Daughter of former Cardiff lord mayor who died wins her mother's ...

The daughter of a former Cardiff lord mayor who died this year will take over her mother's seat as the new councillor for Splott. Labour's Anny Anderson won the Cardiff Council Splott by-election on Thursday, December 5, by 419 votes.

Her mother, Jane Henshaw, served as a councillor for Splott from 2017 and became lord mayor in May, 2024. She passed away peacefully in September.

Cllr Anderson said: “We did a lot better than I expected actually. I thought it was going to be really tight and down to the line, so I am really pleased with how it went." For more Cardiff stories, sign up to our newsletter here.

“This result just shows the level of support for Labour and also for my mum and the work that she put in. We ran a very positive campaign and it was very well received by people in Splott.

“I just had to resign from my job so I am fully committed now.” A total of 1,769 people cast their vote in the Splott by-election, making it a turnout of 19.45%.

Sam Coates, running for the Green Party, had the second highest share of the votes, with 362. Following him was Kyle Cudgie Cullen for Propel, with 305 votes. Here is a full breakdown of the results:

⦁ Anny Anderson (Labour): 711 votes⦁ Sam Coates (Green Party):362 votes⦁ Kyle Cudgie Cullen (Propel): 305 votes⦁ Cadan ap Tomos (Liberal Democrat): 292 votes⦁ Lee Canning (Reform): 271 votes⦁ Leticia Gonzalez (Plaid Cymru): 88 votes⦁ Tomos Llewelyn (Conservatives): 60 votes

Speaking after the result, Liberal Democrats candidate, Cadan ap Tomos, said: “It was very wet today, which really put a damper on things literally. There was quite a clear anti-Labour sentiment on the doorstep but people weren’t quite sure where to put their vote.

“Labour can’t be complacent at all regardless of the result." Conservatives candidate, Tomos Llewelyn, said: "It was a disappointing result but we are not in the most ideal area for the Conservatives.”

“It is tricky when there are lots of different parties who are splitting the vote. It is also difficult coming off the back of the general election and trying to get support after that. I think this highlights that Reform UK are going to be a big problem for the Conservatives.”

The result means there will not be any change to the political makeup of Cardiff Council, with Labour retaining the total number of seats it had in Splott following the last local government elections in May, 2022. Alongside Cllr Anderson in the ward of Splott currently is Labour's Cllr Ed Stubbs and Cllr Huw Thomas, who is also the leader of the city council.

When we spoke with Cllr Anderson in October, she said she wanted to fulfil her mother's ambition to make Splott the best place for children to grow up in. She also said one of her priorities would be making improvements to parks in the area, including Splott Park playground.

The last council by-election in Cardiff took place in Grangetown in April after former Labour councillor for the area, Abdul Sattar, died. In that by-election, Abdul Sattar's widow, Cllr Waheeda Sattar, won by 1,470 votes.

The passing of her late husband was announced in February and was followed by an outpouring of tributes by members of the community and city councillors. The voter turnout in Grangetown then was 21% - that is 3,106 voters in total.