1890 Cardiff County Borough Council election

The 1890 Cardiff County Borough Council election was held on Saturday 1 November 1890 to elect councillors to Cardiff County Borough Council in Cardiff, Wales. These were the second all-Cardiff elections since the creation of the county borough. They were first to take place since the increase in number of electoral wards from four to ten.

Background

Cardiff had become a county borough on 1 April 1889 as a result of the Local Government Act 1888. With its municipal year running from November, the November 1889 elections were the first all-Cardiff elections in the town since becoming a county borough.[1] In July 1890 the town's ward boundaries were redrawn, increasing the number of electoral wards from five to ten. On 25 July the General Purposes Committee of the council had redistributed the existing councillors over the ten wards.[2]

The November 1890 elections were the second all-Cardiff elections in the county borough. Not all council seats were up for election, because councillors stood down for election in three-yearly rotation. The next all-Cardiff election took place in November 1891.

The council consisted of 30 councillors who were elected by the town's voters and ten aldermen who were elected by the councillors.[1]

Overview of the result

Contests took place in all ten electoral wards, namely Adamsdown, Canton, Cathays, Central, Grangetown, Park, Riverside, Roath, South and Splott. One council seat was up for election in all wards except for Riverside, where two seats were up for election because of the recent death of a sitting councillor.[3] Prior to the election, seven of the eleven seats were held by the Liberal Party and four by the Conservatives. The election resulted in the Liberals increasing their overall representation by one. The Liberals received 6,518 votes in comparison with 5,535 for the Conservative candidates.[3]

Notable defeats included Sir Morgan Morgan in the Park ward, who lost to the Liberal candidate by 98 votes.[3]

Council composition

Following these elections, the council's Liberal majority increased by two, with 25 Liberal members and 15 Conservatives.[4]

Ward results

Adamsdown
Adamsdown ward 1890
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Edward Thomas * 727
Conservative L. S. Bickley 287
Liberal hold Swing

Canton
Canton ward 1890
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal W. E. Vaughan * 548
Conservative H. Butler 382
Liberal hold Swing

Cathays
Cathays ward 1890
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Peter Price * 621
Conservative H. White 561
Independent Labour A. Good 262
Liberal hold Swing

Central
Central ward 1890
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative Walter Raleigh Parker 617
Liberal J. Guy Proger * 615
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing

Mr Proger had represented the ward for the previous 12 years.[3]

Grangetown
Grangetown ward 1890
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Lib-Lab John Jenkins 484
Conservative Robert Upham 260

John Jenkins, a shipwright and a nominee of Cardiff Trades Council, was declared to be the first genuine working man's representative elected to the council.[3]

Park
Cathays ward 1890
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Charles Shepherd 747
Conservative Sir Morgan Morgan * 649
Independent Rees Enoch 36
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing

Despite trailing by 100 votes after the first count, Sir Morgan Morgan's supporters demanded two recounts before conceding defeat.[3]

Riverside (two seats)
Riverside ward (1) 1890
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Dr James 638
Conservative R. Price * 615
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing

An election was held on the same date, for the seat of Conservative councillor Smith, who had recently died.[3]

Riverside ward (2) 1890
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Noah Rees 635
Conservative Mr Evans 605
Liberal gain from Conservative Swing

Roath
Roath ward 1890
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative W. J. Trounce * 746
Liberal J. Sully Stowe 378
Conservative hold Swing

South
South ward 1890
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Conservative J. H. Cory 512
Liberal F. J. Beavan * 456
Conservative gain from Liberal Swing

Splott
Splott ward 1890
Party Candidate Votes % ±%
Liberal Thomas Andrews 397
Conservative Charles Jenkins 301

* = 'retiring' ward councillor for re-election

References
  1. B. W. Row, F. G. Squire (1974), Cardiff 1889-1974 - The Story of the County Borough, The Corporation of Cardiff, City Hall, Cardiff, pp. 14–16
  2. "District News - Cardiff". The Western Mail. 26 July 1890. p. 6 – via Welsh Newspapers Online. "The General Purposes Committee of the Cardiff Coroporation sat yesterday for the purpose of re-distributing the seats of the council, consequent on the re-division of the borough into ten wards. It had been anticipated that a good deal of acrimony would be shown in this delicate task. The matter, however, passed off good humouredly."
  3. "Cardiff Municipal Elections - Liberal Victory". South Wales Daily News. 3 November 1890. pp. 3–4 – via Welsh Newspapers Online.
  4. "The Municipal Elections - Cardiff". The Western Mail. 3 November 1890. p. 5 – via Welsh Newspapers Online.
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