Photo: Jaggery · CC BY-SA 2.0No party holds a majority on Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Neath is run by Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. No party holds a majority on Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council. Most of Neath is in Neath and Swansea East (MP Carolyn Harris, Labour); 2% of residents are in Aberafan Maesteg (MP Stephen Kinnock, Labour).
£2,541
Band D, a year, the middle band every council sets its tax from.
Where it goes →How Neath’s politics has changed since 2021
No majority on Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council
Labour, the largest group, holds 26 of its 57 seats as elected, 3 short of the 29 needed. Independents hold 16, Plaid Cymru 11, the Liberal Democrats 3 and the Greens 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.
No party has a majority
Seats by party as elected. A party needs 29 of Neath Port Talbot’s 57 seats to run the council alone.
- Labour26
- Independent16
- Plaid Cymru11
- Liberal Democrat3
- Green1
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 Neath
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. Neath’s communities: Neath, Coedffranc, Blaenhonddan and Dyffryn Clydach.
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 Neath, from the most recent elections.
- 1Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council11 wards · 20 councillorsIndependent 8 · Labour 6 · Plaid Cymru 4 · Liberal Democrat 2 · Green 1 · all 21
- 2Police and crime commissionerSouth Wales Police · elected May 2024Emma Wools
- 3SeneddBrycheiniog Tawe Nedd · 6 membersJane DoddsSioned Ann WilliamsJames Oswald David EvansRebeca PhillipsIain Charles McIntoshDavid Terence Mills
- 4SeneddAfan Ogwr Rhondda · 6 membersHuw Irranca-DaviesSera EvansBenjamin Hodge McKennaAlun CoxSteve BaylissElyn Stephens
- 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.
20 councillors for 11 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.
- Lauren HeardLabour · March 2024 · by-election
- Dan ThomasPlaid Cymru · May 2022
- Sheila PenryLabour · May 2022
- Wayne CarpenterIndependent · May 2022
- Chris WilliamsPlaid Cymru · May 2022
- Jo HalePlaid Cymru · May 2022
- Nathan Goldup-JohnGreen · May 2022
- Angharad Rebecca AubreyLabour · May 2022
- Carl JordanIndependent · May 2022
- Peter ReesLabour · May 2022
- Alan LockyerLabour · May 2022
- Andy LodwigIndependent · May 2022
- Jeremy HurleyIndependent · May 2022
- Tim BowenIndependent · May 2022
- Martyn PetersIndependent · May 2022
- James Marshall HentonIndependent · May 2022
- Mike HarveyLabour · May 2022
- Helen Ceri ClarkeLiberal Democrat · May 2022
- Cen PhillipsLiberal Democrat · May 2022
- Wyndham Fryer GriffithsPlaid Cymru · May 2022
- Phil RogersIndependent · May 2022
Show as a table
| Ward | Seats | Elected | When |
|---|---|---|---|
| Neath Eastall in Neath · 6,123 residents3 seats · March 2024, May 2022 | 3 | Lauren Heardby-electionDan ThomasSheila PenryWayne Carpenter | March 2024, May 2022 |
| Bryn-coch Southall in Neath · 5,409 residents2 seats · May 2022 | 2 | Chris WilliamsJo Hale | May 2022 |
| Coedffranc Centralall in Neath · 5,168 residents2 seats · May 2022 | 2 | Nathan Goldup-JohnAngharad Rebecca Aubrey | May 2022 |
| Neath Southall in Neath · 4,807 residents2 seats · May 2022 | 2 | Carl JordanPeter Rees | May 2022 |
| Neath Northall in Neath · 3,803 residents2 seats · May 2022 | 2 | Alan LockyerAndy Lodwig | May 2022 |
| Cimla and Pelennamostly in Neath · 3,695 residents2 seats · May 2022 | 2 | Jeremy HurleyTim Bowen | May 2022 |
| Dyffrynall in Neath · 3,292 residents2 seats · May 2022 | 2 | Martyn PetersJames Marshall Henton | May 2022 |
| Coedffranc Northall in Neath · 2,294 residents1 seat · May 2022 | 1 | Mike Harvey | May 2022 |
| Coedffranc West38% in Neath · 2,014 residents2 seats · May 2022 | 2 | Helen Ceri ClarkeCen Phillips | May 2022 |
| Bryn-coch Northmostly in Neath · 1,901 residents1 seat · May 2022 | 1 | Wyndham Fryer Griffiths | May 2022 |
| Cadoxtonall in Neath · 1,584 residents1 seat · May 2022 | 1 | Phil Rogers | May 2022 |
Councillors can resign, change party or sit as independents between elections; a by-election winner replaces someone not named here. Neath Port Talbot 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).
Neath Port Talbot council election, May 2022
Results in the wards that make up Neath, as declared. Percentages are of votes cast for candidates in each ward; where a ward elects several councillors, each voter has that many votes.
11 wards voted. Every seat in the town’s wards was up.
No election is scheduled yet for Neath’s wards in Democracy Club’s list. Councils publish a notice of election about five weeks before polling day.
Who can I vote for? ↗3,031 votes for candidates · 3 seats, so 3 votes each
2,611 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
2,183 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
Every ward’s result (8 more)
2,476 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
1,715 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
3,143 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
2,186 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
731 votes for candidates
1,700 votes for candidates · 2 seats, so 2 votes each
927 votes for candidates
753 votes for candidates
Candidates and results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0), from councils’ declared results; polling dates from Democracy Club’s EveryElection.
Neath is split between 2 constituencies
The constituencies’ MP and the 4 July 2024 general election, the whole constituency’s result.
Labour, MP since 7 May 2015
98% of Neath’s residents live in this constituency.
Turnout 53% (Wales 56%).
Majority 6,627 of 40,137 votes (16.5%): the 14th-narrowest of 32 in Wales.
Labour, MP since 7 May 2015
2% of Neath’s residents live in this constituency.
Turnout 49% (Wales 56%).
Majority 10,354 of 35,755 votes (29%): wider than in 84% of Wales’s 32 constituencies.
40,137 votes for candidates · majority 6,627
Labour, MP since 7 May 2015.
turnout in July 2024: 40,137 votes from 76,291 registered voters. Wales: 56%.
Majority 6,627 of 40,137 votes (16.5%): the 14th-narrowest of 32 in Wales.
Aberafan Maesteg
35,755 votes for candidates · majority 10,354
Labour, MP since 7 May 2015.
turnout in July 2024: 35,755 votes from 72,580 registered voters. Wales: 56%.
Majority 10,354 of 35,755 votes (29%): wider than in 84% 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 Neath
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.
98% of Neath is in Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd.
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.
2% of Neath is in Afan Ogwr Rhondda.
Results: Democracy Club (CC BY 4.0). Constituencies from ONS (Senedd constituencies 2026).
Neath’s Band D council tax is £2,541 a year
Where a Band D bill goes, what it has cost over the years, and what the councils plan to spend per resident.
Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council sets £2,072.88 of a Band D bill (82%); the rest goes to community councils and the South Wales Police and Crime Commissioner.
Your bill by band
The average Band D home in Neath Port Talbot, 2026–27, before discounts. The Valuation Office Agency’s band search gives any home’s band.
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 Neath 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.
neath-porttalbot.gov.uk ↗Anyone can comment while an application is open for consultation.
neath-porttalbot.gov.uk ↗The rules, nomination papers and guidance for council candidates.
Electoral Commission ↗Questions about how Neath is run
Who is the MP for Neath?
Neath is split between 2 constituencies: Neath and Swansea East (Carolyn Harris, Labour) and Aberafan Maesteg (Stephen Kinnock, Labour). Parliament’s Find your MP service matches a postcode to its MP.
How many councillors does Neath have?
20 ward councillors represent Neath’s 11 wards.
When are the next elections in Neath?
No election is scheduled yet in Democracy Club’s list for Neath’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 Neath?
Band D council tax in Neath is £2,541 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 Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council?
No party has a majority. As elected, Labour 26 · Independent 16 · Plaid Cymru 11 · Liberal Democrat 3 · Green 1 of 57 seats; a majority needs 29. The council’s website lists who leads it now.
Who won the 2022 council election in Neath?
In Neath’s wards on 5 May 2022, Independent 8 · Labour 5 · Plaid Cymru 4 · Liberal Democrat 2 · Green 1 of the 20 seats up. Labour had the largest share of votes, 35.1%.
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.