Cllr Kevin Madge Stepping Down after Four Decades of Service

A COUNTY councillor who joined the Labour Party when Harold Wilson was in power will step down next year after four decades of service including as leader of Carmarthenshire.

Cllr Kevin Madge will be able to spend more time with his beloved wife Catrin and their family, plus his 18 chickens and ducks.

He will continue as county councillor for the Garnant ward until next year’s local government elections, and said he wanted to announce his plans now rather than wait a few weeks before the elections took place.

And he’s not done yet with Cwmaman Town Council, where he has already been mayor five times, and intends to keep serving in that capacity beyond next May. Representing local people, he said, was a “great honour”.

Cllr Madge told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that social media had, in his view, changed society and politics – not in a good way – and was worried younger people would be deterred from standing for office as a result.

He also said Wales’s ageing population was “a time bomb ticking away”. He said: “The fundamental question is that elderly people are getting older – how do you keep services for the elderly going?”

He also called for disused old buildings like chapels to be converted into accommodation for younger people.

Cllr Madge, 68, of Garnant, in the Amman Valley, joined Labour aged 18 and was elected as a town councillor three years later.

He said he had been motivated to do something about his local park. “I was living on a poor council estate and we had a park with nothing in it, no swings or anything,” he recalled. “I decided I was going to do something about it and I did.”

In 1987 he was elected to the former Dinefwr Borough Council, and he has served on Carmarthenshire Council since its formation in 1996. He went on to become cabinet member for health and social care, deputy leader and then leader in coalition with the Independents from 2012 to 2015 before being ousted by party colleagues in a secret ballot.

The previous year – 2014 – he had survived a vote of no-confidence after independent auditors raised concerns about money being paid directly to the council’s then chief executive Mark James in lieu of employer pension contributions. A police investigation found no evidence of crime.

Cllr Madge said he recalled losing the 2015 ballot by one vote. He resigned as a leader shortly afterwards. “I was not ready to go,” he said. “It was very hurtful at the time.”

As leader he felt he’d had influence with the Welsh Government and in his work with the Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA), which represents councils. “That was taken away overnight,” he said.

Cllr Madge said he felt proud of the investment in schools, housing, sport and culture during his time at the helm. “When you’re in power you can get things done in weeks,” he said. He found being in opposition frustrating. “There’s so many things you would like to have sorted but you can’t,” he said.

Over the years he’s had roles including as council chairman and, more recently, chairman of the place, sustainability and climate change scrutiny committee. He has also represented the council on local police, fire and health bodies.

Cllr Madge said councils everywhere faced a major demographic challenge. “The fundamental question is that elderly people are getting older – how do you keep services for the elderly going?” he said. “It’s a time bomb ticking away. Dementia services are going to explode. And I don’t think we have enough care homes, bungalows and sheltered housing.”

He added: “We’ve also got a crisis in run-down buildings – chapels, churches etc. We need a plan. We could be converting them into accommodation for younger people.”

Cllr Madge said he felt politicians needed thicker skin than in the past. “Years ago you could get the odd letter attacking you, and now you have 500 people attacking you on Facebook,” he said.

“I think social media has changed society and the democratic process. I think it’s putting people off standing.”

He said everybody made mistakes. “I’ve put my foot in it sometimes – today you can make a mistake and be battered for it,” he said.

He felt there was a “nastiness” and lack of respect for other people’s opinions online which was being replicated in real life among some people.

“I noticed it on the doorstep over the past six weeks,” he said, referring to his party canvassing work ahead of the Senedd elections.

The new-look election format returned three Plaid Cymru and three Reform members of the Senedd for the Sir Gaerfyrddin constituency on a grim day locally and nationally for Welsh Labour.

In Carmarthenshire the 23-strong Labour opposition group elected at the 2022 council elections has whittled down to 15. “That is sad,” said Cllr Madge.

He added: “I’ve been with Labour for 50 years and didn’t always agree with the leader, like when Jeremy Corbyn came in, but I supported him and every leader since Harold Wilson.”

Cllr Madge has also had stints as a researcher for former Swansea West MP Alan Williams and Mid and West Wales Senedd member Joyce Watson.

Away from politics the former Amman Valley comprehensive pupil worked in the private sector for 25 years including as a charge hand and as a manager of a bedding company in Pontardawe. He was also a football referee for 28 years. “That helped in politics in dealing with people,” he said of those roles.

Cllr Madge met his wife Catrin at Swansea’s Top Rank nightclub in 1981 and the couple have been married for 43 years. They have two children and four grandchildren with another on the way.

“I couldn’t wish for a better partner and am grateful for the support she has given me over the past 40 years,” he said of Catrin. “I love her to bits. If you’ve got a good partner and support at home it can make a huge difference.”

A keen gardener, Cllr Madge grows around 25 types of veg at his Garnant home and has kept chickens and ducks for many years. He currently has 12 of the former and six of the latter. “Gardening is good for your mental health,” he said.