Former Big Brother runner up Joel Williams wins seat in Cardiff local elections

He has been elected County Councillor for Pontprennau and Old St Mellons


Joel Williams, a Conservative candidate in yesterdays local elections, has been elected as the County Councillor for the North Cardiff districts of Pontprennau and Old St Mellons.

The former Big Brother 2015 runner up, will carry out his new role as County Councillor alongside Dianne Rees, after claiming a seat from Georgina Phillips, a now former Labour councillor. Williams’ success is a result of winning 1,760 votes (28%), 626 more than Phillips. Nonetheless, Labour still remains the largest political party in the Welsh Capital.

Williams was selected to stand for this years local government elections in May 2016; Pontprennau & Old St Melons being his local area of residence. Alongside his political work, Joel produces a bi-annual magazine, Old St Mellons Defined which is distributed to 3,000 homes in Cardiff. He also has many other political achievements, which include serving as Community Councillor on Marshfield Community Council, serving as Vice-Chairman of the Council & Chairman of the Council’s Finance Committee and becoming school governor of two local schools in Cardiff. Williams has been a particularly active campaigner in North Cardiff and has held the position of Deputy Chairman of Pontprennau & Old St. Mellons Conservatives.

Joel in the Big Brother House

However, Williams is most widely recognised for competing in Big Brother 2015. Entering the famous house at just 19 years old, Williams displayed his enthusiasm for politics from the outset by stating “I would love to be Prime Minister, and yes, I do think it’s achievable”, and further described himself as an aspiring politician. Proving himself as a worthy competitor, Williams made it to the final. This was probably due to a number of funny mishaps such as accidently spending £2,500 of the house’s food budget on the world’s smallest pizza, and claiming that eggs come  from underneath a chicken’s beak.

Either way, Williams has now paved his way to political success in the local elections.