Local Elections 2022: Counting set to get underway at 9am in Flintshire

Thousands of voters across Flintshire went to the polls on Thursday to have their say on who they want to represent their local area for the next five years.

The results from Thursday’s election will determine who will lead Flintshire council which is responsible for a large number of vital services for people and businesses such as rubbish collection, managing schools, providing social care and housing to name just a few.

Once the polls closed at 10pm last night the ballot boxes from all 96 polling stations in Flintshire were transferred to Coleg Cambria Sports Hall in Connah’s Quay in preparation for today’s count.

The verification process, tallying the number of papers in boxes against the number of papers issued at polling stations, will start at around 9am today (Friday May 6).

Once the verification process is complete the count will take place for each ward.

Results will be declared for each ward as and when each count is completed.

There is no firm timetable but it is expected that counts for all wards will be complete by around 2pm.

Coleg Cambria Sports Hall is the regular venue for election counts in Flintshire

This is the first election to have taken place since a series of changes were announced by the Boundary Commission.

Those changes have seen the number of councillors in Flintshire reduced from 70 to 67 and the number of wards from 57 to 45.

Wards cover a specific geographic area. Some wards have just one councillor but some may have more.

Two councillors have already been elected as they were the only people to stand in their communities.

Steve Copple (Independent) was the only candidate standing in the Caerwys ward, he has been elected unopposed, the seat was previously held by Tudor Jones (Liberal Democrats).

Mike Allport (Independent) has been re-elected unopposed in Higher Kinnerton.

It means that nearly 6,000 voters in those two wards did not get a say on election day in who represents them in Flintshire County Council.

For the first time, those aged 16-17 were able to take part and vote in the local government election, 2,235 are eligible to vote in Flintshire

In total there are 122,436 people in Flintshire eligible to vote on Thursday but turnout at council elections is notoriously low.

Just 39 per cent of the registered electorate in the county took part in the local government election back in 2017.

At the last Flintshire council election, Welsh Labour won 34 seats,  Independent won 23, Welsh Conservatives 6, Welsh Liberal Democrats  5.

Returning Officer Neal Cockerton

The count for Town & Community Councils will take place on Saturday.

There are 34 Town & Community Councils in Flintshire with a total of 71 wards, only 15 of those will be contested.

Of the 440 seats in Town & Community Councils, 380 candidates will be elected uncontested.

This is the first election for Returning Officer Neal Cockerton.

Mr Cockerton was appointed chief executive of Flintshire County Council in August last year, taking over from the previous chief executive of 14 years, Colin Everett.

His role is to ensure that the election is administered effectively and that, as a result, the experience of voters and those standing for election is a positive one.

Deeside.com will have live updates from the count as and when they are announced.