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Town Hall & politics · Bridgend County Borough Council

Labour holds a majority on Bridgend County Borough Council

Blackmill is run by Bridgend County Borough Council. Labour has a majority on Bridgend County Borough Council. Its MP is Chris Bryant (Labour), member for Rhondda and Ogmore.

Council tax 2026–27

£2,478

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

Where it goes →
Band D council tax
£2,478
2026–27, a year · council average
Ward councillors
1
1 ward · Bridgend
MP
Chris Bryant
Labour · Rhondda and Ogmore
Turnout, July 2024
48%
Rhondda and Ogmore · Wales 56%
What stands out · In brief

How Blackmill’s politics has changed since 2021

A majority on Bridgend County Borough Council

Labour holds a majority on Bridgend County Borough Council: 27 of its 51 seats as elected. Independents hold 21, Plaid Cymru 1, the Conservatives 1 and Reform UK 1. 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 26 of Bridgend’s 51 seats to run the council alone.

Council · 51 councillorsBridgend County Borough CouncilLabour majority
LabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourLabourPlaid CymruIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentIndependentConservativeReform UK51seats
  • Labour27
  • Independent21
  • Conservative1
  • Plaid Cymru1
  • Reform UK1

Latest election: May 2022.

LabourPlaid CymruIndependentConservativeReform UK

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 Blackmill

The councils that run Blackmill

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

County or county borough councilBridgend County Borough Council

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

Website ↗

Who to ask

Bins and recyclingBridgend County Borough Council
Planning applicationsBridgend County Borough Council
Council housing and homelessnessBridgend County Borough Council
Council tax billsBridgend County Borough Council
Parks and leisure centresBridgend County Borough Council
Potholes, roads and streetlightsBridgend County Borough Council
Schools and school placesBridgend County Borough Council
Adult and children’s social careBridgend County Borough Council
LibrariesBridgend County Borough Council
Tips and recycling centresBridgend County Borough Council
Police priorities and budgetSouth Wales 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. Blackmill’s communities: Ogmore Valley.

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 Blackmill

From the council to Westminster

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

  1. 1
    Bridgend County Borough Council1 ward · 1 councillor
    Hywel Miles Williams
  2. 2
    Police and crime commissionerSouth Wales Police · elected May 2024
    Emma Wools
  3. 3
    SeneddAfan Ogwr Rhondda · 6 members
    Huw Irranca-DaviesSera EvansBenjamin Hodge McKennaAlun CoxSteve BaylissElyn Stephens
  4. 4
    House of CommonsRhondda and Ogmore
LabourReform UKPlaid Cymru

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

1 councillor 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.

Blackmill
630 residents · 25% in Blackmill
  • Hywel Miles WilliamsLabour · May 2022
Labour
Show as a table
WardSeatsElectedWhen
Blackmill25% in Blackmill · 630 residents1 seat · May 20221
Hywel Miles Williams
May 2022

Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Bridgend 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

Bridgend council election, May 2022

Results in the wards that make up Blackmill, 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 Blackmill’s wards1 seat · 5 May 2022
Labour1

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

Next elections

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

Who can I vote for? ↗
Blackmill5 May 2022
Hywel Miles Williams ElectedLabour55.0%
Andrew James McKayIndependent33.8%
Vanessa Janet Latchem-SmithConservative11.1%

585 votes for candidates

LabourConservativeIndependent

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

Parliament

Blackmill is in Rhondda and Ogmore constituency

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

Rhondda and Ogmore · general election4 July 2024
Chris Bryant ElectedLabour47.8%
Darren JamesReform UK26.1%
Owen CutlerPlaid Cymru14.5%
Adam RobinsonConservative5.7%
Christine GlossopGreen3.3%
Gerald FrancisLiberal Democrat2.6%

35,806 votes for candidates · majority 7,790

MP for Rhondda and Ogmore

Chris Bryant

Labour, MP since 7 June 2001.

48%

turnout in July 2024: 35,806 votes from 74,493 registered voters. Wales: 56%.

Majority 7,790 of 35,806 votes (21.8%): wider than in 66% of Wales’s 32 constituencies.

LabourConservativeLiberal DemocratReform UKGreenPlaid Cymru

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 Blackmill

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

Afan Ogwr Rhondda7 May 2026
Plaid Cymru3 members elected3 of 6
Reform UK2 members elected2 of 6
Labour1 member elected1 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
Huw Irranca-DaviesSera EvansBenjamin Hodge McKennaAlun CoxSteve BaylissElyn Stephens

All of Blackmill is in Afan Ogwr Rhondda.

LabourConservativeLiberal DemocratReform UKGreenPlaid CymruIndependentOther parties

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

Council money

Blackmill’s Band D council tax is £2,478 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 Bridgend
Community councilsaverage across Bridgend£65.79
Bridgend County Borough Councilcounty or county borough£2,007.06
South Wales Police and Crime Commissionerpolice£405.14
A year£2,477.99
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.

Bridgend County Borough Council sets £2,007.06 of a Band D bill (81%); the rest goes to community councils and the South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner.

Your bill by band

Band A 6/9£1,652
Band B 7/9£1,927
Band C 8/9£2,203
Band D 9/9£2,478
Band E 11/9£3,029
Band F 13/9£3,579
Band G 15/9£4,130
Band H 18/9£4,956
Band I 21/9£5,782

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

Mid Glamorgan’s councils

Rhondda Cynon Taf£2,289
Bridgend£2,478
Merthyr Tydfil£2,594

Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £2,100.

Council budget per resident
£3,383
Bridgend, 2026–27
Mid Glamorgan councils
£3,530
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 Blackmill 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.

bridgend.gov.uk ↗
Comment on a planning application

Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.

bridgend.gov.uk ↗
Stand for election

The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.

Electoral Commission ↗

Questions about how Blackmill is run

Who is the MP for Blackmill?

Chris Bryant (Labour) is the MP for Rhondda and Ogmore, which covers Blackmill.

How many councillors does Blackmill have?

1 ward councillors represent Blackmill’s 1 ward.

When are the next elections in Blackmill?

No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Blackmill’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 Blackmill?

Band D council tax in Blackmill is £2,478 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 Bridgend County Borough Council?

Labour has a majority: 27 of 51 seats as elected. The council’s website lists who leads it now.

Who won the 2022 council election in Blackmill?

In Blackmill’s wards on 5 May 2022, Labour 1 of the 1 seats up. Labour had the largest share of votes, 55%.

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.