Castle, Swansea
Encyclopedia
Castle is an electoral ward and community
Community council
A community council is a public representative body in Great Britain.In England they may be statutory parish councils by another name, under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007, or they may be non-statutory bodies...

 in the City and County of Swansea
Swansea
Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands...

, Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. 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
Swansea city centre
Swansea city centre in Swansea, Wales, contains the main shopping, leisure and nightlife district in Swansea. The city centre covers much of the Castle ward including the area around Oxford Street, Castle Square, and the Quadrant Shopping Centre; Alexandra Road, High Street, Wind Street and the...

, Brynmelin, Dyfatty, Greenhill
Greenhill, Swansea
Greenhill is an inner-urban district of Swansea, Wales, lying immediately north of the city centre around the junction of the A483, A4118 and B4489 roads...

, Maritime Quarter
Maritime Quarter
The Maritime Quarter, or Swansea Marina, is a residential area of Swansea, Wales, UK located immediately south of the city centre shopping core. It falls within Swansea's Castle ward...

, parts of Mount Pleasant
Mount Pleasant, Swansea
Mount Pleasant is a suburban district of Swansea, Wales. The area is centred around the main road, called Mount Pleasant, immediately to the north of Swansea city centre, which connects the city centre to the Townhill and Mayhill districts to the north. It walls within the Castle ward.The area...

, Sandfields
Sandfields, Swansea
Sandfields is a district in Swansea, Wales bounded by St. Helen's Road to the north, Oystermouth Road and Swansea Bay to the south and Dillwyn Street to the east.The area is adjacent to and immediately west of Swansea city centre.-Description:...

 and Waun Wen in the parliamentary constituency of Swansea West
Swansea West (UK Parliament constituency)
Swansea West is a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It elects one Member of Parliament by the first past the post system of election....

. The ward borders the wards of St. Thomas
St. Thomas (electoral ward)
St. Thomas is the name of an electoral ward and a community of Swansea, Wales.The electoral ward of St. Thomas consists of the following areas: Dan-y-graig, Port Tennant, SA1 Swansea Waterfront, St. Thomas, Swansea Docks, Kilvey Hill and the Grenfell Park Area, in the parliamentary constituency of...

 to the east; Landore and Cwmbwrla
Cwmbwrla (electoral ward)
Cwmbwrla is the name of an electoral ward, a community and a suburb in the City and County of Swansea, Wales. The community does not have a community council....

 to the north; Townhill
Townhill (electoral ward)
Townhill is an electoral ward and a community of Swansea, Wales, UK. Townhill does not have a community council.The electoral ward consists of some or all of the following geographical areas: Cwm-Gwyn, Mayhill, Mount Pleasant and Townhill in the parliamentary constituency of Swansea West...

 and Uplands
Uplands (electoral ward)
Uplands is name of an electoral ward, a community and a suburb in the City and County of Swansea, Wales, UK. The Uplands community does not have a community council....

; and Swansea Bay
Swansea Bay
Swansea Bay is a bay on the Bristol Channel on the South Wales coast. Places on the bay include Mumbles, Swansea and Port Talbot. The River Neath, River Tawe, River Afan and Blackpill stream flow into the 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
Communities First
Communities First is a programme designed to increase participation and develop the capacity of Welsh communities to make decisions and run projects. The programme was established by the Welsh Government’s Department for Social Justice and Regeneration in 2002...

 area.

Demographics

The overall population in the castle ward is: 11,933.

Ethnic breakdown:http://www.neighbourhood.statistics.gov.uk/dissemination/LeadTableView.do?a=7&b=6074306&c=castle&d=14&e=15&g=416966&i=1001x1003x1004&m=0&r=1&s=1216367004187&enc=1&dsFamilyId=15
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%).

Politics

As of October 2011, the current City and County of Swansea councillors for Castle Ward are:
  • Erika Kirchner, Labour
    Labour Party (UK)
    The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

  • Alan Lloyd, Labour
    Labour Party (UK)
    The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...

  • David Phillips, Labour
    Labour Party (UK)
    The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...



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
Conservative Party (UK)
The Conservative Party, formally the Conservative and Unionist Party, is a centre-right political party in the United Kingdom that adheres to the philosophies of conservatism and British unionism. It is the largest political party in the UK, and is currently the largest single party in the House...

, Plaid Cymru
Plaid Cymru
' is a political party in Wales. It advocates the establishment of an independent Welsh state within the European Union. was formed in 1925 and won its first seat in 1966...

 and the Liberal Democrats
Liberal Democrats
The Liberal Democrats are a social liberal political party in the United Kingdom which supports constitutional and electoral reform, progressive taxation, wealth taxation, human rights laws, cultural liberalism, banking reform and civil liberties .The party was formed in 1988 by a merger of the...

 were all fielding four candidates each. The other candidate who was hoping to take a seat represented the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (England and Wales)
The Socialist Party is a Trotskyist party active in England and Wales.It publishes the weekly newspaper The Socialist and the monthly magazine Socialism Today...

.

In the 2008 local elections for Castle, the turnout was 28.33%. There results were:
Candidate Party Votes Status
Robert Alan Lloyd Labour 1105 Labour hold
David Phillips Labour 1029 Labour hold
Erika Theresa Kirchner Labour 1009 Labour hold
Barbara Joyce Hynes Labour 999 Labour hold
Gareth Peter Jones Liberal Democrats 735
Stephanie David Liberal Democrats 726
Tanya Auxiliadora May Liberal Democrats 724
David Gerald Joseph Liberal Democrats 702
Rhys Aeron Jones Plaid Cymru 520
Hugh Nigel Parsons Plaid Cymru 484
Patrick John Powell Plaid Cymru 478
Harri Lloyd Davies Conservatives 432
Harri Lloyd Roberts Plaid Cymru 411
Paul Raymond Morris Conservatives 388
Sonya Winifred Rachel Morris Conservatives 353
Alexander Stonor Conservatives 350
Alec Thraves Socialist Alternative 172
Colin John Davies Independent 151
David Mark Davies Independent 115
Michael Gilbert Carty Wales Communist Party 112
Moodie Rachid Khaldi The Left Party 95
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