Dozens of council seats in Wales already decided as 70 councillors unopposed in upcoming elections

Voters in large parts of Wales will be denied a vote in this May’s local elections after dozens of council seats were already decided before a single vote has been cast.

New analysis by ERS Cymru estimates that 106,920 Welsh voters have denied a say after elections were effectively cancelled in constituencies across the country.

Nine out of Wales’ 22 local authorities will see local representatives returned almost a month before polling day.

In the worst-affected council area, Gwynedd, 30,722 voters will be denied a choice with 28 out of 69 already decided due to lack of competition.

Across Wales 74 councillors will be elected unopposed, leaving residents without a say over who represents them and their local areas – making decisions on key services such as health, housing and education.

Yesterday Wrexham.com reported that eight councillors are already guaranteed to continue representing their communities, despite the election not yet taking place due to them being unopposed.

This includes current Council Leader, Mark Pritchard, (Independent, Esclusham), who is once again not facing any opposition, having been the only candidate for his ward back in 2012.

Cllr Andy Williams, (Independent, Garden Village), Cllr I David Bithell (Independent, Stansty), Cllr Debbie Wallice (Welsh Conservative, Borras) and Cllr Terry Evans (Independent, Chirk South) and current mayor of Wrexham, Cllr Ronnie Prince, (Independent, Cartrefle) are also unchallenged.

Trevor Bates (Independent) Dyffryn Ceiriog Michael Morris (Welsh Conservatives) in Holt are also unopposed after late changes to the nomination papers.

As a result ballots will not be issued to residents in those eight wards and an election will not take place.

Jess Blair, Director ERS Cymru said: “For over 100,000 voters in Wales May’s elections have been effectively cancelled.

“Local elections are the cornerstone of our democracy – a chance for local people to have their say over how their local area is run and, importantly, over who represents them.

“But yet again thousands of voters are being denied a voice with results decided weeks before polling day.

“Uncontested seats are yet another symptom of our broken First Past the Post system – one which creates safe seats for some candidates and parties but no-go areas for others.

“However, we now have an opportunity to break this unhealthy cycle and give local democracy a much-needed shot in the arm.

“For the first time, local councils in Wales have the opportunity to switch over to the more proportional single transferable vote, which is already used in Scotland.

“This would mean politicians will have to fight for every vote as well as ending the scourge of safe seats and travesty of contests being won without a single vote being cast.”