Castle, Swansea
| Castle | |
| Welsh: Castell | |
 Castle Plaza |
|
  Castle |
|
| Population | 15,883 (2011) |
|---|---|
| OS grid reference | SS6593 |
| Community | Castle |
| Principal area | Swansea |
| Ceremonial county | West Glamorgan |
| Country | Wales |
| Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
| Post town | SWANSEA |
| Postcode district | SA1 |
| Dialling code | 01792 |
| Police | South Wales |
| Fire | Mid and West Wales |
| Ambulance | Welsh |
| EU Parliament | Wales |
| UK Parliament | Swansea West |
| Welsh Assembly | Swansea West |
Coordinates: 51°37′10″N 3°57′05″W / 51.61958°N 3.95142°W
Castle (Welsh: Castell) is an electoral ward and community in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, UK. Castle covers most of the heart of the City of Swansea. The community does not have its own community council.
The electoral ward consists of some or all of the following areas: Swansea city centre, Brynmelin, Dyfatty, Greenhill, Maritime Quarter, parts of Mount Pleasant, Sandfields and Waun Wen in the parliamentary constituency of Swansea West. The ward borders the wards of St. Thomas to the east; Landore and Cwmbwrla to the north; Townhill and Uplands; and Swansea Bay to the south.
For electoral purposes, Castle is divided into a number of polling districts: City Centre, Sandfields, George Street, Mount Pleasant, XE1 High Street, XE2 High Street, North Hill, Baptist Well, XH1 Brynmelin and XH2 Brynmelin. Castle returns 4 councillors to the local council.
The Castle ward is a Communities First area.
Demographics
The overall population in the castle ward is: 11,933.
| Ethnic group | Count | % |
|---|---|---|
| White British | 10,784 | 90.37 |
| White Irish | 132 | 1.11 |
| White Other | 284 | 2.38 |
| Black or Mixed Black and White | 60 | 0.5 |
| South Asian or Mixed Asian and White | 490 | 4.12 |
| Chinese or Other (including mixed race) | 183 | 1.53 |
The number of people identifying themselves as Welsh was 1,578 (13.22%).
Current Representation
The Castle Ward is a four-member ward for the purposes of City and County of Swansea Council elections. Following the 2012 election it is currently represented by four Labour Party councillors.
| Castle 2012 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Erika Theresa Kirchner* | 1,629 | |||
| Labour | Sybil Crouch | 1,623 | |||
| Labour | David Phillips* | 1,610 | |||
| Labour | Fiona Margaret Gordon | 1,582 | |||
| Liberal Democrat | Gareth Peter Jones | 533 | |||
| Liberal Democrat | Alan Jeffery | 531 | |||
| Liberal Democrat | Tanya Auxiliadora May | 511 | |||
| Liberal Democrat | Vicky Lewis | 440 | |||
| Plaid Cymru | Patrick John Powell | 274 | |||
| Plaid Cymru | Gez Couch | 261 | |||
| Plaid Cymru | Harri Llwyd Roberts | 254 | |||
| Green | Steve Clegg | 248 | |||
| Plaid Cymru | Damian Paul Martin | 248 | |||
| Conservative | Paul Raymond Morris | 241 | |||
| Conservative | Stephen Joseph Gallagher | 230 | |||
| Conservative | Sonya Winifred Rachel Morris | 228 | |||
| Conservative | Natasha Rhian Tomaszewski | 207 | |||
| Independent | Phil Crayford | 207 | |||
| Green | Ross Walters | 193 | |||
| Trade Unionist and Socialist Coalition | Martin John White | 148 | |||
| Turnout | 29.0 | +0.7 | |||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
| Labour hold | Swing | ||||
Recent History
The first election to the new unitary City and County of Swansea Council took place in 1995. All three seats were won by Labour.
| Castle 1995 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Alan Lloyd | 1,756 | |||
| Labour | Barbara Joyce Hynes | 1,723 | |||
| Labour | Dereck John Roberts | 1,623 | |||
| Liberal Democrat | Robert Speht | 592 | |||
| Green | Benjamin David Grigg | 515 | |||
| Liberal Democrat | Cynthia Wharrad | 463 | |||
| Wales Militant Labour | Mark Evans | 378 | |||
| Labour win (new seat) | |||||
| Labour win (new seat) | |||||
| Labour win (new seat) | |||||
In 1999, the number of seats increased from three to four. David Phillips had previously represented the Uplands ward.
| Castle 1999 | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party | Candidate | Votes | % | ±% | |
| Labour | Alan Lloyd* | 1,622 | |||
| Labour | Barbara Joyce Hynes* | 1,579 | |||
| Labour | David Phillips* | 1,477 | |||
| Labour | Dereck John Roberts* | 1,440 | |||
| Plaid Cymru | Yvonne Marie Davies | 1,111 | |||
| Liberal Democrat | Yvonne Marjorie Holley | 937 | |||
| Green | Benjamin David Grigg | 632 | |||
| Conservative | Paul Raymond Morris | 503 | |||
| Conservative | Sonya Winifred R. Morris | 477 | |||
| United Socialists | David Richard Warren | 273 | |||
| Labour win (new seat) | |||||
| Labour win (new seat) | |||||
| Labour win (new seat) | |||||
| Labour win (new seat) | |||||
Politics
As of October 2011, the current City and County of Swansea councillors for Castle Ward are:
Following the death in September 2011 of Councillor Barbara Hynes, who had represented Castle for 21 years, there is a vacancy for one councillor in the ward.[1] A byelection has yet to be announced.
The Castle ward is a major Labour stronghold with all seats currently occupied by Labour councillors. In the 2008 local elections, there were 21 candidates, each hoping to secure one of four seats. All four sitting Labour councillors were looking to retain their seats. However, the Conservatives, Plaid Cymru and the Liberal Democrats were all fielding four candidates each. The other candidate who was hoping to take a seat represented the Socialist Party.
