St Mary (Brecon electoral ward)


St Mary is the name of an electoral ward in the town of Brecon, Powys, Wales. It covers the town centre and elects councillors to Brecon Town Council and Powys County Council.

Description

The St Mary ward covers the town centre of Brecon, the residential areas stretching east to the junction with the A470 and the rural area around Slwch Farm. The southern border is defined by the River Usk. The Brecon wards of St John and St David Within lie to the west, Felin-fach to the north and Talybont-on-Usk to the southwest.
Since the 1999 elections the ward has elected one county councillor to Powys County Council. It is also a community ward, represented by up to five town councillors on Brecon Town Council.
According to the 2011 UK Census the population of the ward was 3,111.
In 2018 a Review of Electoral Arrangements proposed that all three Brecon county wards be merged into a single, three councillor ward. If accepted, the proposal would take effect from the 2022 election.

County Council elections

At the May 2017 Powys County Council elections the St Mary ward was won from the Liberal Democrats by Sarah Lewis of the Conservatives. Previous councillor Paul Ashton had chosen not to re-stand. However Cllr Lewis resigned in October 2019, in the resulting by-election the seat was won by Labour Party candidate Liz Rijnenberg.
Cllr Ashton had represented the ward since a by-election in 2003. He subsequently retained his seat unopposed at the 2004 election and won the contests in 2008 and 2012. He became Chair of the county council in 2015.
Prior to 2003 the ward had been represented by Independents.