[7] In January 2025 councillors from Torfaen and Blaenau Gwent approved the permanent appointment of Stephen Vickers as the Joint Chief Executive for both Blaenau Gwent and Torfaen County Borough Councils.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its powers on 1 April 1974.

Political control of the council since 1974 has been held by the following parties:[8] Lower-tier borough County borough The leaders of the council since 1984 have been:[9] Following the 2022 election, by-elections in February 2023 and 2025, and changes of allegiance in April 2023 and August 2024, the composition of the council was:[12][13][14] Of the independent councillors, five sit together as the 'Independent Group', three sit together as the 'Torfaen Independent Group', and three more did not belong to a group until August 2024 when they joined Reform UK and became the party's first councillors in Wales.

County Hall closed because of "concrete cancer" and was later demolished, with the council consolidating its offices at the Civic Centre in Pontypool.

[23][24] The mayors of Torfaen from 1974 until the post's abolition in 2018 were:[25] 1974–1974: G M Day 1974–1975: D B Richards 1975–1976: M L Lee 1976–1977: D W Puddle 1977–1978: G S R Powell 1978–1979: S E A James 1979–1980: A J Davies 1980–1981: G S Evans 1981–1982: K Morgan 1982–1983: P Roberts 1983–1984: G I Davies 1984–1985: C Little 1985–1986: H J Rosser 1986–1986: C G Thomas 1986–1988: D J Lloyd 1988–1989: W M Howell 1989–1990: B J Cunningham 1990–1991: S Richards 1991–1992: D J Rex 1992–1993: T Davies 1993–1994: F H Bacon 1994–1995: M H Morgan 1995–1996: D Miller 1996–1997: S Smith 1997–1998: S J Brooks 1998–1999: K Edmunds 1999–2000: B I Ryan 2000–2001: G R Clark 2001–2002: C Thomas 2002–2003: Jack Everson 2003–2004: Doug Davies 2004–2005: Yvonne Warren 2005–2006: Lyndon Irwin 2006–2007: Mary Barnett 2007–2008: Bill King 2008–2009: Nye James 2009–2010: Bob Jones 2010–2011: Tom Huish 2011–2012: Philip Seabourne 2012–2013: Wayne Tomlinson 2013–2014: Neil Mason 2014–2015: Mandy Owen 2015–2016: Giles Davies 2016–2017: Veronica Crick 2017–2018: Jessica Powell The county borough is divided into 20 electoral wards, returning 40 councillors.