Population 15,883 (2011) Community Castle | OS grid reference SS6593 Country Wales | |
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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.
Contents
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 breakdown:[1]
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.
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.
In 1999, the number of seats increased from three to four. David Phillips had previously represented the Uplands ward.
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. 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.