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Town Hall & politics · Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

Labour holds a majority on Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

Blaina is run by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council. Labour has a majority on Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council. Its MP is Nick Smith (Labour), member for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney.

Council tax 2026–27

£2,531

Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.

Where it goes →
Band D council tax
£2,531
2026–27, a year · council average
Ward councillors
2
1 ward · Blaenau Gwent
MP
Nick Smith
Labour · Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney
Turnout, July 2024
43%
Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney · Wales 56%
What stands out · In brief

How Blaina’s politics has changed since 2021

A majority on Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council

Labour holds a majority on Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council: 20 of its 33 seats as elected. Independents hold 13. Who’s in charge ↓

Written from the data on this page: Democracy Club results since May 2021, the UK Parliament Members API and Welsh Government council tax.

Who’s in charge

Who holds the seats

Seats by party as elected. A party needs 17 of Blaenau Gwent’s 33 seats to run the council alone.

Council · 33 councillorsBlaenau Gwent County Borough CouncilLabour majority
LabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependent33seats
  • Labour20
  • Independent13

Latest election: May 2022.

LabourIndependent

Seats are counted from election results: each ward’s most recent winners until its seats are filled. Councillors who have since changed party or resigned aren’t reflected, and which parties lead the council, and who is leader, comes from the council itself.

Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), elections since May 2021; seats per ward from its EveryElection.

Who runs Blaina

The councils that run Blaina

One council runs every main service in a Welsh county or county borough.

County or county borough councilBlaenau Gwent County Borough Council

Every main council service: schools, social care, roads, bins, planning, housing and libraries.

Website ↗

Who to ask

Bins and recyclingBlaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Planning applicationsBlaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Council housing and homelessnessBlaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Council tax billsBlaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Parks and leisure centresBlaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Potholes, roads and streetlightsBlaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Schools and school placesBlaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Adult and children’s social careBlaenau Gwent County Borough Council
LibrariesBlaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Tips and recycling centresBlaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Police priorities and budgetGwent Police police and crime commissioner

From GOV.UK’s “Understand how your council works”: here one council runs every main service.

Every part of Wales is in a community; many have a community or town council, which the county council lists. Blaina’s communities: Nantyglo and Blaina.

Councils from ONS lookups (wards and councils May 2026, parishes 2025), names and websites from GOV.UK’s local council finder; parish councils from MHCLG’s 2026–27 list of precepting parishes.

Who represents Blaina

From the council to Westminster

Every elected tier that speaks for Blaina, from the most recent elections.

  1. 1
    Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council1 ward · 2 councillors
    Lisa Catherine WinnettJohn Patrick Morgan
  2. 2
    Police and crime commissionerGwent Police · elected May 2024
    Jane Mudd
  3. 3
    SeneddBlaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni · 6 members
    Delyth Non JewellLllŷr Tomos PowellLindsey Geoffrey WhittleCatherine CullenNiamh Ffion Mai SalkeldJoshua Seungkyun Kim
  4. 4
    House of CommonsBlaenau Gwent and Rhymney
LabourReform UKPlaid CymruIndependent

Party colours are neutral on purpose: they tell parties apart and aren’t the parties’ own. Tap an MP’s name for their contact page on parliament.uk.

Councillors

2 councillors for 1 ward

Wards with at least 2% of the town’s residents, or half their own inside it. Each shows who won its most recent elections, newest first, until its seats are filled.

Blaina
4,553 residents
  • Lisa Catherine WinnettLabour · May 2022
  • John Patrick MorganIndependent · May 2022
LabourIndependent
Show as a table
WardSeatsElectedWhen
Blainaall in Blaina · 4,553 residents2 seats · May 20222
Lisa Catherine WinnettJohn Patrick Morgan
May 2022

Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council’s website lists who sits now.

Results from Democracy Club’s candidates database (CC BY 4.0; elections since May 2021) and ward seats from its EveryElection, matched to ONS wards (May 2026) and county divisions (May 2025).

Local elections

Blaenau Gwent council election, May 2022

Results in the wards that make up Blaina, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.

Seats won in Blaina’s wards2 seats · 5 May 2022
Labour1
Independent1

1 ward voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.

Next elections

No election is scheduled yet for Blaina’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.

Who can I vote for? ↗
Blaina5 May 2022
Lisa Catherine Winnett ElectedLabour42.6%
John Patrick Morgan ElectedIndependent39.9%
Des HillmanIndependent17.5%

1,809 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each

LabourIndependent

Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.

Parliament

Blaina is in Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney constituency

The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Blaina).

Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney · general election4 July 2024
Nick Smith ElectedLabour53.6%
Niamh SalkeldPlaid Cymru12.8%
Hannah JarvisConservative12.6%
Mike WhatleyIndependent8.1%
Anne BakerGreen5.7%
Jackie CharltonLiberal Democrat4.2%
Yas IqbalWorkers Party of Britain1.9%
Robert GriffithsCommunist Party of Britain1.0%

29,922 votes for candidates · majority 12,183

MP for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney

Nick Smith

Labour, MP since 6 May 2010.

43%

turnout in July 2024: 29,922 votes from 70,153 registered voters. Wales: 56%.

Majority 12,183 of 29,922 votes (40.7%): wider than in 97% of Wales’s 32 constituencies.

LabourConservativeLiberal DemocratGreenPlaid CymruIndependentOther parties

MPs and results: UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0); constituencies from ONS (2024 boundaries). Percentages are of valid votes; turnout is votes cast over the electorate.

Senedd Cymru

Members of the Senedd for Blaina

Wales’s parliament: health, education, local government and transport in Wales. Elected 7 May 2026 under the new system of 16 six-member constituencies.

Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni7 May 2026
Plaid Cymru3 members elected3 of 6
Reform UK3 members elected3 of 6

Votes are cast for party lists; seats go to lists in proportion (the D’Hondt method). Bars show seats won: list vote totals aren’t in the data yet.

6 members of the Senedd
Delyth Non JewellLllŷr Tomos PowellLindsey Geoffrey WhittleCatherine CullenNiamh Ffion Mai SalkeldJoshua Seungkyun Kim

All of Blaina is in Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni.

LabourConservativeLiberal DemocratReform UKGreenPlaid CymruIndependentOther parties

Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0). Constituencies from ONS (Senedd constituencies 2026).

Council money

Blaina’s Band D council tax is £2,531 a year

Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.

COUNCIL TAXBand D · 2026–27 · the average Band D home in Blaenau Gwent
Community councilsaverage across Blaenau Gwent£37.22
Blaenau Gwent County Borough Councilcounty or county borough£2,090.51
Gwent Police and Crime Commissionerpolice£403.53
A year£2,531.26
Bills by band run from 6/9 of Band D (Band A) to 18/9 (Band H) and 21/9 (Band I) in Wales. Discounts and support reduce many bills.

Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council sets £2,090.51 of a Band D bill (83%); the rest goes to community councils and the Gwent Police and Crime Commissioner.

Your bill by band

Band A 6/9£1,688
Band B 7/9£1,969
Band C 8/9£2,250
Band D 9/9£2,531
Band E 11/9£3,094
Band F 13/9£3,656
Band G 15/9£4,219
Band H 18/9£5,063
Band I 21/9£5,906

The average Band D home in Blaenau Gwent, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.

Gwent’s councils

Caerphilly£2,083
Newport£2,088
Torfaen£2,156
Monmouthshire£2,417
Blaenau Gwent£2,531

Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £1,900.

Council budget per resident
£3,642
Blaenau Gwent, 2026–27
Gwent councils
£3,317
per resident
Wales
£3,367
per resident

Revenue budgets 2026–27 including schools (Wales has no academies), Welsh Government; per resident on the Welsh Government’s population. Police and fire are budgeted separately.

Band D: Welsh Government, Council tax levels April 2026 to March 2027.

Get involved

Having a say in how Blaina is run

Register to vote

It takes about five minutes online; the deadline is 12 working days before a poll.

gov.uk ↗
Contact your councillors or MP

Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors and its MP.

WriteToThem ↗
Report a pothole or a broken streetlight

GOV.UK sends the report to the council that looks after the road.

gov.uk ↗
Watch or speak at a council meeting

Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.

blaenau-gwent.gov.uk ↗
Comment on a planning application

Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.

blaenau-gwent.gov.uk ↗
Stand for election

The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.

Electoral Commission ↗

Questions about how Blaina is run

Who is the MP for Blaina?

Nick Smith (Labour) is the MP for Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney, which covers Blaina.

How many councillors does Blaina have?

2 ward councillors represent Blaina’s 1 ward.

When are the next elections in Blaina?

No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Blaina’s wards. The next UK general election must be held by August 2029; the next Senedd election is due in May 2030.

How much is council tax in Blaina?

Band D council tax in Blaina is £2,531 for 2026–27 (the council average). Your bill depends on your home’s band, from A (6/9 of Band D) to H (18/9).

Who controls Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council?

Labour has a majority: 20 of 33 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.

Who won the 2022 council election in Blaina?

In Blaina’s wards on 5 May 2022, Labour 1 · Independent 1 of the 2 seats up. Independents had the largest share of votes, 57.4%.

Sources: ONS ward, county division, parish, constituency and Senedd constituency lookups (Census 2021 output areas; Open Government Licence v3.0) · GOV.UK local council finder · Democracy Club candidates (CC BY 4.0) and EveryElection · UK Parliament Members API (Open Parliament Licence v3.0) · Welsh Government council tax levels and revenue budgets 2026–27 (OGL v3.0). Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. Contains OS data © Crown copyright and database right 2026 (ONS boundaries). Northern Ireland: Source: NISRA; contains Land & Property Services data and Ordnance Survey of Northern Ireland information, © Crown copyright, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Scotland: contains National Records of Scotland data, Registers of Scotland data and SEPA data, © Crown copyright / © SEPA 2025, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.