PLAID CYMRU has held the Pontypridd Town seat on Rhondda Cynon Taf Council after a by-election.
Wiliam Rees was elected as the new councillor for the ward following a vote on Thursday, July 17.
He won 540 of the 1,047 votes and the turnout for the by-election was 44.31% with Reform finishing second, Labour third, the Conservatives fourth and The Green Party fifth.
The by-election was held following the resignation of previous Plaid Cymru councillor for the area Dawn Wood for health reasons.
Speaking after the election win, Wiliam Rees said: “I’m very pleased with the result. it’s still not quite sunk in yet.
“This past five weeks have been an intense campaign but I’m really pleased that I’ve received the support of so many of my neighbours in Pontypridd Town ward and I’m really looking forward to starting the work immediately to try and make Pontypridd Town cleaner, greener and safer.
Speaking about Dawn Wood, he said: “I’m in no doubt that the result today is as much an endorsement of Dawn’s hard work over the previous few years as it is for the campaign that we’ve run as well.
“Dawn was a great councillor, is a great friend and it’s obviously sad circumstances to have this by election but I’m hopeful that I’ve done her proud in keeping the seat for Plaid Cymru and I look forward to building on the work that she’s put in over the last few years.”
He said: “It’s the local stuff that matters. Keeping our streets clean, the pavements clear, the hedgerows cut back but then also some of the big issues where Labour have let residents down across RCT on the school transport cuts and then Labour more generally nationally voting against an inquiry into the flooding that we’ve seen here so it’s those issues that I’ll be focusing on.”
The results were as follows:
- Jeffrey Lee Baxter (Green Party): 23 votes
- Elin Mair Brown (Labour) 203 votes
- Wiliam Jac Rees (Plaid Cymru) 540 votes
- Martin William Roberts (Reform UK) 253 votes
- Cerys Walker (Conservative) 27 votes
