At the second election in March 1896, only one ward was contested.[2] One of the sitting members was defeated.[3]
Ward One
Ward One 1896
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
J. Mayberry*
Unopposed
D.W. Rees*
Unopposed
Ward Two
Ward Two 1896
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Ellis Evans*
Unopposed
David James
Unopposed
Ward Three
Ward Three 1896
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
John Thomas*
428
Joseph Williams
345
Evan Jones*
316
1897 election
The third election was held in April 1897 and three of the retiring members lost their seats.[4] In Ward 3 it was suggested that denominational factors played a part as the two successful candidates were Baptists while he defeated candidates were Congregationalists.[5]
Ward One
Ward One 1897
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Tom Hughes*
753
John Griffiths*
673
G.F. Blake
265
Ward Two
Ward Two 1897
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Arthur H. Davies
730
W. Knoyle
390
W.W. Brodie*
331
Ward Three
Ward Three 1897
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Josiah Davies
374
W. Coombs
238
Owen Charles*
237
David Thomas*
186
1898 election
At the fourth election in April 1898, only one ward was contested as had happened two years previously.[6] In Ward 3, David Thomas narrowly failed to regain the seat he lost the previous year.[7]
Ward One
Ward One 1898
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
James Hammond*
Unopposed
Ernest Trubshaw*
Unopposed
Ward Two
Ward Two 1898
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Herbert Francis
Unopposed
John Hopkins*
Unopposed
Ward Three
Ward Three 1898
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Daniel Williams
371
John S. Tregoning jnr.*
350
David Thomas
346
1899 election
At the fifth election in March 1899, only one Ward 2, where the two sitting members stood down, was contested.[8] The result in Ward 2 was decisive.[9]
Ward One
Ward One 1899
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
J. Mayberry*
Unopposed
J. Allen Williams*
Unopposed
Ward Two
Ward Two 1899
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Frank Vivian
897
William Wilkins
625
David Harries
335
D. Rees Edmunds
261
Ward Three
Ward Three 1899
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
John Thomas*
Unopposed
Joseph Williams*
Unopposed
1900 election
The sixth election was held in April 1900 with two of the three seats being contested.[10] The local Trades and Labour Council ran a candidate, successfully, in Ward 2, although the candidacy was strongly opposed by the Llanelly Mercury, whose editor W.B. Jones had himself been mentioned as a possible labour candidate.[11]
At the seventh election in March 1901, two wards were contested, and in Ward 2, the editor of the Llanelly Mercury, whose candidacy had been canvassed the previous year, captured one of the seats.[12]
Ward One
Ward One 1901
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
D. Rees Edmunds
Unopposed
Ernest Trubshaw*
Unopposed
Ward Two
Ward Two 1901
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
W.B. Jones
705
Daniel Williams*
630
John Hopkins*
559
Ward Three
Ward Three 1901
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
John S. Tregoning jnr.*
449
David Thomas
432
Collwyn Morgan
256
1902 election
The eighth election, held in 1902, was the first occasion upon which all wards were uncontested.[13] W. Bramwell Jones was elected to the seat vacated by the death of John Allen Williams, editor of the Llanelly Guardian.
Ward One
Ward One 1902
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Joseph Mayberry*
Unopposed
William Wilkins*
Unopposed
Ward Two
Ward Two 1902
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
W. Bramwell Jones
Unopposed
Frank G. Vivian*
Unopposed
Ward Three
Ward Three 1902
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
John Thomas*
Unopposed
Joseph Williams*
Unopposed
1903 election
The ninth election, held in April 1903 saw a contest in one of the three wards.[14] Two retiring members, namely John Griffiths (Ward 1) and Jeremiah Williams (Ward 2), both died shortly before the election.[15] In Ward 3, the two official Liberal candidates prevailed.[16]
At the tenth election in 1904, there were contests in Wards 1 and 2. Ernest Trubshaw, a member since the beginning, did not seek re-election while D.R. Edmunds switched from Ward 1 to Ward 2, where the editor of the Mercury, W.B. Jons, lost his seat.[17] In Ward 3, John S. Tregoning jnr., a member of the council since its formation was one of two candidates returned unopposed.[18]
Ward One
Ward One 1904
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Richard Guest
642
William David
520
D.R. Williams
372
Ward Two
Ward Two 1904
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
D.R. Edmunds*
680
John John
608
W.B. Jones*
596
Ward Three
Ward Three 1904
Party
Candidate
Votes
%
±%
Herbert D. Rees
Unopposed
John S. Tregoning jnr.*
Unopposed
1905 election
The eleventh election was held in 1905, with the members in two wards being returned unopposed.[19] In Ward 1, Joseph Maybery, a member of the Council since it was established, stood down at the last moment and the seat was won by a Trades and Labour Council candidate.[20]
All three wards were contested. John Simlett held his seat for Labour in Ward one but the other Labour candidates were unsuccessful. The main surprise was the defeat of J. Walter Thomas in Ward Three.[27]
All three wards were contested and a heavy poll was expeted owing to workmen being on strike.[28] Five of the six members seeking re-election were successful.[29]
In the final election before the incorporation of Llanelli as a municipal borough, there were contested elections in Ward One, where there were three vacancies following the death of E.T. Jones, and in Ward Two. In Ward Three, Labour gained a seat unopposed after sitting member Charles Randall stood down.[30] The contested election saw the loss of one labour seat in Ward One.[31]
