Brecon Welsh Labour councillors have thanked their voters who re-elected them to Powys County Council.

Powys’s Labour leader Cllr Matthew Dorrance and Cllr Liz Rijnenberg took to social media to thank everyone who had “put their faith” in them during the local elections.

Cllr Dorrance and his fellow Welsh Labour and Co-operative councillor David Meredith will both be returning to represent Brecon West on Powys council after they won by a landslide in the town.

Cllr Dorrance appeared on camera telling LDRS reporter Elgan Hearn that he was “delighted” with the result as the count was ongoing.

Cllr Dorrance received a whopping 1,173 votes meanwhile Cllr Meredith had an incredible 999 votes.

Their opponents were Steve Morgans who received 349 votes and Independent candidate Martin Wheale who had 330 votes.

Cllr Dorrance said: “I want to thank everyone who put their faith in me, David, Liz and Chris. But whether you voted for us or not we are here to help and serve everybody in the community. Thank you.”

Councillor Liz Rijnenberg was also re-elected to represent the newly merged ward of Brecon East - formerly St. David Within, St. John and St Mary - along with the newly elected Powys County Councillor Chris Walsh who served as the Mayor of Brecon last year.

The two Welsh Labour councillors also had a very comfortable lead in the race for the Brecon and Radnorshire ward.

Cllr Rijnenberg also had a landslide victory as she received 909 votes - more than double the number of votes of her biggest political opponents. Cllr Walsh also finished with an impressive 707 votes.

Liz Rijnenberg and Chris Walsh
Liz Rijnenberg and Chris Walsh (Powys)

The two councillors defeated Welsh Conservative opponents Marianne Lewis, who had 314 votes, and dawn McIntosh who had 371 votes.

They also beat Welsh Liberal Democrat Robert Craig Charlton who received 140 votes, Independent Nigel Enda Kilgallon who had 181 votes, and Andrew Powell who finished with 258 votes.

Cllr Rijnenberg also took to social media to thank the electorate.

She said: “Thank you to everyone who took the time to vote for me and Chris yesterday [May 5]. It’s an honour and privilege to serve.”

It was a good day for Welsh Labour in Powys as it gained two seats on the council giving it a total of nine Powys County Council seats.

Welsh Labour also gained seats across Wales and the UK in the recent local elections.

While the party lost control of Neath Port Talbot, it successfully gained control over Bridgend and Blaenau Gwent.