The fifth election to South Glamorgan County Council was held in May 1989.^[1] It was preceded by the 1985 election and followed by the 1993 election.

Boundary changes

There were no boundary changes at this election.

Candidates

Conservative and Labour candidates contested all seats. Following the break-up of the SDP-Liberal Alliance, most seats were contested by both the Social and Liberal Democrats and the continuing SDP. There were a smaller number of Plaid Cymru and Green Party candidates and a few Independents.

Outcome

Labour retained control with an increased majority, by capturing a number of Conservative seats. A few other seats also changed hands. The Social and Liberal Democrats held all their seats bar one, but polled poorly elsewhere.^{[n 1]}

A by-election was held on the same day in the Vale of Glamorgan constituency. This resulted in a much higher turnout than usual for local elections in wards which lay within the constituency. Labour captured the parliamentary seat from the Conservatives.

This table summarises the result of the elections in all wards. 62 councillors were elected.

1989 South Glamorgan County Council: elected members
	Seats	Gains	Losses	Net gain/loss
Labour	40	7	1	+6
Conservative	18	0	5	-5
SLD	7	2	1	+1
SDP	1	0	2	-2
Plaid Cymru	1	0	0	0

One of the Labour 'gains' was in Thornhill ward which the party had already won at a by-election.

Ward Results

Adamsdown

Adamsdown 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Kenneth Hutchings*	1,522	77.0
	Conservative	D. Munton	180	19.0
	Green	E. Proud	134	6.8
	SLD	Nigel Howells	86	4.4
	Plaid Cymru	Sian Edwards	54	2.7
Majority
Turnout				37.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Baruc

Baruc 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	J. Donovan	1,367	44.6
	Labour	F. Dobbs	1,096	35.8
	SLD	J. Tartaglia	324	10.6
	Plaid Cymru	E. Rees	164	5.4
	SDP	P. Hansen	113	3.7
Majority
Turnout				70.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Butetown

Butetown 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	W. Kitson*	658	56.6
	Independent	Ben Foday	335	28.8
	Conservative	A. Martin	145	12.1
	SLD	M. Mader	24	2.1
Majority
Turnout				52.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Buttrills

Buttrills 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	B. Lane*	1,907	65.5
	Conservative	J. Connell	815	28.0
	SLD	J. Prangley	190	6.5
Majority
Turnout				69.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Cadoc

Cadoc 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	S. James*	2,341	67.1
	Conservative	R. Barnes	855	24.5
	SLD	C. Southwell	140	4.0
	Plaid Cymru	M. Jeffries	120	3.4
	Communist	K. Stockdale	33	0.9
Majority
Turnout				62.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Canton

Canton 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Russell Goodway*	1,212	55.6
	Conservative	D. Mikelsons	827	38.0
	SLD	E. Williams	140	6.4
Majority
Turnout				46.0
	Labour hold		Swing

Castleland

Castleland 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	M. Sharp*	1,341	73.0
	Conservative	J. Bounds	364	18.6
	SLD	M. Yandall	72	3.7
	SDP	A. Williams	57	2.9
	Communist	M. Wallis	35	1.8
Majority
Turnout				66.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Central

Central 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	C. Champion	643	42.3
	SLD	Fred Hornblow*	607	40.0
	Conservative	M. Yates	185	12.2
	Plaid Cymru	M. Williams	84	5.5
Majority
Turnout				35.9
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Cornerswell

Cornerswell 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	E. Tincknell*	1,437	45.4
	Conservative	J. Flanigan	1,394	44.1
	SLD	R. Morris	226	7.1
	Plaid Cymru	G. Ap Sion	107	3.4
Majority
Turnout				53.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Court

Court 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	S. Parsons	1,966	71.2
	Conservative	A. Price	505	18.3
	Green	K. Simpson	119	4.3
	SLD	S. O'Brien	86	3.1
	SDP	D. Williams	85	3.1
Majority
Turnout				71.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Cowbridge

Cowbridge 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	R. Thomas*	2,458	55.9
	Labour	J. Jones	1,610	36.6
	SLD	J. Sully	328	7.5
Majority
Turnout				75.9
	Conservative hold		Swing

Cyncoed Village

Cyncoed Village 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SLD	R. Holman	1,224	46.6
	Conservative	L.M. Harris	1,131	43.0
	Labour	A. Cox	172	6.5
	SDP	D. Thomas	102	3.9
Majority
Turnout				61.0
	SLD hold		Swing

Cyntwell

Cyntwell 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	B. Phillips*	947	64.5
	SLD	P. Gemson	404	27.5
	Conservative	A. Renwick	117	8.0
Majority
Turnout				39.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Deri

Deri 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	M. Davies*	1,182	54.7
	Labour	S. Williams	534	24.7
	Green	G. Jones	225	10.4
	SLD	G. Hallett	219	10.1
Majority
Turnout				47.5
	Conservative hold		Swing

Dinas Powys North

Dinas Powys North 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Plaid Cymru	Chris Franks*	1,599	45.0
	Conservative	B. McParlin	1,089	30.6
	Labour	J. Imperato	603	17.0
	SLD	M. Taylor	150	4.2
	SDP	F. Eason	116	3.3
Majority
Turnout				70.2
	Plaid Cymru hold		Swing

Dinas Powys South

Dinas Powys South 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	A. Hill*	1,625	43.2
	Labour	R. Cox	1,034	27.5
	Plaid Cymru	E. Roberts	744	19.8
	SDP	M. James	208	5.5
	SLD	H. James	149	4.0
Majority
Turnout				66.7
	Conservative hold		Swing

Dyfan

Dyfan 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	C. Watkins*	1,511	53.5
	Conservative	J. Coombs	1,006	44.0
	SLD	C. Jones	309	10.9
Majority
Turnout				69.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Eglwys Wen

Eglwys Wen 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	A. Fennessy	1,372	44.0
	Conservative	L. Quinn*	1,218	39.1
	Green	M. Cottam	219	7.0
	SLD	A. Leavers	158	5.1
	Plaid Cymru	Alan Jobbins	150	4.8
Majority
Turnout				52.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Fairwater

Fairwater 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	P. Jarvis	1,271	55.4
	Conservative	D. Norman	554	24.1
	SDP	R. Drake	411	17.9
	SLD	A. Wigley	59	2.6
Majority
Turnout				43.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Gabalfa

Gabalfa 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	D. Campbell*	1,339	65.7
	Conservative	G. Porter	421	20.7
	Green	N. Thorne	147	7.2
	SLD	Cathy Pearcy	130	6.4
Majority
Turnout				44.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Gibbonsdown

Gibbonsdown 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	B. Murray*	2,006	73.1
	Conservative	S. Bravery	522	19.0
	SLD	J. Potter	114	4.2
	Plaid Cymru	S. Biddiscombe	102	3.7
Majority
Turnout				70.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Glan Ely

Glan Ely 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Robert Morgan*	1,508	82.5
	Conservative	J. Bushrod	214	11.7
	SLD	H. Gemson	106	5.8
Majority
Turnout				32.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Heath Park

Heath Park 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Tony John	1,178	55.6
	Labour	P. Hampleton	643	30.3
	SLD	W. Monkley	298	14.1
Majority
Turnout				39.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Highmead

Highmead 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	H. Gough*	1,479	77.9
	Conservative	D. Neale	313	16.5
	SLD	M. Rawnsley	107	5.6
Majority
Turnout				35.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Illtyd

Illtyd 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Matthew Griffiths	1,825	47.0
	Conservative	E. Williams*	1,689	41.8
	SLD	K. Wade	196	4.9
	Plaid Cymru	S. Baker	165	4.1
	SDP	R. Lewis	162	4.0
Majority
Turnout				70.4
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Lakeside

Lakeside 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SLD	W. Congreve	949	37.7
	Conservative	J. Dickson	905	35.9
	SDP	Anthony Jeremy*	459	18.2
	Labour	D. Bevan	206	8.2
Majority
Turnout				54.9
	SLD gain from SDP		Swing

Landsdowne

Landsdowne 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Cherry Short	1,623	66.2
	Conservative	J. Courtis	633	25.8
	SLD	P. Crees	197	8.0
Majority
Turnout				41.6
	Labour hold		Swing

Lisvane with St Mellons

Lisvane with St Mellons 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	H. Campbell	1,256	77.6
	Labour	M. Harries	288	17.8
	SLD	V. Pearcey	75	4.6
Majority
Turnout				34.6
	Conservative hold		Swing

Llandaff

Llandaff 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Julius Hermer*	1,458	48.7
	Labour	R. Watson	775	25.6
	SDP	D. Marshall	368	12.1
	SLD	W. Slack	254	8.4
	Plaid Cymru	S. Morgan	175	5.8
Majority
Turnout				45.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Llandaff North

Llandaff North 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	A. Hearne*	1,883	71.4
	Conservative	D. Harris	581	22.0
	SLD	C. Pearcey	175	6.6
Majority
Turnout				42.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Llanedeyrn

Llanedeyrn 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SDP	Vita Jones*	1,191	48.1
	Labour	R. Longsworth	870	35.1
	Conservative	W. Pursey	257	10.4
	SLD	C. Ribton	100	4.0
	Plaid Cymru	A. Morgan	60	2.4
Majority
Turnout				37.0
	SDP hold		Swing

Llanrumney North

Llanrumney North 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	B. Lawes	1,413	83.8
	Conservative	R. Robinson	273	16.2
Majority
Turnout				36.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Llanrumney South

Llanrumney South 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	D. Francis*	1,336	74.5
	Conservative	M. Evans	457	25.5
Majority
Turnout				36.1
	Labour hold		Swing

Mackintosh

Mackintosh 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Julie Morgan*	1,427	60.1
	Conservative	R. Attwell	396	16.7
	SLD	E. Atwell	364	15.5
	Green	C. Von-Ruhland	126	5.3
	Plaid Cymru	A. Fearon	63	2.7
Majority
Turnout				44.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Maindy

Maindy 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SLD	J. Toye	1,148	45.6
	Labour	Reginald Surridge	1,083	43.1
	Conservative	N. Hutton	284	11.3
Majority
Turnout				45.6
	Alliance hold		Swing

North Whitchurch with Tongwynlais

North Whitchurch with Tongwynlais 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	W. Salmon	1,579	53.4
	Conservative	R. Evans*	1,147	43.1
	SLD	H. Howell	231	7.8
Majority
Turnout				52.2
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Pantllacca

Pantllacca 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SLD	K. Holman	687	38.8
	Labour	R. Austin	606	34.3
	Conservative	E. Bainbridge	318	18.0
	SDP	D. Steele	107	6.0
	Green	G. John	51	2.9
Majority
Turnout				34.8
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Pantmawr

Pantmawr 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	Gareth Neale*	1,298	55.2
	Labour	L. Jenkins	607	25.8
	SLD	J. Brent	446	19.0
Majority
Turnout				46.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Park

Park 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Sue Lent	1,067	44.5
	SLD	P.K. Verma	584	24.3
	Conservative	S. Evans	515	21.5
	Green	P. Ward	233	9.7
Majority
Turnout				35.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Pentre Bane

Pentre Bane 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Caerwyn Roderick*	1,381	70.5
	Conservative	C. Ward	290	14.8
	SDP	D. Griffin	232	11.8
	SLD	I. Isaacs	55	2.8
Majority
Turnout				38.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Penylan

Penylan 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	G. Hughes	1,088	53.0
	Labour	R. Rees	481	23.4
	SLD	D. Rees	348	17.0
	SDP	S. Jeremy	136	6.6
Majority
Turnout				43.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Plymouth

Plymouth 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	D. Turner	1,181	55.6
	Labour	L. Smith	545	25.6
	SLD	R. Francis	400	18.8
Majority
Turnout				49.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Pontcanna

Pontcanna 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Mark Drakeford*	1,390	61.7
	Conservative	J. Hallinan	563	25.0
	Plaid Cymru	N. Hodges	219	9.7
	SLD	D. Mytton	82	3,6
Majority
Turnout				46.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Radyr with St Fagans

Radyr with St Fagans 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SDP	Marian Drake*	994	45.7
	Conservative	D. Philpott	792	36.4
	Labour	M. Smith	349	16.1
	SLD	Roger Burley	39	1.8
Majority
Turnout				55.4
	SDP hold		Swing

Rhoose with Llancarfan

Rhoose with Llancarfan 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	H. James*	1,715	60.6
	Labour	N. Chapman	828	29.3
	SLD	C. Arnot	287	10.1
Majority
Turnout				72.0
	Conservative hold		Swing

Riverside South

Riverside South 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Jane Hutt*	1,354	79.0
	Conservative	P. Young	250	14.6
	Plaid Cymru	C. Ap Henri	109	6.4
Majority
Turnout				40.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Rumney

Rumney 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	M. Payne	1,729	58.1
	Conservative	J. Joslyn	1,248	41.9
Majority
Turnout				43.9
	Labour hold		Swing

Saltmead

Saltmead 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	D. Richards*	1,548	73.0
	Conservative	W. Selwood	573	27.0
Majority
Turnout				44.4
	Labour hold		Swing

Splott

Splott 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Jack Brooks*	1,588	74.0
	Conservative	J. Kingston	366	17.1
	SLD	S. Ahmed	107	5.0
	Plaid Cymru	Barbara Anglezarke	85	4.0
Majority				56.9
Turnout				44.0
	Labour hold		Swing

St Athan with Boverton

St Athan with Boverton 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	B. Doughty	1,253	47.0
	Conservative	J. George*	1,116	41.9
	SDP	K. Owen	144	5.4
	Plaid Cymru	S. Stephens	97	3.6
	SLD	D. Poor	54	2.0
Majority
Turnout				54.5
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

St Augustines

St Augustines 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	P. Gray*	919	43.4
	Conservative	P. Blyth	620	29.3
	SLD	J. Sibert	465	21.9
	Plaid Cymru	M. Harries	115	5.4
Majority
Turnout				47.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Stanwell

Stanwell 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	I. Dewar*	1,047	59.2
	Conservative	R. Williams	576	32.6
	SLD	L. Beard	78	4.4
	Plaid Cymru	A. Packar	68	3.8
Majority
Turnout				58.2
	Labour hold		Swing

The Marl

The Marl 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Peter Perkins*	941	48.9
	Conservative	J. Summerhayes	475	24.9
	Independent	A. Baber	457	23.7
	SLD	A. Ali	52	2.7
Majority
Turnout				46.5
	Labour hold		Swing

Thornhill

The seat had been won by an Alliance (SDP) candidate in 1985 but was gained by Labour at a subsequent by-election.

Thornhill 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Nicholas Butler*	1,637	37.6
	Conservative	H. Philpott	1,161	31.7
	SLD	V. Hallet	699	19.1
	SDP	E. Heaven	160	4.4
Majority
Turnout				55.2
	Labour hold		Swing

Ton-yr-Ywen

Ton-yr-Ywen 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	B. Rees*	929	48.1
	Labour	L. Poole	529	27.4
	Green	M. Evans	244	12.6
	SLD	K. Bowden	230	11.9
Majority
Turnout				45.2
	Conservative hold		Swing

Trelai

Trelai 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SLD	Jacqui Gasson	937	47.3
	Labour	Harry Ernest	899	45.4
	Conservative	E. Gillard	85	4.3
	Green	J. Edwards	47	2.4
	SDP	A. Evans	11	0.6
Majority
Turnout				50.1
	Liberal Democrats gain from Labour		Swing

Tremorfa

Tremorfa 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Gordon Houlston*	1,236	83.6
	Conservative	A. Fox	182	12.3
	SLD	A. Taylor	60	4.1
Majority
Turnout				50.7
	Labour hold		Swing

Trowbridge

Trowbridge 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	W. Bowen*	2,108	79.1
	Conservative	A. Hollands	558	20.9
Majority
Turnout				35.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Ty Glas

Ty Glas 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	Christopher Bettinson	971	45.0
	Conservative	Greville Tatham*	926	42.9
	SLD	J. Bennet	262	12.1
Majority
Turnout				57.4
	Labour gain from Conservative		Swing

Vale of Glamorgan North East

Vale of Glamorgan North East 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Conservative	M. Prior	1,639	59.6
	Labour	S. Gough	543	19.8
	SLD	K. Matthews	423	15.4
	SDP	D. Britton	143	5.2
Majority
Turnout				73.3
	Conservative hold		Swing

Vale of Glamorgan South West

Vale of Glamorgan South West 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	Labour	L. Hughes*	2,295	69.4
	Conservative	S. Hignall	690	20.9
	Green	S. Middleditch	264	8.0
	SDP	E. Owen	32	1.0
	SLD	Peter Sain Ley Berry	28	0.8
Majority
Turnout				70.8
	Labour hold		Swing

Waterloo

Waterloo 1989
Party		Candidate	Votes	%
	SLD	L. Kelloway*	1,123	48.7
	Conservative	T. Croft	655	28.4
	Labour	P. Mitchell	500	21.7
	SDP	E. Morgan	27	1.2
Majority
Turnout				51.2
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

KEY

* existing councillor, for the same ward

By-elections between 1989 and 1993

Two by-elections were held on 2 May 1991, the same day as elections to Cardiff City Council. Both were defended by the Liberal Democrats with one of the seats being narrowly lost to Labour.^[2]

Cyncoed Village

Cyncoed Village by-election, 2 May 1991
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Liberal Democrats	J. Holliday	1,444
	Conservative	C. Millard	1,116
	Labour	M. Harries	169
Majority
Turnout
	Liberal Democrats hold		Swing

Pantllacca

Pantllacca by-election, 2 May 1991
Party		Candidate	Votes
	Labour	Graham Hinchey	788
	Liberal Democrats	V. Lane	768
	Conservative	D. Conquer	400
Majority
Turnout
	Labour gain from Liberal Democrats		Swing

Notes

References

^ "South Glamorgan County Council Election Results 1973-1993" (PDF). The Elections Centre, Plymouth University. Retrieved 16 May 2019.
^ "South Glam County Council By-Elections". South Wales Echo. 3 May 1989. p. 8. Retrieved 31 January 2023.

v t e Council elections in the preserved county of South Glamorgan
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Vale of Glamorgan Council	1973 1976 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2004 2008 2012 2017 2022
South Glamorgan County Council	1973 1977 1981 1985 1989 1993 Abolished

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See also: European Parliament election