Plaid beat Labour in by-election to secure Neath Port Talbot Council seat with overwhelming majority

Marcia Spooner won the Rhos by-election

A Plaid Cymru candidate has won a Neath Port Talbot Council by-election by an overwhelming majority, taking the seat away from Labour.

Marcia Spooner won the Rhos by-election on Thursday, November 14.

A community councillor and local school governor, Cllr Spooner received 359 votes with the Conservative candidate, Yvonne Gillian McGarry Lewis, coming second with 162 votes and Labour’s Rupert James Denholm-Hall in third place with 145 votes.

Cllr Spooner, who works as an office manager for Plaid Cymru AM Dai Lloyd, campaigned as the only candidate who lived in the ward and said she would help make the villages of Rhos, Gellinudd and Fforestgoch a safer place.

Her share of the votes at 54% was 23% up from the previous election.

She has previously been a county councillor, losing her seat to Labour’s Alex Thomas in 2012.

Mr Thomas stepped down from his role due to work commitments.

Cllr Spooner said: “I am delighted to be elected to represent the people of Rhos on Neath Port Talbot Council and want to thank everyone for their support.”

The council’s Plaid group leader, Alun Llewelyn, said Cllr Spooner would be an active voice for Rhos, adding that the result strenghened the role of the party as the main opposition to Labour on the council.

The Plaid group now has 16 councillors on the local authority.

The total number of ballot papers counted in the Rhos by-election was 666 with a turnout of 34%.