BBC Homepage
  • Skip to content
  • Accessibility Help
  • Your account
  • Notifications
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
  • More menu
More menu
Search BBC
  • Home
  • News
  • Sport
  • Weather
  • iPlayer
  • Sounds
  • Bitesize
  • CBBC
  • CBeebies
  • Food
Close menu
BBC News
Menu
  • Home
  • InDepth
  • Israel-Gaza war
  • War in Ukraine
  • Climate
  • UK
  • World
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Culture
More
  • Tech
  • Science
  • Health
  • Family & Education
  • In Pictures
  • Newsbeat
  • BBC Verify
  • Disability
  • Wales
  • Wales Politics
  • Wales Business
  • North West
  • North East
  • Mid
  • South West
  • South East
  • Cymru

Welsh elections 2022: Huge challenge for Tories, says Welsh deputy chair

  • Published
    7 May 2022
Share page
About sharing
Related topics
  • Wales local elections 2022
Tomos Davies
Image caption,

Tomos Davies says the party must show it understands the "anger many voters are experiencing"

Conservatives face a "huge challenge" to restore trust with voters, a leading Welsh Tory has said.

Tomos Davies, a Welsh Conservative deputy chairman and Monmouthshire councillor said Wales' local elections were "disastrous" for his party.

The Conservatives lost control of Monmouthshire council and lost more than 80 councillors across Wales.

Labour was the big winner, Plaid gained control of three councils and the Lib Dems became the largest group in Powys.

The Greens are celebrating securing the most seats they have ever had in Wales.

  • As it happened: Welsh council elections 2022

  • PM admits tough losses for Tories in elections

Mr Davies, newly elected as a councillor, told BBC Wales anger over parties held in Downing Street during lockdown "did come up on the doorstep from time to time".

"Clearly, there's a huge challenge on our hands as a party to restore that trust with the Welsh and British electorate."

He said he had "every faith" in the leadership of Boris Johnson, but "Boris, as well as the whole government and indeed the Welsh Conservative Party, needs to go that extra step and really show that we understand the pain, the anger that many voters are experiencing," as cost of living pressures continue to mount.

Mr Davies added that the prime minister should use Tuesday's Queen's Speech, where the UK government outlines its policy agenda for the next year, to be "bold and ambitious" so that he can "restore that trust with the electorate".

Who won in my council area?

Enter your postcode, or the name of your English, Scottish or Welsh council area to find out. There are no council elections in Northern Ireland.

  • Scroll with two fingers to move on the map

  • Pinch to zoom in and out on the map

  • Click on an area in the map to see the results

  • Use one finger to scroll past the map

2022 Previous

There are no council or mayoral elections in Northern Ireland, but there are National Assembly elections.

See the results in full on the BBC website
    Refresh the page to load the latest results
    1px transparent line

    'A pretty firm talking to'

    Welsh Secretary Simon Hart, who sits in Mr Johnson's cabinet, said voters have given the Conservatives "a pretty firm talking to" in Wales.

    Mr Hart said Boris Johnson would agree that it is "an instruction we can do better than this".

    "I think if you were talking to Boris yourself - he'd be saying pretty well exactly that: 'Okay, we've been given a pretty firm talking to by voters in Wales today'.

    "It's tantamount to a severe ticking off and an instruction we can do better than this."

    Election count
    Image caption,

    The Conservatives lost 86 seats across Wales

    Peter Fox, the Conservative Member of the Senedd for Monmouth, said the vote in the Monmouthshire election showed "democracy has spoken and you have to move on".

    "It was difficult after controlling that council for so long to see us losing seven seats.

    "And to no longer be the biggest party in Monmouthshire was a big blow," he told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast.

    Labour made gains and won control of Blaenau Gwent and Bridgend but they suffered a set-back in Neath Port Talbot which fell to no overall control.

    Labour's shadow Welsh secretary Jo Stevens said there would "obviously be a bit of a post-mortem there".

    "As I understand it, there were some particular sort of hyper-local issues which meant that we lost some seats to independent candidates, and clearly we'll be looking at that," she told the programme.

    Plans, paused last summer, to close three English-medium primary schools and create a new "super school" in the Swansea valley are being blamed for Labour's disappointment there.

    Labour awaiting the final result in Vale of Glamorgan
    Image caption,

    Labour became the largest party in Vale of Glamorgan but had a late night awaiting the final score

    Former Wrexham Labour MP Ian Lucas said the party performed "reasonably well" in the local elections "but they need to be doing better".

    "I think the enthusiasm that needs to be there to win the next general election, on the doorstep, I don't think is there, but I think it can be," he told Times Radio on Saturday.

    He advised Labour to be "realistic about assessing that and begin to focus on engaging much more positively with the electorate".

    The party needs to be "painting a picture of what the next Labour government is going to look like and how they're going to actually affect and drive forward people's individual lives and make their lives better", he said.

    "We're a very fractured society at the minute and I think that creating a sense of unity within the country is an aim that we really need to focus on heavily."

    Voting recounting in Flintshire
    Image caption,

    Recounting in Flintshire took place on Saturday morning

    Plaid Cymru took a firmer grip on councils which they already led, gaining majorities in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Anglesey, and holding Gwynedd.

    The party, however, lost a small number of seats overall.

    Vale of Glamorgan's final declaration came late on Friday night after a recount in one ward, although Labour had already replaced the Conservatives as the largest party there.

    Labour now has 25 seats, three seats short of a majority, with the Conservatives having 13 councillors and Plaid Cymru eight.

    Independents and the Llantwit Independents secured four seats each, meaning the council remains under no overall control.

    Labour says it will now try to work with others, probably independent councillors, to form the next administration.

    Flintshire result confirmed

    Labour remains the largest group on Flintshire council but with just one more seat than the independents.

    It was the last local authority in Wales to declare its final results.

    Labour took both seats in Buckley Bistre West, one of two wards recounted on Saturday morning.

    Independents took both seats in the other ward, Connah's Quay South.

    It means that Labour have 31 seats and the independents 30, both short of a majority control of the 67-seat county hall and seeking to form an administration.

    Bernie Attridge
    Image caption,

    Independent Flintshire councillor Bernie Attridge says people are "sick of one party rule"

    Labour councillor Sean Bibby, who represents Shotton West, told BBC Wales: "In terms of seats, it's very tight between us and the independents, so we'll see what happens next."

    Labour faced a strong challenge in the Connah's Quay area where independents, led by former Labour councillor Bernie Attridge, made big gains.

    Mr Attridge said he believes an independent administration can be formed through discussions with the four Liberal Democrats and two Conservative members elected.

    "I'm confident that over the weekend we'll be able to sort a deal out so that an independent administration can run county hall," he said, adding that people are "sick of one party rule".

    Meanwhile, Green Party activists have been celebrating winning eight council seats across Wales.

    In the previous poll, in 2017, they managed to get just one councillor elected, in Powys, who later defected to Plaid Cymru.

    The Greens now have two councillors in Denbighshire and one elected member in Conwy, Neath Port Talbot, Newport, Monmouthshire, Powys and Swansea.

    Related topics

    • Wales
    • Llantwit Major
    • Simon Hart
    • Bridgend
    • Buckley
    • Flintshire County Council
    • Newport
    • Wales local elections 2022
    • Monmouthshire County Council

    More on this story

    • Welsh local elections confirm Tories' worst fears

      • Published
        6 May 2022
      Boris Johnson wearing a Welsh flag face mask
    • Plaid Cymru takes control of Anglesey and Gwynedd

      • Published
        6 May 2022
      People gathered for vote counting
    • A simple guide to the Welsh council elections

      • Published
        25 March 2022
      Polling station with bilingual sign
    • Labour make gains as Tories lose only council

      • Published
        6 May 2022
      Labour celebrating its win in Blaenau Gwent

    Top stories

    • PM tells BBC he wants to change how international law used in asylum cases

      • Published
        17 minutes ago
    • Live. 

      US government shuts down after Senate fails to pass last-ditch funding plan

      • 19017 viewing19k viewing
    • I went undercover as a cleaner at a failing care home. Here's what I witnessed

      • Published
        3 hours ago

    More to explore

    • AO boss tells BBC: We're a British success story – the UK should be turbocharging us

      John Roberts, chief executive of AO, wearing a dark blue shirt and smiling directly at the camera
    • 'Starmer takes on Farage' and 'Two-child benefit cap will be lifted'

      Newspaper headlines: 'Starmer takes on Farage' and Labour reviews 'two-child benefit cap'
    • Gaza doctors are starving while fighting to save lives, evacuated medic tells BBC

      Dr Mohammed Abu Mughaisib, a medic evacuated from Gaza, stands in a park for a posed photograph. He is looking away to the left of the shot and has a blue/grey jacket and shirt on. He is wearing glasses. In the background are green bushes and trees.
    • Steve Coogan: 'I don't want to live with Alan but I do like to visit him'

      Alan Partridge looking into the camera and smiling. He is wearing a red jacket and a blue and red checked shirt.
    • Watch: One street away from collapsed school as relatives wait for news

      A woman wearing a green headscarf and brown top looks and talks to the camera
    • Australia sunscreen scandal grows as more products pulled off shelves

      A blonde child with sunscreen dripping down her hands applies it to her face. A beach can be seen in the background.
    • What could happen during the US government shutdown?

      US Capitol building from a ground perspective with BBC Verify branding
    • Starmer had to show his critics he can take on Farage

      A close-up picture of Keir Starmer
    • I went undercover as a cleaner at a failing care home. Here's what I witnessed

      Catriona worked for seven weeks as a cleaner at the care home
    loading elsewhere stories

    Most read

    1. 1

      Emily Blunt among Hollywood stars outraged over 'AI actor' Tilly Norwood

    2. 2

      I went undercover as a cleaner at a failing care home. Here's what I witnessed

    3. 3

      'Buy one, get one free' deals for unhealthy food banned

    4. 4

      Every GP practice now has to offer online booking

    5. 5

      'Starmer takes on Farage' and 'Two-child benefit cap will be lifted'

    6. 6

      PM tells BBC he wants to change how international law used in asylum cases

    7. 7

      Half of UK adults now regularly use mobile payments

    8. 8

      Major failings found after surgeon harmed women

    9. 9

      Anne visits Ukraine to support children 'traumatised' by war

    10. 10

      Energy price rises prompt call for more help with bills

    BBC News Services

    • On your mobile
    • On smart speakers
    • Get news alerts
    • Contact BBC News

    International Podcast Day on Sounds

    • Wayne Rooney on the decline of Manchester United

      • Attribution
        Sounds

      Added to My Sounds
      The Wayne Rooney Show has been added to your My Sounds.
      The Wayne Rooney Show
    • America's richest woman was also the biggest miser

      • Attribution
        Sounds

      Added to My Sounds
      Good Bad Billionaire has been added to your My Sounds.
      Good, Bad, Billionaire: Hetty Green
    • Olivia Dean co-hosts Sidetracked with Annie and Nick

      • Attribution
        Sounds

      Added to My Sounds
      Sidetracked with Annie and Nick has been added to your My Sounds.
      Sidetracked with Annie, Nick and Olivia Dean
    • A French anarchist and his controversial clock

      • Attribution
        Sounds

      Added to My Sounds
      Murder They Wrote with Laura Whitmore and Iain Stirling has been added to your My Sounds.
    • Home
    • News
    • Sport
    • Weather
    • iPlayer
    • Sounds
    • Bitesize
    • CBBC
    • CBeebies
    • Food
    • Terms of Use
    • About the BBC
    • Privacy Policy
    • Cookies
    • Accessibility Help
    • Parental Guidance
    • Contact the BBC
    • Make an editorial complaint
    • BBC emails for you

    Copyright © 2025 BBC. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. Read about our approach to external linking.