An election to the Carmarthenshire County Council was held in March 1946. The 1940 and 1943 elections were postponed due to the Second World War, therefore the election was preceded by the 1937 election and followed, by the 1949 election.
Contents
Overview of the result
The Independents retained their majority despite a strong Labour challenge, which saw an increase in the number of candidates contesting wards outside of the industrial south and east of the county. Retiring aldermen were also obliged to face the electorate before being re-elected to the bench.
Boundary changes
There were no boundary changes.
Unopposed returns
There were a number of unopposed returns, notably in Labour-held seats.
Contested elections
Many wards were keenly contested following the reinstatement of electoral politics after nine years.
In the Llanelli and Ammanford areas, Labour won ground, particularly in Llanelli town where three wards were gained from the Independents. Labour also defeated the sitting Independent at Llangeler (a rural ward where the party had been successful once before largely due to the prevalence of the woolen industry). Labour also won the St Ishmaels ward for the first time.
Another feature was that long-serving aldermen faced the electorate. A notable contest took place in Cwmamman where Alderman John Phillips, a member of the Council since 1922 narrowly defeated the sitting Labour councillor David Davies. In Carmarthen Town, Alderman William Price Williams was defeated by the retiring Independent, as was Alderman Evan Harris at Llansawel.
Retiring aldermen
The aldermen who retired at the election were
Summary of results
This section summarises the detailed results which are noted in the following sections. In some cases there is an ambiguity in the sources over the party affiliations and this is explained below where relevant.
This table summarises the result of the elections in all wards. 53 councillors were elected.
Ammanford No.1
Boundary Change.
Ammanford No.2
Boundary Change.
Burry Port
Boundary Change.
Llanelly Division 2
Boundary Change
Llanelly Division 5
Boundary Change
Llanelly Division 6
Boundary Change
Llanelly Division 7
Boundary Change
Pembrey
Boundary Change
Pontyberem
Boundary Change
Trimsaran
Boundary Change
Election of aldermen
In addition to the 57 councillors the council consisted of 19 county aldermen. Aldermen were elected by the council, and served a six-year term. Following the elections the following nine aldermen were elected (with the number of votes in each case).