2012 Carmarthenshire County Council election

The fifth election to Carmarthenshire County Council was held on 1 May 2012. It was preceded by the 2008 election and was followed by the 2017 election. Plaid Cymru won 28 seats whilst Labour and the Independents won 23 each. The main feature of the election was a Labour recovery in the Llanelli area, and to some extent in the Gwendraeth and Ammanford area also, mainly at the expense of Independent candidates. Plaid Cymru lost ground to Labour in the Llanelli area but gained seats elsewhere, becoming the largest party. An Independent-Labour coalition was again formed, but with Labour as the leading partner. As a result, Kevin Madge replaced Meryl Gravell as the leader of the council.

Madge resigned as leader of the council in May 2015, having lost the leadership of the Labour group. Two days later it was announced that Plaid Cymru would from a coalition with the Independents. Emlyn Dole was elected leader of the council.