Cardiff
Every election cycle we have data for, most recent first.
Cycles
Council composition as of 2024
79 councillors, by party. One square per seat. Source: opencouncildata annual snapshot — reflects the council at the end of 2024 (after that year's elections, by-elections and defections). Hover any seat for the party.
Most recent election (2022)
In 2022, 79 seats were up across 28 wards. The table below shows what each party actually won — alongside what they would have won if the 79 seats had been shared in proportion to votes received (how, with caveats). The Δ column is the actual seat count minus the proportional seat count — positive numbers are parties First-Past-the-Post over-represented; negative are parties it under-represented.
| Party | Votes | Vote % | Seats won | % of seats | Proportional seats | Proportional % | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labour Party | 137,286 | 47.5% | 55 | 69.6% | 38 | 48.1% | +17 |
| Conservative Party | 55,457 | 19.2% | 11 | 13.9% | 15 | 19.0% | -4 |
| Plaid Cymru | 49,320 | 17.1% | 2 | 2.5% | 14 | 17.7% | -12 |
| Liberal Democrats | 36,499 | 12.6% | 10 | 12.7% | 10 | 12.7% | 0 |
| PROP | 7,942 | 2.7% | 1 | 1.3% | 2 | 2.5% | -1 |
| Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition | 1,149 | 0.4% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| Independent | 729 | 0.3% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| Green Party | 287 | 0.1% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| WEP | 135 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| SOV | 135 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| VOLT | 131 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| Communist Party of Britain | 126 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| FREE | 65 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 | 0.0% | 0 |
| Total | 289,261 | 100.0% | 79 | 100.0% | 79 | 100.0% | 0 |
Vote share vs seats won
The top bar is each party's share of votes cast in this council. Below, one square per seat, coloured by the party that won it — first the actual First-Past-the-Post result, then what a proportional method would have produced from the same vote totals. Divergence between the bar and the actual grid is the indictment of the method.
Full ward-by-ward results for 2022 →
Composition history
One row per opencouncildata annual snapshot — the council at the end of each year (after that year's elections, by-elections and defections). Newest first; hover any seat for the party.
Ward by ward
Each row is a ward, each column a cycle. Each cell shows the top-of-poll candidate's party (swatch) and their share of valid ballots. Wards are matched by name across cycles — boundary reviews can mean a ward of the same name is a slightly different area in a later cycle.
| Ward | 2017 | 2022 |
|---|---|---|
| Adamsdown | 45% | 63% |
| Butetown | 56% | 63% |
| Caerau | 54% | 80% |
| Canton | 45% | 49% |
| Cathays | 53% | 59% |
| Creigiau/St Fagans | 47% | |
| Cyncoed | 41% | 56% |
| Ely | 57% | 66% |
| Fairwater | 59% | 43% |
| Gabalfa | 46% | 51% |
| Grangetown | 47% | 60% |
| Heath | 39% | 53% |
| Lisvane | 76% | |
| Lisvane and Thornhill | 48% | |
| Llandaff | 37% | 38% |
| Llandaff North | 57% | 61% |
| Llanishen | 47% | 57% |
| Llanrumney | 59% | 66% |
| Pentwyn | 48% | 49% |
| Pentyrch | 47% | |
| Pentyrch and St Fagans | 36% | |
| Penylan | 54% | 53% |
| Plasnewydd | 55% | 70% |
| Pontprennau/Old St Mellons | 60% | |
| Pontprennau/Old St. Mellons | 50% | |
| Radyr | 43% | 34% |
| Rhiwbina | 66% | 55% |
| Riverside | 56% | 61% |
| Rumney | 48% | 56% |
| Splott | 58% | 73% |
| Trowbridge | 44% | 61% |
| Whitchurch and Tongwynlais | 44% | 44% |