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Labour appeared likely to lose control of at least one council in Wales last night and others were under threat.

People’s Voice, the local party that holds the Westminster and Welsh Assembly seats in Blaenau Gwent after dramatic wins since 2005, seemed set to take what it called “the grand slam” by depriving Labour of its majority on the council there.

Blaenau Gwent has long been at the centre of Labour’s South Wales heartland, and its loss would represent a further erosion of the party’s once-dominant status in Welsh politics.

The Tories gained two seats in Flintshire but Labour retained overall control.

As early results came in, Rhodri Morgan, the First Minister, said the tide was turning strongly against Labour. “If Labour voters are disaffected they are not going to come out and we are going to lose seats,” he told Sky News.

David Hanson, the Justice Minister, said Labour was facing a difficult night in Flintshire, North Wales. “These things happen — politics go up, politics go down. We are going to lose some seats, we have lost some seats, we are going to lose some more. Mid-term is a difficult place to be.

“The 10p tax is a difficult issue. I think all of us have seen results from that in ways we didn’t expect.”

The party also faced losses in Newport, the last big urban council in Wales still in Labour hands until yesterday. Bob Bright, the sitting council leader, narrowly held on to his own seat.

The loss of Newport would be a severe symbolic blow for Labour after a terrible night at the last Welsh council elections, in 2004, which saw the party lose control of Cardiff, Swansea, Bridgend and Wrexham.

The Conservatives won two wards in Cardiff last night, one of them from Labour.

Elsewhere, Plaid Cymru was braced for heavy losses in Gwynedd, the one council where the nationalists held an overall majority.

Elfyn Llwyd, the Plaid MP for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy, said of the Gwynedd results: “It’s not been good but it’s not been a disaster. It’s been an evening of kicking Plaid and, interestingly, an evening of kicking the incumbent councillors as well.”

The Conservatives were hoping to take overall control of the Vale of Glamorgan from a Labour-Plaid Cymru coalition, requiring only four new seats to do so.

Cheryl Gillan, the Conservatives’ shadow Welsh Secretary, said: “We have been building up very steadily in Wales. If you compare it to last time we fielded just over 27 per cent of candidates and now we have fielded 41 per cent.

“We are looking at the Vale of Glamorgan and we are hoping we are going to make gains there.”

About two million people were eligible to vote across Wales, although a lack of candidates in some wards meant that 8 per cent of seats — 102 councillors — were elected unopposed. Labour’s grip on Welsh politics has loosened considerably since devolution in 1999.

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