 21 went to Plaid Cymru which was five more than they won in 2017. The independents had a poor results day, losing six seats in 2022 and ending on 10. Labour gained one additional seat this time round to bring it to three, while the Lib Dems took the remaining seat.
Confirmation of Plaid's win came as Talybolion returned three Plaid Cymru members – all women, including the council leader Llinos Medi. This was a new ward and the independent Kenneth Pritchard Hughes was expected to put in a strong showing, but came fourth with 12% of the votes.
Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council
Both Labour and the independents in Merthyr Tydfil won 15 seats at this year’s Merthyr Tydfil Council meaning no one has overall control of the authority, although there are two independent groups on the council. Read more here. Discussions are now set to take place over the coming days over how the council is run going forward. The voter turnout was 39% which meant that just 15,379 votes were cast from an electorate of 45,875.
Lisa Mytton, independent, who went into the elections as the leader of the council and was the first sitting leader to retain her seat in Merthyr Tydfil said: “I think first of all there’s a fantastic feeling for us as independents especially with the last result the Cyfarthfa ward, that is amazing to get Claire in there as well. I think there’s conversations to be had. Inevitably we’ll have those over the weekend and perhaps on Monday and just relax and celebrate our achievements today and commiserations to some people we’ve lost some really good people today. We’ll see how it goes over the weekend and have some discussions.”
Monmouthshire County Council
The only Welsh authority the Conservatives held outright in Wales, the outgoing leader Richard John had been a vocal critic of the prime minister's actions around parties at Downing Street. But the Tories lost control of the administration having been in charge since 2017. Read the full results here.
Labour finished with the most seats, gaining 14 seats to the six lost by the Conservatives lost six. One Green candidate was elected along with five independents. Monmouthshire Conservative leader Cllr John kept his seat but told ITV Wales: "I think the public has spoken loudly and clearly and has sent a message that the party needs to consider."
With no party taking overall control, discussions will now be held to determine how the council will be run going forward and who will take the top job.
Neath Port Talbot Council
Labour have lost its grip on Neath Port Talbot. The party's share of the vote in the local election 2022 has dramatically reduced, with the party falling from 43 seats to just 25.
Although Labour remains the party with the highest number of representatives, Plaid now has 12 representatives and the number of independents is 16 - up from just five in 2017. If the two groups were to agree an alliance, it would mean Labour would lose control of the authority and the incumbent leader, Cllr Edward Latham, could potentially lose the top job. There is no guarantee of that however, because the independents are, by definition, are not a single party group.
There are two outstanding seats to be decided later this month. It follows the postponement of the election in Port Talbot ward, following the death of independent candidate Andrew Tutton during election campaigning.
Newport City Council
Labour swept to victory in Newport, picking up seats in Conservative strongholds and returning an increased majority on the city council. Cllr Jane Mudd is in charge of the Labour group, which won 35 of the 51 seats up for grabs - giving the party a healthy majority in the city council chamber. Following her party's victory, Cllr Mudd - who retained her seat in Malpas - said she was "absolutely delighted the people of Newport have put their trust in Labour". She's likely to remain in the top job. Read the full results here.
Read more: Husband and wife both enjoy local election success as they are chosen to serve on Newport council
Pembrokeshire County Council
Both Labour and the Liberal Democrats made gains in Pembrokeshire but the council is left with no overall control. With 60 seats in the chamber, they need 31 to form a majority. Incumbent leader, independent Cllr David Simpson, will be looking to retain his position in the top job but that will depend on what happens next. There may be talks lasting several weeks to decide who runs the authority. Read the full results here.
Powys County Council
Independent leader of the council, Rosemarie Harris, lost out to Lib Dem Jackie Charlton. The Lib Dems are the largest party but with 24 councillors returned they are well short of the 35 they need for a majority. Read the full results here. The Conservatives and all independent members - including Action for Powys and non-aligned members - between them have gained 31 seats. Plaid Cymru, Labour and the Lib Dems have all grown their numbers in this election compared with the last, and there has been a Green party seat, after a victory in the newly-created Forden and Montgomery ward for Jeremy Thorp.
Negotiations will need to take place but change is certain following the loss of Ms Harris, who stood in Llangynidr with Llangattock ward and was Powys' first female leader.
Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council
Labour held the local authority increasing its number of representatives in the council chamber by eight. With 75 seats on the council, it makes up nearly three-quarters of the council. Incumbent leader Cllr Andrew Morgan shows no sign of stepping down. The RCT result was dominated by the loss of Pauline Jarman, the candidate for the new Mountain Ash ward and who'd been a councillor for 46 years, and who was also Plaid Cymru's leader in Rhondda Cynon Taf. She was edged out by Labour's Wendy Treeby.
Torfaen County Borough Council
Labour held the local authority with three-quarters of the 40 seats in the chamber. Incumbent leader Cllr Anthony Hunt shows no sign of stepping down. Read the full results here.
Vale of Glamorgan Council
At the time of writing, the Vale of Glamorgan had yet to declare their results. In 2017, the Conservatives gained 11 seats taking their total to 23 but falling one short of an overall majority. Cllr Neil Moore, Labour, has been leader since May 2019. But he will retire this May after more than three decades as a councillor. Read more here. It means a change of leadership is guaranteed.
Wrexham County Borough Council
No party in the Wrexham local election gained an overall majority as independents still held the most seats with 23. However, both Labour and Plaid Cymru, who were in opposition during the last administration, made inroads, with the former gaining three seats and the latter four. Read more here.
It takes their total number of councillors to 14 and nine respectively, with the Conservatives also winning nine seats, an increase of one, and the Liberal Democrats standing still on one. It leaves question marks over who will rule Wrexham Council for the next five years.
Power in Wrexham previously lay with a coalition of two independent groups run by incumbent council leader Mark Pritchard and deputy leader David A Bithell, alongside the Conservatives. But before polling day on Thursday there were rumours of friction between the two independent groups, meaning a new alliance could be in the offing.
Cllr Pritchard, who was re-elected in Esclusham after his seat was uncontested, said talks would be held over the next few days over the future composition of the council. Meanwhile, Labour group leader Dana Davies, who faced a scare in Ruabon after winning by just four votes, also said she would be open to discussions with other groups.
