It elects two councillors to Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council.
The ward includes the main village of Tonyrefail, as well as the villages of Thomastown and Coedely[1] According to the 2011 UK Census, the population of the Tonyrefail East ward was 5,927.
[3] The Tonyrefail East ward elected two district councillors to Taff-Ely Borough Council between 1983 and 1996.
[3] Incumbent councillors are marked below with an asterisk (*) Labour councillor Russell Roberts had represented Tonyrefail East since 1995[3] and had been Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council since 2004.
Eudine Hanagan, Labour councillor for Tonyrefail West for 18 years, chose to stand in Tonyrefail East (the ward she lived in)[10] though she failed to win a seat.