Ceredigion County Council election, 2012

Ceredigion County Council election, 2012

← 2008 3 May 2012 2017 →
All 42 seats to Ceredigion County Council 22 seats needed for a majority
First party Second party Third party   Leader Ellen ap Gwynn Keith Evans Ceredig Davies Party Plaid Cymru Independent Liberal Democrat Leader's seat Ceulanamaesmawr Llandysul Town (defeated) Aberystwyth, Central Last election 19 seats, 43.8% 12 seats, 25.7% 10 seats, 23.9% Seats before 20 12 9 Seats won 19 15 7 Seat change nc +3 -3 Popular vote 10,461 7,647 6,787 Percentage 39.15% 28.62% 25.4%   Fourth party Fifth party   Leader Hag Harris Luke Evetts Party Labour Conservative Leader's seat Lampeter New Quay (contested) Last election 1 seat, 3.2% 0 seats, 2.9% Seats before 1 0 Seats won 1 0 Seat change nc nc Popular vote 844 979 Percentage 3.16% 3.66%
Ceredigion local election results 2012
Leader before election Keith Evans Independent Subsequent Leader Ellen ap Gwynn Plaid Cymru

Keith Evans
Independent

Ellen ap Gwynn
Plaid Cymru

Elections to Ceredigion County Council were held on 3 May 2012 along with elections to 20 of the other 21 local authorities in Wales (all except Anglesey), community council elections in Wales and other elections elsewhere in the United Kingdom

All 42 council seats were up for election. The previous council was controlled by Independents in coalition with the Liberal Democrat group and the single Labour member. Since 2008, there had been two by-elections in Aberystwyth, Rheidol and Ciliau Aeron which were both won by Plaid Cymru. The composition of the council prior to the elections was:

Councillors elected in this election are to serve an extended five-year term, after local government minister Carl Sargeant announced the next elections would be moved from 2016 to 2017 to avoid clashing with the next Welsh Assembly election in 2016 (which in turn had been delayed a year to avoid clashing with the next general election).

Following the election, no party was left with a majority (22 seats) on the council. Plaid Cymru won a total of 19 seats, the Liberal Democrats won 7, Labour retained their single member, and the remaining seats were won by Independent candidates.

The leader of the Independent group on the council - Keith Evans - lost his seat to Plaid Cymru. As a result, Ray Quant (Councillor for Borth) was elected as the leader of a group of 12 of the independent councillors. Negotiations were held between the various groups, and eventually a coalition between Plaid Cymru, the one Labour councillor and a number of independent councillors was agreed upon. The Liberal Democrat group now form the opposition.

For a total of 42 seats, Plaid Cymru were fielding 34 candidates, the Liberal Democrats were fielding 28 candidates, 22 candidates were standing as Independents, the Conservatives were fielding 21 candidates, while Labour were fielding just one. The Green Party were not fielding any candidates in this election, compared to two candidates in 2008.