Isle of Anglesey County Council

Isle of Anglesey County Council
Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn
Type
Type
Structure
Seats 30 councillors
14 / 30
13 / 30
2 / 30
1 / 30
Elections
First past the post
Last election
 4 May 2017
Next election
 6 May 2021
Website
anglesey.gov.uk

The Isle of Anglesey County Council (Welsh: Cyngor Sir Ynys Môn) is the governing body for the county of Anglesey, one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. The council has 30 councillors who represent 11 multi-member electoral wards.

Background

The Isle of Anglesey County Council was created from its predecessor, Ynys Mon Borough Council, in 1996.[1] The Wales Audit Office describes the new council of having a "history of conflict and inappropriate behaviour" from the outset, with two public interest reports published in 1998 and a further three reports into the behaviour by 2001.[1]

Suspension of functions in 2011

In March 2011, after "years of political infighting", it became the first council in British history to have all executive functions suspended, with a team of commissioners appointed by the Welsh government put in place to run the council's functions,[2] with elections ultimately delayed,[3] meaning they took place a year after the rest of Wales, pending a new electoral system.[4]

Political makeup

Unlike most other councils in Wales, Anglesey's councillors divide only partly along political-party lines. Following the 2008 elections, only Plaid Cymru and Labour have maintained a group on the Council. Some Councillors elected on party political tickets or believed to have party political allegiances do not form, or join, party groups. The remaining councillors, both party-political and independent, form a number of factions based as much on personalities as on policy. After the 2008 elections, the largest of these factions was the Original Independents (Welsh: Annibynwyr Gwreiddiol). However, in 2010 the council leader, Clive McGregor, left the Original Independents to form Llais Môn[5] (English: Anglesey Voice) who had five members by the time of the 2013 election.[6]

Elections normally take place every four years. The Isle of Anglesey County Council election, 2013 took place on 2 May 2013, with results shown below. The previous election was on 1 May 2008.[7] There were due to be elections on 3 May 2012, but these were postponed for one year by the Welsh Local Government minister, Carl Sargeant.[8] The Isle of Anglesey County Council election, 2017 on 4 May resulted in a no overall majority position with Plaid Cymru holding 14 of the 30 seats.

Current composition

Group affiliation Members
2008		 Members
2013		 Members
2017 [9]
Plaid Cymru 8 12 14
  Independent
23 14 13
Labour 5 3 2
Liberal Democrat 2 1 1
Conservative 2 0 0
 Total
 40 30 30

Leadership

Council leader From To Notes
Llinos Medi Huws 23 May 2017[10] Plaid Cymru. First female leader of the council [11]
Ieuan Williams May 2013 4 May 2017 Independent Group [12]
Bryan Owen 2 May 2013 Independent Group. Lost his seat at the May 2013 election [13]

Electoral divisions

Prior to the 2013 election, the county was divided into 40 electoral wards returning 40 councillors. There are also 40 communities (parishes) in the county, some of which have their own elected community council, but few communities were coterminous with the 40 council wards. The 40 wards were:

Aberffraw (included Aberffraw community/Maelog ward* part of Llanfaelog), Amlwch Port (Port and Town wards* of Amlwch Town), Amlwch Rural (Rural ward* of Amlwch Town), Beaumaris (Beaumaris), Bodffordd (Bodffordd/Cerrigceinwen ward* of Llangristiolus), Bodorgan (Bodorgan/Llangristiolus ward* of Llangristiolus), Braint (Braint ward* of Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll), Bryngwran (Bryngwran/Trewalchmai), Brynteg (Benllech and Brynteg wards* of Llanfair Mathafarn Eithaf), Cadnant (Cadnant ward* of Menai Bridge), Cefni (Cefni ward* of Llangefni), Cwm Cadnant (Cwm Cadnant), Cyngar (Cyngar ward* of Llangefni), Gwyngyll (Gwyngyll ward* of Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll), Holyhead Town (Town ward* of Holyhead town), Kingsland (Kingsland ward* of Holyhead), Llanbadrig (Llanbadrig), Llanbedrgoch (Benllech 'A'/Llanbedrgoch wards* of Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf), Llanddyfnan (Llanddyfnan/Llaneugrad), Llaneilian (Llaneilian/Rhosybol), Llanfaethlu (Llanfachraeth/Llanfaethlu/Llanrhuddlad ward* of Cylch-y-Garn), Llanfair-yn-Neubwll (Bodedern/Llanfair-yn-Neubwll), Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog (Llanfihangel Ysgeifiog/Penmynydd), Llangoed (Llangoed and Penmon), Llanidan (Llanddaniel Fab/Llanidan), Llannerch-y-medd (Llannerch-y-medd/Tref Alaw), London Road (London Road ward* of Holyhead town), Maeshyfryd (Maeshyfryd ward* of Holyhead town), Mechell (Mechell/Llanfairynghornwy ward* of Cylch-y-Garn), Morawelon (Morawelon ward* of Holyhead), Moelfre (Moelfre), Parc a'r Mynydd (Parc a'r Mynydd ward* of Holyhead town), Pentraeth (Llanddona/Pentraeth), Porthyfelin (Porthyfelin ward* of Holyhead town), Rhosneigr (Rhosneigr ward* of Llanfaelog), Rhosyr (Rhosyr), Trearddur (Rhoscolyn/Trearddur), Tudur (Tudur ward* of Llangefni Town), Tysilio (Tysilio ward* of Menai Bridge) and Valley (Valley).
* = electoral ward of a community with its own electoral subdivisions and community council

Electoral review

A review of electoral arrangements on Anglesey by the Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales began in 2010.[14] This was scrapped and recommenced in 2011 following a new instruction by the Welsh Government.[15]

Under The Isle of Anglesey (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2012, there are 30 councillors to be elected (a reduction from the previous 40) from 11 multi-member wards.[4] The current electoral wards (numbers of councillors in parentheses) are:

  1. Aethwy (3), formed by the Communities of Llanfair Pwllgwyngyll, Menai Bridge and Penmynydd
  2. Bro Aberffraw (2), formed by the Communities of Aberffraw, Bodorgan and Rhosyr
  3. Bro Rhosyr (2), formed by the Communities of Llanidan, Llanfihangel Ysceifiog, Llanddaniel Fab and Llangristiolus
  4. Caergybi (3), the electoral wards of Town, London Road, Morawelon, Porthyfelin, and Parc a'r Mynydd in the Community of Holyhead
  5. Canolbarth Môn (Central Anglesey) (3), the Communities of Bryngwran, Bodffordd, Llangefni, and Trewalchmai, and the electoral wards of Llanddyfnan, Llangwyllog and Tregacan in the Community of Llanddyfnan.
  6. Llifôn (2), the Communities of Llanfaelog, Llanfair-yn-Neubwll and Valley
  7. Lligwy (3), the Communities of Moelfre, Llaneugrad, Llanfair-Mathafarn-Eithaf and Pentraeth; and the electoral ward of Llanfihangel Tre'r Beirdd in the Community of Llanddyfnan
  8. Seiriol (3), formed by the Communities of Beaumaris, Cwm Cadnant, Llanddona, and Llangoed.
  9. Talybolion (3), formed by the Communities of Bodedern, Cylch-y-garn, Llannerch-y-medd, Llanfachraeth, Llanfaethlu, Mechell and Tref Alaw
  10. Twrcelyn (3), the Communities of Amlwch, Llanbadrig, Llaneilian, and Rhosybol
  11. Ynys Gybi (Holy Island) (3), the Communities of Trearddur and Rhoscolyn and the electoral wards of Maeshyfryd and Kingsland in the Community of Holyhead.

Chair and vice-chair of the council

Within the council's administrative area and having regard to the royal prerogative, the chair of the county council is the "first citizen".

Welsh Language

Welsh and English are the official languages of the Council and have equal status and validity in the Council's administration and work. According to the Council's Welsh language policy, its aim is to ensure that Welsh will be the Council's main language for both oral and written internal communication in the future.[16] Of those staff that assessed their language skills in 2016-2017, 79% could speak Welsh fluently.[17]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Special Inspection: Corporate Governance Re-Inspection - Isle of Anglesey County Council" (PDF). Wales Audit Office. March 2011. pp. 7–8. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  2. ↑ BBC News: Anglesey council to be taken over, says Carl Sargeant
  3. ↑ BBC News: Anglesey council election postponed for year to 2013
  4. 1 2 The Isle of Anglesey (Electoral Arrangements) Order 2012 Legislation.gov.uk
  5. ↑ "New alliance to take control of Anglesey Council". Daily Post. 9 June 2010. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  6. ↑ Heledd Fychan (4 May 2013). "Anglesey can become proud of itself again". Click on Wales. Institute of Welsh Affairs. Retrieved 30 November 2017.
  7. ↑ http://www.gwydir.demon.co.uk/uklocalgov/elec2008.htm
  8. ↑ "Anglesey council election postponed for year to 2013". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 January 2012. Retrieved 4 May 2012.
  9. ↑ "Election Results by Party (4 May 2017)". Isle of Anglesey County Council. 4 May 2017.
  10. ↑ "Plaid puts forward sole candidate for Anglesey council leader". BBC News. 11 May 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  11. ↑ Gareth Wyn-Williams (12 May 2017). "Anglesey Council to be led by woman for first time". Daily Post. North Wales. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  12. ↑ Gareth Wyn-Williams (30 March 2017). "Anglesey council leader will not seek top job again". Daily Post. North Wales. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  13. ↑ Gareth Wyn-Williams (5 May 2017). "Local election results: No party wins overall control in Anglesey Council". Daily Post. North Wales. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  14. ↑ Isle of Anglesey Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales
  15. ↑ DIRECTION TO THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT BOUNDARY COMMISSION FOR WALES 2011 Welsh Government
  16. ↑ "Welsh Language Policy" (PDF). Isle of Anglesey County Council. Retrieved November 2017. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  17. ↑ "ISLE OF ANGLESEY COUNTY COUNCIL ANNUAL REPORT ON THE WELSH LANGUAGE STANDARDS 2016-17" (PDF). Isle of Anglesey County Council. Retrieved November 2017. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
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