Aberavon (electoral ward)

Aberavon
Location of Aberavon ward within Neath Port Talbot County Borough
Principal area	Neath Port Talbot
Preserved county	West Glamorgan
Country	Wales
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
UK Parliament	Aberavon
Senedd Cymru – Welsh Parliament	Aberavon
Councillors	Scott Bamsey (Plaid Cymru) Stephanie Lynch (Labour) Nigel Hunt (Plaid Cymru)
List of places UK Wales Neath Port Talbot

The electoral ward of Aberavon electoral ward includes the communities of Baglan and Baglan Bay, in Neath Port Talbot county borough, Wales.^[1] Baglan falls within the parliamentary constituency of Aberavon.

It is based upon the historic town of Aberavon. Aberavon Ward is bounded by the wards of Sandfields West and Sandfields East to the south-west; Baglan to the north; Port Talbot to the east and Margam to the south. The ward boundaries are defined by the roads surrounding it: the M4 Motorway to the north east; the A4241 to the north-west; Afan Way to the south-west and the River Afan to the south-east.

The Aberavon Ward can be roughly divided into two parts. There is the residential area to the southeastern part of the ward beside the River Afan. The north western area consists of areas of industrial estate land called the Baglan Industrial Park which includes a number of out of town retail premises as well as business and manufacturing premises.

Aberavon is currently a ward for the purposes of Neath Port Talbot County Borough Council elections. Since 1995 it has been represented by Labour, Social Democrat and Plaid Cymru councillors.

Sitting Labour councillor, Steffan ap Dafydd, died suddenly on 10 July 2020.^[2]

The by-election for his replacement took place on 6 May 2021, the turnout was 44.6% and the results were as follows:^[3]

Candidate	Party	Votes	Status
Stephanie Lynch	Labour	677	Labour hold
Andrew Dacey	Plaid Cymru	647
Liz Hill O'Shea	Conservative	199
Diane Thomas	Independent	144
Ceri Golding	Gwlad	121
Julie Mills	Propel	34

In the 2017 local council elections, the results were:^[4]

Candidate	Party	Votes	Status
Scott Bamsey	Plaid Cymru	543	Plaid Cymru gain
Steffan ap Dafydd	Labour	500	Labour hold
Nigel Hunt	Plaid Cymru	491	Plaid Cymru gain
Diane Thomas	Plaid Cymru	485
Colin Clement	Labour	475
Keith Priddle	Labour	442
Ceri Golding	Independent	376
John Davies	Independent	313
Mark Jones	Independent	307
Marian Lewis	Independent	265
Cen Phillips	Liberal Democrats	260

In the 2012 local council elections, the electorate turnout for Aberavon was 35.84%. The results were:

Candidate	Party	Votes	Status
Ceri Golding	Labour	751	Labour gain
Mark Jones	Labour	740	Labour gain
Anthony Taylor	Social Democratic Party	702	Social Democratic Party hold
Barbara Trahar	Labour	613
John Sullivan	Social Democratic Party	556
Jeff Dinham	Social Democratic Party	550
Paul Nicholas-Jones	Plaid Cymru	185

Following the election all three elected councillors left their respective parties and sat as unaffiliated councillors. Jones and Golding were deselected as candidates prior to the following May 2017 election, and decided to stand as Independents.^[5]

Aberavon first became an electoral ward in the late nineteenth century with the formation of Glamorgan County Council.

In 1889, Richard Jenkins, a local tinplate manufacturer became the first Liberal member for Aberavon, defeating John Morgan Smith.

Aberavon 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Liberal	Richard Jenkins	401	53.5
	Conservative	John Morgan Smith	348	46.5
Majority			53	7.0

Following Jenkins's elevation to the aldermanic bench, Smith won the seat.

Aberavon by-election 1889

Party		Candidate	Votes	%	±%
	Conservative	John Morgan Smith	418
	Liberal	Evan Davies	347
Majority			71

Smith held the seat at the elections of 1892, 1895, 1898, 1901, 1904 and 1907.

Aberavon was also an electoral ward of the Aberavon Borough Council which was reformed and extended in 1861. In 1921, the old borough was merged with Margam Urban District Council, formed in 1894 to create the Port Talbot Municipal Borough.