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Wales (Cymru)Welsh principal area · W06000015 · Wales

Cardiff

Caerdydd

Outstanding borrowing is the MHCLG live-table stock, not a press figure. Crime is police-recorded and mapped from Community Safety Partnership areas. Political control is the 2026 Open Council Data composition snapshot. Welsh principal areas use the same official England-and-Wales tables (Country WAL / ONS W06).

Labour majority
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Total outstanding borrowing

£1.16bn

£1,164,898,000

Debt per resident

£3,053

Using mid-2025 population of 381,516

Population

381,516

ONS mid-year estimate

Recorded crime rate

93.8 per 1,000

36,006 offences, year to March 2026

Borrowing

Cardiff reported £1,164,898,000 of outstanding borrowing as at 30 June 2026. That is total outstanding borrowing (all sources, including loans from other local authorities). About £3,053 per resident.

Figures converted from £ thousand as published. This is a stock of outstanding borrowing, not the annual deficit.

Source: MHCLG — Borrowing and investment live table, Q1 2026 to 2027. As of 30 Jun 2026 · Q1 2026–27 (as at 30 June 2026).

Population

381,516 usual residents at mid-2025, on 2023 local authority boundaries.

Source: ONS — Estimates of the population for England and Wales, mid-2025. As of 30 Jun 2025 · Mid-2025 (2023 local authority boundaries).

Recorded crime

36,006 police-recorded offences excluding fraud, a rate of 93.8 per 1,000.

Police force / area: South Wales.

Community Safety Partnership: Cardiff.

Police recorded crime excluding fraud, CSP area “Cardiff” (South Wales Police).

Source: ONS / Home Office — Crime in England and Wales: Police Force Area data tables (Tables C2 and C4). As of 31 Mar 2026 · Year ending March 2026.

Who runs the council

Labour majority on a council of 79 seats.

  • Labour 50
  • Conservative 9
  • Liberal Democrats 10
  • Plaid Cymru 2
  • Green 1
  • Reform UK 1
  • Other 6

Open Council Data is a curated compilation of published council compositions, not an official government statistical release. Plaid Cymru seats use the OCD `pc` column.

Source: Open Council Data UK — GB council compositions 2016–2026. As of 1 May 2026 · 2026 composition snapshot (shortly after the May local elections / by-elections).

Last local election / current composition

Labour majority; 79 seats (Lab 50, Con 9, LD 10, Plaid 2, Green 1, Reform 1, other 6)

Next scheduled local election (from the councillor file): 6 May 2027. Election calendar

Next UK general election: not yet set. National and mayoral dates: Election calendar.

Source: Open Council Data UK council compositions and councillor file, 2026. As of 1 May 2026.

2024 general election in this area

Labour won 4 of 4 overlapping constituency/constituencies. Parliamentary constituencies do not match council boundaries exactly.

  • Labour41.4% · 70,552 votes
  • Conservative15.2% · 25,849 votes
  • Reform UK12.4% · 21,084 votes
  • Plaid Cymru12.2% · 20,869 votes
  • Green9.3% · 15,894 votes

Indicative sum of votes in overlapping constituencies. Some constituencies cross local authority boundaries, so this is not a precise LA result.

4 overlapping constituencies
  • Cardiff East: Labour — Jo Stevens
  • Cardiff North: Labour — Anna McMorrin
  • Cardiff South and Penarth: Labour — Stephen Doughty
  • Cardiff West: Labour — Alex Barros-Curtis

Source: House of Commons Library — General election 2024 results (CBP-10009). As of 4 Jul 2024.

Council tax (Band D)

Full rankings
Area Band D
£2,013.18
£ change
+£87.00
% change
+4.52%
Rank
22 of 22financial year 2026 to 2027

Overall average Band D for a two-adult dwelling in this Welsh principal area, including the county/county borough, community council and police precepts. Ranked 22 of 22 in Wales for 2026-27.

Source: Welsh Government — Council Tax levels: April 2026 to March 2027 (Tables 1–2 overall Band D and official £ / % change). As of 24 Mar 2026 · financial year 2026 to 2027.

Explain this numberWales overall Band D

The Welsh Government overall average Band D for a two-adult dwelling in this principal area — the county or county borough plus community council and police precepts.

  • Not average council tax per dwelling (a separate column in the same release), and not the amount every household pays (Wales bands A–I are fixed fractions of Band D).
  • Year-on-year £ and % are the published Overall increase columns. Missing values stay unavailable — we do not invent them.
  • Ranked among Wales’s 22 principal areas only. MHCLG England area Band D is a different collection.

Wales Band D rankings

Source: Welsh Government — Council Tax levels: April 2026 to March 2027 (Tables 1–2 overall Band D and official £ / % change). As of 24 Mar 2026 · financial year 2026 to 2027.

MPs covering this area

Parliamentary constituencies from the House of Commons Library GE 2024 results that overlap this council (ONS lookup). Sitting MPs are joined from the committed Members API snapshot — usually by constituency name. ONS constituency codes are shown for the seat; the Members API has no ONS codes, so a code-level join is not available. Name-only joins are labelled.

Source: House of Commons Library — General election 2024 results (CBP-10009). As of 4 Jul 2024.

Source: UK Parliament Members API (committed snapshot). As of 13 Sept 2026.