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In addition to community councils, Wales has elections to four tiers of government: 22 unitary local authorities, the National Assembly for Wales, the United Kingdom Parliament and the European Parliament.
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Local government
There are elections to 22 unitary authorities across Wales every four years, most recently on 1 May 2012. The electoral system currently used is First Past The Post. Key unitary authorities are Cardiff, Newport and Swansea councils, which all lie in the southern coastal belt.
Local election results 2012 Local election results 2008 Local election results 2004National Assembly for Wales
The National Assembly for Wales has existed since 1999, after Welsh voters narrowly approved it in the 1997 devolution referendum. It is based in Cardiff Bay, and there are elections every five years for 60 Assembly Members (AMs). Voters have two votes: 40 AMs are elected by the First Past The Post system in individual constituencies, and a further 20 AMs are elected by the Regional Top-Up system in which voters vote by region. The regions are South Wales East, South Wales Central, South Wales West, Mid and West Wales and North Wales. Each region elects four AMs, to achieve approximately proportional representation overall.
UK Parliament
Wales has been eligible to send MPs to Westminster since the Laws in Wales Act 1535. Between then and 1885, most constituencies were categorised as county or borough constituencies; each sent one MP to Westminster. As the Industrial Revolution took hold there were many calls for reform (particularly in towns such as Merthyr Tydfil). Parliament eventually allowed the new towns to vote, and this introduced the first Labour MPs. Indeed, the first leader of the Labour Party in Parliament, Keir Hardie, was one of the two MPs for Merthyr Tydfil. The following table shows the composition of Wales' Westminster MPs since 1885.
European Parliament
Wales is a constituency in European Parliament elections.