Photo: phil matthews · CC BY-SA 2.0Labour holds a majority on Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council
Swffryd is run by Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council and Caerphilly County Borough Council. Labour has a majority on Blaenau Gwent County Borough Council and Caerphilly County Borough Council. Most of Swffryd is in Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney (MP Nick Smith, Labour); 17% of residents are in Newport West and Islwyn (MP Ruth Jones, Labour).
£2,457
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Swffryd’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 holds the seats on Swffryd’s councils
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 17 of Blaenau Gwent’s 33 or 35 of Caerphilly’s 69 seats to run the council alone.
- Labour20
- Independent13
Latest election: May 2022.
- Labour44
- Plaid Cymru19
- Independent6
Latest election: May 2022.
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.
The councils that run Swffryd
One council runs every main service in a Welsh county or county borough.
Every main council service: schools, social care, roads, bins, planning, housing and libraries.
84% of Swffryd’s residents
Website ↗Every main council service: schools, social care, roads, bins, planning, housing and libraries.
Who runs Swffryd: same source as Who runs Swffryd, above.
Website ↗Who to ask
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. Swffryd’s communities: Llanhilleth and Crumlin.
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.
From the council to Westminster
Every elected tier that speaks for Swffryd, from the most recent elections.
- 1Council wards2 wards · 4 councillorsHelen CunninghamLee ParsonsCarl Jeffrey ThomasKristian Woodland
- 2Police and crime commissionerGwent Police · elected May 2024Jane Mudd
- 3SeneddBlaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni · 6 membersDelyth Non JewellLllŷr Tomos PowellLindsey Geoffrey WhittleCatherine CullenNiamh Ffion Mai SalkeldJoshua Seungkyun Kim
- 4SeneddCasnewydd Islwyn · 6 membersNatasha Batool AsgharJayne BryantPeredur Owen GriffithsDan ThomasLyn AckermanArt Wright
- 5House of CommonsSplit between 2 constituencies
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.
4 councillors for 2 wards
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.
- Helen CunninghamLabour · May 2022
- Lee ParsonsIndependent · May 2022
- Carl Jeffrey ThomasLabour · May 2022
- Kristian WoodlandLabour · May 2022
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| LlanhillethBlaenau Gwent · 33% in Swffryd · 1,437 residents2 seats · May 2022 | 2 | Helen CunninghamLee Parsons | May 2022 |
| CrumlinCaerphilly · 5% in Swffryd · 284 residents2 seats · May 2022 | 2 | Carl Jeffrey ThomasKristian Woodland | 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).
Blaenau Gwent council election, May 2022
Results in the wards that make up Swffryd, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
2 wards voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Swffryd’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗1,943 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
2,717 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Swffryd is split between 2 constituencies
The constituencies’ MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result.
Labour, MP since 6 May 2010
84% of Swffryd’s residents live in this constituency.
Turnout 43% (Wales 56%).
Majority 12,183 of 29,922 votes (40.7%): wider than in 97% of Wales’s 32 constituencies.
Labour, MP since 4 April 2019
17% of Swffryd’s residents live in this constituency.
Turnout 55% (Wales 56%).
Majority 8,868 of 41,951 votes (21.1%): wider than in 56% of Wales’s 32 constituencies.
29,922 votes for candidates · majority 12,183
Labour, MP since 6 May 2010.
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.
Newport West and Islwyn
41,951 votes for candidates · majority 8,868
Labour, MP since 4 April 2019.
turnout in July 2024: 41,951 votes from 75,785 registered voters. Wales: 56%.
Majority 8,868 of 41,951 votes (21.1%): wider than in 56% of Wales’s 32 constituencies.
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.
Members of the Senedd for Swffryd
Wales’s parliament: health, education, local government and transport in Wales. Elected 7 May 2026 under the new system of 16 six-member constituencies.
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.
84% of Swffryd is in Blaenau Gwent Caerffili Rhymni.
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.
17% of Swffryd is in Casnewydd Islwyn.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0). Constituencies from ONS (Senedd constituencies 2026).
Swffryd’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.
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.
Across the whole town the average Band D is £2,457 (parishes differ; Wales publishes council averages).
Your bill by band
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
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £1,900.
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.
Having a say in how Swffryd is run
It takes about five minutes online; the deadline is 12 working days before a poll.
gov.uk ↗Type a postcode to write to each of its councillors and its MP.
WriteToThem ↗GOV.UK sends the report to the council that looks after the road.
gov.uk ↗Council and committee meetings are open to the public, with agendas and minutes online.
blaenau-gwent.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
blaenau-gwent.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Swffryd is run
Who is the MP for Swffryd?
Swffryd is split between 2 constituencies: Blaenau Gwent and Rhymney (Nick Smith, Labour) and Newport West and Islwyn (Ruth Jones, Labour). Parliament’s Find your MP service matches a postcode to its MP.
How many councillors does Swffryd have?
4 ward councillors represent Swffryd’s 2 wards.
When are the next elections in Swffryd?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Swffryd’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 Swffryd?
Band D council tax in Swffryd is £2,457 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 Swffryd?
In Swffryd’s wards on 5 May 2022, Labour 3 · Independent 1 of the 4 seats up. Labour had the largest share of votes, 51%.
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.