Cardiff

The capital of Wales and its administrative and financial centre, Cardiff is a mixed city. The central area houses the University, the Welsh Office, the Castle and the Museum. To the south of the city are old industrial and dockland areas, the north is rather more affluent and contains Cardiff's most popular residential areas. Levels of Welsh speaking in the capital are comparatively low at 6.4%. Cardiff would be the home of a Welsh Assembly in the event of a "Yes" vote, although an exact location has not yet been chosen.

All the constituencies in Cardiff returned Labour MPs at the 1997 general election, though it is rather more mixed politically than this would suggest. North Cardiff, with its predominantly middle class residential areas, was held by the Conservatives from 1970 to 1997, though never with overwhelming majorities. Cardiff Central was a Conservative seat until 1987 and is now the Liberal Democrats' strongest area; of the 9 Lib Dem councillors for the city, 7 were elected from 3 wards here. Apart from the 9 Liberal Democrats, the council is mainly made up of Labour councillors who hold 56 of the 67 seats. The Conservatives and Plaid Cymru have one seat each.

Results of 1979 referendum:

		Yes		No		Turnout
All Wales		20%		80%		58.3%
South Glamorgan		13%		87%		59%

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

		Agree		Disagree		Don't know
All Wales		43%		29%		28%
Cardiff/SE Wales		37%		33%		30%