Photo: Alan Hughes · CC BY-SA 2.0Labour holds a majority on Bridgend County Borough Council
Sarn is run by Bridgend County Borough Council. Labour has a majority on Bridgend County Borough Council. Its MP is Chris Elmore (Labour), member for Bridgend.
£2,478
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Sarn’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 holds the seats
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 26 of Bridgend’s 51 seats to run the council alone.
- Labour27
- Independent21
- Conservative1
- Plaid Cymru1
- Reform UK1
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 Sarn
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.
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. Sarn’s communities: St. Bride's Minor, Ynysawdre and Newcastle Higher.
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 Sarn, from the most recent elections.
- 1Bridgend County Borough Council2 wards · 4 councillorsTim ThomasPaula FordMark Richard JohnGary Haines
- 2Police and crime commissionerSouth Wales Police · elected May 2024Emma Wools
- 3SeneddPen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg · 6 membersAndrew RT DaviesSarah MurphyMark HooperSarah Cooper-LesaddSarah ReesGareth Thomas
- 4House of CommonsBridgend
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.
- Tim ThomasIndependent · May 2022
- Paula FordLabour · May 2022
- Mark Richard JohnIndependent · May 2022
- Gary HainesLabour · March 2024 · by-election
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| St Bride's Minor and Ynysawdreall in Sarn · 9,956 residents3 seats · May 2022 | 3 | Tim ThomasPaula FordMark Richard John | May 2022 |
| Aberkenfigmostly in Sarn · 1,911 residents1 seat · March 2024 | 1 | Gary Hainesby-election | March 2024 |
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).
Bridgend council election, May 2022
Results in the wards that make up Sarn, 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 Sarn’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗6,990 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
795 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Sarn is in Bridgend constituency
The constituency’s MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result (it reaches beyond Sarn).
41,374 votes for candidates · majority 8,595
Labour, MP since 5 May 2016.
turnout in July 2024: 41,374 votes from 73,168 registered voters. Wales: 56%.
Majority 8,595 of 41,374 votes (20.8%): wider than in 53% 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 Sarn
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.
All of Sarn is in Pen-y-bont Bro Morgannwg.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0). Constituencies from ONS (Senedd constituencies 2026).
Sarn’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.
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
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
Average Band D in each council area, 2026–27, parish precepts included. Bars start at £2,100.
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 Sarn 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.
bridgend.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
bridgend.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Sarn is run
Who is the MP for Sarn?
Chris Elmore (Labour) is the MP for Bridgend, which covers Sarn.
How many councillors does Sarn have?
4 ward councillors represent Sarn’s 2 wards.
When are the next elections in Sarn?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Sarn’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 Sarn?
Band D council tax in Sarn 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 Sarn?
In Sarn’s wards on 5 May 2022, Independent 2 · Labour 1 · Plaid Cymru 1 of the 4 seats up. Independents had the largest share of votes, 44.6%.
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.