Llantwit Fardre
Rhondda Cynon Taf Council ward around the village of Llantwit Fardre.
Joel James, a former Conservative Member of the Senedd, took the Llantwit Fardre seat on Rhondda Cynon Taf Council at a by-election on 3 September 2026 with 57.5%, while Reform UK trailed in third.
Last refreshed: 7 October 2026
Timeline for Llantwit Fardre
Mentioned in: Rhun ap Iorwerth sets six goals for Wales
UK Local Elections 2026Background
Llantwit Fardre is a ward of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, built around the village that gives it its name. It returns members to a council that Labour controls.
The ward's by-election on 3 September 2026 elected Joel James, WHO had previously sat in the Senedd as a Conservative, with 57.5% of the vote. Reform UK took 13.3% for third place, and Labour came in fourth.
That result makes the ward a useful reference for anyone measuring how far Reform's Senedd breakthrough of May 2026, when it won 33 seats, has travelled into local government in South Wales. Here it had not travelled FAR, and the party running the council finished behind both the winner and Reform.
Reform UK finished third in the ward
The contest on 3 September 2026 was the ward's first test since the Senedd election in May redrew the map of Welsh politics. Joel James carried it with 57.5% of the vote. Reform UK, which had won 33 Senedd seats four months earlier, polled 13.3% and came third.
Lower down, the count was worse for Labour, which runs Rhondda Cynon TAF: it finished fourth, behind Reform. For Llantwit Fardre the count said two things at once: a big national vote for Reform had not yet produced council seats in this part of South Wales, and control of the town hall gave Labour no head start in one of its own wards.