Carmarthenshire

The area covered by Carmarthenshire county council includes parts of the Cambrian mountains and the Brecon Beacons National Park and stretches down to the coast at Carmarthen Bay. Tourism is a major source of employment together with agriculture, while industrial estates have been built in the south of the area providing employment where there were once coal mines and steel works. The largest town is Carmarthen, with its livestock market. In contrast to much of South Wales, the area contains large numbers of Welsh speakers. The 1991 census found that 43.7% of the population living within the area of Dyfed county council (one of the eight county councils replaced by the 22 unitary authorities of which Carmarthenshire county council is one) were Welsh speaking. The national average is 18.7%.

Plaid Cymru is reasonably strong here, as can be expected in a Welsh speaking area. It has 8 seats on the Labour controlled council. This is a minority administration; Labour has 37 seats and Independents have 29, of a total of 81. As one might expect Labour support is concentrated in the more urban wards around Llanelli in the south of the area while Plaid has more support in the rural areas.

Results of 1979 referendum:

		Yes		No		Turnout
All Wales		20%		80%		58.3%
Dyfed		28%		72%		64.6%

Beaufort Research/Western Mail poll published on 2 July 1997:

		Agree		Disagree		Don't know
All Wales		43%		29%		28%
Mid/West Wales		49%		25%		26%