Now that the list of candidates for the Merthyr Tydfil Council election has been announced it’s as good a time as any to look at the political make up and potential key seats going into the May poll. Heading into the vote, the council’s political make-up had the leading independent group with nine councillors while the opposition Labour group had 15.
The newly formed community independents had five, there were two Park and Dowlais independent councillors and one independent member. With several councillors due to stand down, the Local Democracy Reporting Service takes a look at the wards which have seen a change since the last election.
There are 72 candidates standing for the 30 seats which include 31 independents, 29 Labour, eight Plaid Cymru, two Conservative, one Green Party and one unallocated candidate. In the 2017 election, the independents took control of the council from Labour with 18 seats ahead of Labour’s 15.
