Council elections can often throw up some interesting prospects in terms of seats and candidates. You don’t have to look much further in Rhondda Cynon Taf than the fact that Andrew Morgan, who heads into the election as the leader of the council, and former leader of the council and now main opposition leader Pauline Jarman will be standing in the same ward in Mountain Ash.
The RCT Labour leader Mr Morgan and RCT Plaid Cymru leader Ms Jarman will be standing in the new Mountain Ash ward which replaces the former Mountain Ash East that Ms Jarman has represented and the Mountain Ash West that Mr Morgan has represented. Wendy Treeby of Labour who has also represented Mountain Ash West, Mia Hollsing of the Welsh Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition and Kurt Thomson of the Conservatives are also standing in this ward which will see two councillors elected.
It will be interesting to see what happens in wards where long-standing councillors are moving on. In Treherbert, long-standing Plaid Cymru councillor Geraint Davies is standing down after decades in public office including serving as the first Assembly Member for the Rhondda.
