Cardiff North.
Labour Party MP Anna McMorrin holds the seat on 43.9% of the vote — a split-council geography across 2 councils.
9 Jun 2026
Cardiff suburbs, Labour-leaning, Conservatives fading
Cardiff North is an overwhelmingly urban seat, almost entirely an extension of the Welsh capital rather than a network of distinct towns. The city of Cardiff accounts for roughly nine in ten residents, taking in the northern suburbs of Heath, Llanishen, Rhiwbina, Whitchurch and Lisvane, with only the villages of Tongwynlais and Taff's Well lying beyond the built-up edge. It is a comparatively affluent and well-educated constituency, with about 45% of adults holding a degree and a median age of 40. Local services are split across two Welsh principal councils: Cardiff, which runs eight of the seat's wards, and Rhondda Cynon Taf, which covers the single ward around Taff's Well in the north.
That suburban geography shapes a politics that has tended to divide along familiar lines. The most recent ward contests, held in 2022, returned Labour in twelve wards, the Conservatives in eight and the Liberal Democrats in two, with the Conservatives holding their ground in the wealthier northern suburbs of Rhiwbina and Lisvane while Labour led across the inner wards. At Westminster the pattern is clearer still: Labour's Anna McMorrin, the MP since 2017, was returned in 2024 on 43.9% of the vote, comfortably ahead of the Conservatives on 20.3%. Even so, Labour's own share slipped from nearly half the vote in 2019, the margin widening chiefly because the Conservative vote fell away.
On the figures available the seat looks Labour-leaning rather than safe, its commanding margin owing as much to a collapse in Conservative support as to any surge of its own. Recent local reporting has had a largely administrative character, dominated by council-budget and council-tax matters rather than any single controversy, and the constituency has kept a low national profile. The direction of travel suggests a seat that remains competitive at ward level even as it tilts towards Labour at the parliamentary one.
Ward-level direction-of-travel: who controls what, who flipped recently, who holds the line. Each ward links to the council that runs it.
| Ward | Latest winner | Votes | Council | Last cycle |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gabalfa(2 seats) | Wood · Taylor | 2,049 | Cardiff Lab | May 2022 |
| Heath(3 seats) | Hinchey · Sangani · Ash-Edwards | 7,529 | Cardiff Lab | May 2022 |
| Lisvane and Thornhill(3 seats) | Reid-Jones · Lancaster · Melbourne | 6,070 | Cardiff Lab | May 2022 |
| Llandaff North(2 seats) | Ali · Davies | 2,858 | Cardiff Lab | May 2022 |
| Llanishen(2 seats) | Proctor · Hunt | 3,669 | Cardiff Lab | May 2022 |
| Pontprennau and Old St Mellons(2 seats) | Williams · Littlechild | 2,938 | Cardiff Lab | May 2022 |
| Rhiwbina(3 seats) | Robson · Cowan · Owen | 7,551 | Cardiff Lab | May 2022 |
| Taff's Well | Jill Bonetto | 604 | Rhondda Cynon Taf Lab | May 2022 |
| Whitchurch and Tongwynlais(4 seats) | Jones · Green · Carr · Palmer | 10,582 | Cardiff Lab | May 2022 |
Source · Democracy Club · DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The seat’s population is concentrated in Cardiff (85,357), with Rural & dispersed (5,050) as the second pole. Total population across named built-up areas: 93,900.
Source · ONS Built-Up Areas · Census 2021
| Settlement | Pop. | Class |
|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | 85,357 | city |
| Rural & dispersed | 5,050 | town |
| Tongwynlais | 1,846 | village |
| Taff's Well | 1,647 | village |
Headline indicators.
| Indicator | Local | National | Δ |
|---|---|---|---|
| Employment rate | 57.1% | 57.1% | 0% |
| Owner-occupied | 74.5% | 63.1% | +18% |
| Private rented | 15.6% | 20.0% | -22% |
| Social rented | 9.8% | 16.8% | -42% |
Ethnicity.
Source · Census 2021
Population by age & sexCensus 2021 · 18 bands · click to expand
Source · Census 2021 (ONS) · % of usual residents; tick marks the median seat per band
Income tax contribution.
| Total income tax | £308m |
| Taxpayers | 47,000 |
| Median per taxpayer | £3,400 |
| Mean per taxpayer | £6,550 |
Source · HMRC SPI · ±8% confidence
Where the money flows back in.
This constituency is served by Cardiff and Rhondda Cynon Taf. Each council’s service spend, peer rank and supplier list lives on its own page — open from the meta block above or the compass strip below.
Move the income slider on My place to see income tax, NI, VAT and council tax against your earnings — the household lens.
Headline rate.
By category.
Source · data.police.uk · 3-month rate per 1,000 pop
2024 — full result.
| Candidate | Votes | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Anna McMorrinWON | Lab | 20,849 | 43.9 |
| Joel Williams | Con | 9,642 | 20.3 |
| Lawrence Gwynn | Ref | 5,985 | 12.6 |
| Malcolm Phillips | Plaid | 4,669 | 9.8 |
| Irfan Latif | LD | 3,168 | 6.7 |
| Meg Shepherd-Foster | Grn | 3,160 | 6.7 |
Turnout 47,473
Prior contests.
| Year | Winner | % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2019 | Anna McMorrin | Lab | 49.5 |
| 2017 | Anna McMorrin | Lab | 50.1 |
| 2015 | Craig Williams | Con | 42.4 |
| 2010 | Evans, Jonathan | Con | 37.5 |
Sources, methods & last update
2023 boundary review
DCLEAPIL v1.0 (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Census 2021
National avg over 575 seats
±8% confidence
LSOA-aggregated · rolling 12mo