Cheshire County Council

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Cheshire County Council
Arms of Cheshire County Council.svg
Cheshire County Council.svg
History
Founded1 April 1889;135 years ago (1889-04-01)
Disbanded31 March 2009;15 years ago (2009-03-31)
Succeeded by Cheshire East Council
Cheshire West and Chester Council
Meeting place
Cheshire County Council's County Hall - geograph.org.uk - 674033.jpg
County Hall, Castle Drive, Chester

Cheshire County Council was the county council of Cheshire. Founded on 1 April 1889, it was officially dissolved on 31 March 2009, when it and its districts were superseded by two unitary authorities; Cheshire West and Chester and Cheshire East. [1]

Contents

At the time of its abolition in 2009, it had six districts: Chester, Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich, Ellesmere Port and Neston, Macclesfield, and Vale Royal. [2]

History

Cheshire County Council was created on 1 April 1889 under the Local Government Act 1888, which established elected county councils across England and Wales to take over the local government functions previously performed by the Quarter Sessions. Certain large towns were made county boroughs, administering their own affairs independently from the county councils. When Cheshire County Council was established in 1889, three county boroughs were created in Cheshire: Birkenhead, Chester, and Stockport. The area of the county excluding these towns was known as the administrative county and was the area under the jurisdiction of Cheshire County Council. [3] Wallasey was later made a county borough in 1913, removing it from the administrative county. [4]

Under the Local Government Act 1972, Cheshire was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan county and had its boundaries revised, with an area in the north-east of the county (including Stockport) being transferred to Greater Manchester, the Wirral peninsula (including Birkenhead and Wallasey) being transferred to Merseyside and the eastern tip of the county at Upper Longdendale and Tintwistle being transferred to Derbyshire. In return, the county gained the area around Widnes and Warrington from Lancashire. County boroughs were abolished at the same time, and so the city of Chester came under the jurisdiction of the county council for the first time. The lower tier of local government was also reorganised, with the county's previous municipal boroughs, urban districts and rural districts being replaced by eight non-metropolitan districts. These changes all took effect on 1 April 1974. [5]

On 1 April 1998, two of the county's districts, Halton and Warrington, became unitary authorities, making them independent from Cheshire County Council. [6]

Cheshire County Council and its six remaining districts were abolished on 31 March 2009. From 1 April 2009 the area formed two unitary authorities, with Cheshire East covering the area of the former Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich and Macclesfield districts, and Cheshire West and Chester covering the area of the former Chester, Ellesmere Port and Neston, and Vale Royal districts. [7]

Premises

From 1889 until 1957 the county council met at the Crewe Arms Hotel in Crewe as a location conveniently accessible by railway to most of the county. Work began on building a new County Hall on Castle Drive in Chester in 1938, but work on the building was paused due to the Second World War, and it was not formally opened until 1957. [8] After Cheshire County Council's abolition, County Hall was sold to the University of Chester. [9]

Political control

From 1889 until 1970, elections to the county council were generally held every three years. As part of the reforms under the Local Government Act 1972, those councillors still in post in 1972 on the old county council had their terms of office extended to 31 March 1974. The first election to the reconstituted county council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Elections were thereafter generally held every four years for the county council. The last election to Cheshire County Council was held in 2005. Voting for the new unitary authorities took place on 1 May 2008, which then acted as shadow authorities until formally taking over from the abolished county and district councils on 1 April 2009. Political control of Cheshire County Council from 1974 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties: [10]

Party in controlYears
No overall control 1974–1977
Conservative 1977–1981
No overall control 1981–2001
Conservative 2001–2009

Leadership

The chairmen of the county council from 1889 until the 1974 reforms were:

The leaders of the council from 1974 until 2009 were: [11]

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Bryan Harris [12] Conservative align=right|1 Apr 1974May 1979
Allan Richardson [13] Conservative align=right|May 1979May 1981
Basil Jeuda [14] Labour align=right|May 198128 Oct 1982
Allan Richardson [15] [16] Conservative align=right|28 Oct 198227 Oct 1983
Ken Maynard [17] Conservative align=right|27 Oct 1983May 1984
Basil Jeuda [18] Labour align=right|May 1984May 1985
John Collinse [19] [20] Labour align=right|May 198527 May 1993
Simon Cussons [21] Conservative align=right|1993May 1997
John Collins [22] Labour align=right|May 199731 Mar 1998
Derek Bateman [23] Labour align=right|1 Apr 19982001
Paul Findlow Conservative 200131 Mar 2009

Council elections

By-election results

Blacon ED By-Election 19 September 1996
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour 1,32687.9
Conservative 18212.1
Majority1,14475.8
Turnout 1,508
Labour hold Swing
Broxton By-Election 18 September 1997
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats 1,26653.3+21.3
Conservative 1,11046.7-0.6
Majority1566.6
Turnout 2,37626.4
Liberal Democrats gain from Conservative Swing
Congleton and Buglawton By-Election 18 March 1999
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats 88041.5+17.1
Labour 82138.7+1.6
Conservative 41919.8-2.7
Majority592.8
Turnout 2,12021.8
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Bucklow By-Election 29 July 1999
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative 1,32683.8+22.0
Independent 1378.7+8.7
Liberal Democrats 1207.6-14.3
Majority1,18975.1
Turnout 1,58320.0
Conservative hold Swing
Doddington By-Election 1 May 2003
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative 2,13767.9
Labour 1,01232.1
Majority1,12535.8
Turnout 3,14931.0
Conservative hold Swing
Crewe South By-Election 1 April 2004
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats David Cannon1,39343.3+15.1
Labour 1,08233.7-22.1
BNP 38512.0+12.0
Conservative 35511.0+0.0
Majority3119.6
Turnout 3,21529.0
Liberal Democrats gain from Labour Swing
Gowy By-Election 27 September 2007
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Eleanor Johnson1,86350.4+2.1
Liberal Democrats Andrew Garman1,41938.4+5.7
Labour Mark Green3078.3-10.8
UKIP John Moore1072.9+2.9
Majority44412.0
Turnout 3,69632.8
Conservative hold Swing
Abbey By-Election 1 May 2008
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Herbert Manley2,21363.2+16.6
Liberal Democrats Arthur Wood85724.5-1.9
Labour Mark Green43212.3-9.1
Majority1,35638.7
Turnout 3,50235.5
Conservative hold Swing

Alderman

Below is a list of people who were Aldermen of Cheshire County Council and when they were made an alderman.

Notes

  1. Full name is not proved by the source it just says "Ald Vernon" and says that he was a member of the "Cheshire Education Committee at Chester"

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheshire</span> County of England

Cheshire is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shropshire to the south; to the west it is bordered by the Welsh counties of Flintshire and Wrexham, and has a short coastline on the Dee Estuary. Warrington is the largest settlement, and the city of Chester is the county town.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congleton</span> Town in Cheshire, England

Congleton is a market town and civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. It is on the River Dane, 21 miles (34 km) south of Manchester and 13 miles (21 km) north of Stoke on Trent. At the 2021 Census, it had a population of 30,015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crewe and Nantwich</span> Former borough in Cheshire, England

Crewe and Nantwich was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It had a population of 111,007. It contained 69 civil parishes and one unparished area: the town of Crewe. It now forms part of the unitary authority of Cheshire East.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borough of Halton</span> Unitary authority area in Cheshire, England

Halton is a unitary authority district with borough status in Cheshire, North West England. It was created in 1974 as a district of the non-metropolitan county of Cheshire, and became a unitary authority area on 1 April 1998 under Halton Borough Council. Since 2014, it has been a member of the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. The borough consists of the towns of Runcorn and Widnes and the civil parishes of Daresbury, Hale, Halebank, Moore, Preston Brook, and Sandymoor. The district borders Merseyside, the Borough of Warrington and Cheshire West and Chester.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vale Royal</span> Former borough in Cheshire, England

Vale Royal was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It contained the towns of Northwich, Winsford and Frodsham.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macclesfield (borough)</span>

Macclesfield was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It included the towns of Bollington, Knutsford, Macclesfield and Wilmslow and within its wider area the villages and hamlets of Adlington, Disley, Gawsworth, Kerridge, Pott Shrigley, Poynton, Prestbury, Rainow, Styal, Sutton and Tytherington.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Congleton (borough)</span> Local government district in Cheshire, England

Congleton was, from 1974 to 2009, a local government district with borough status in Cheshire, England. It included the towns of Congleton, Alsager, Middlewich and Sandbach. The headquarters of the borough council were located in Sandbach.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chester (district)</span>

Chester was a non-metropolitan local government district of Cheshire, England from 1974 to 2009. It had the status of a city and a borough, and the local authority was called Chester City Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Warrington Borough Council</span>

Warrington Borough Council is the local authority of Warrington, Cheshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, processing planning applications, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Cheshire</span> Overview of history of Cheshire

The history of Cheshire can be traced back to the Hoxnian Interglacial, between 400,000 and 380,000 years BP. Primitive tools that date to that period have been found. Stone Age remains have been found showing more permanent habitation during the Neolithic period, and by the Iron Age the area is known to have been occupied by the Celtic Cornovii tribe and possibly the Deceangli.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Civil parishes in Cheshire</span>

A civil parish is a country subdivision, forming the lowest unit of local government in England. There are 333 civil parishes in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, most of the county being parished. Cheshire East unitary authority is entirely parished. At the 2001 census, there were 565,259 people living in 332 parishes, accounting for 57.5 per cent of the county's population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">City of Chester (UK Parliament constituency)</span> UK Parliament constituency since 1918

The City of Chester is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2 December 2022 by Samantha Dixon of the Labour Party. She was elected in the by-election held following the resignation of Chris Matheson MP on 21 October 2022.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Knutsford (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom, 1885–1983

Knutsford was a county constituency in Cheshire which returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 until it was abolished for the 1983 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheshire East</span> Borough in England

Cheshire East is a unitary authority area with borough status in Cheshire, England. The local authority is Cheshire East Council, which is based in the town of Sandbach. Other towns within the area include Crewe, Macclesfield, Congleton, Wilmslow, Nantwich, Poynton, Knutsford, Alsager, Bollington and Handforth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheshire West and Chester</span> Borough in England

Cheshire West and Chester is a unitary authority area with borough status in Cheshire, England. It was established on 1 April 2009 as part of the 2009 local government changes, by virtue of an order under the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act 2007. It superseded the boroughs of Ellesmere Port and Neston, Vale Royal and the City of Chester; its council assumed the functions and responsibilities of the former Cheshire County Council within its area. The remainder of ceremonial Cheshire is composed of Cheshire East, Halton and Warrington. Cheshire West and Chester has three key urban areas: Chester, Ellesmere Port and Northwich/Winsford.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cheshire East Council</span>

Cheshire East Council is the local authority of the Borough of Cheshire East, Cheshire, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, processing planning applications, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority. The council was first elected on 1 May 2008, a year before coming into its powers on 1 April 2009. After an election in May 2019, no party holds overall control. The civil parish of Sandbach hosts the administrative headquarters for the council.

Cheshire East Council elections are held every four years. Cheshire East Council is the local authority for the unitary authority of Cheshire East in Cheshire, England. Since the last boundary changes in 2011, 82 councillors have been elected from 52 wards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Borough of Warrington</span> Unitary authority area in Cheshire, England

The Borough of Warrington is a unitary authority area with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The borough is centred around the town of Warrington, and extends out into outlying villages of Lymm and Great Sankey and the town of Birchwood.

The ceremonial county of Cheshire, which comprises the unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington, has returned 11 MPs to the UK Parliament since 1997.

References

  1. "Cheshire County Council". Cheshire Archives. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  2. "Cheshire County Council". What do they know. Retrieved 15 September 2019.
  3. "Local Government Act 1888", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1888 c. 41, retrieved 4 September 2022
  4. "Wallasey Urban District / Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  5. "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 4 September 2022
  6. "The Cheshire (Boroughs of Halton and Warrington) (Structural Change) Order 1996", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 1996/1863, retrieved 4 September 2022
  7. "The Cheshire (Structural Changes) Order 2008", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2008/634, retrieved 4 September 2022
  8. "County Council Archives". National Archives. Retrieved 18 September 2019.
  9. "University opens former County Hall to public". University of Chester. 25 November 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  10. "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  11. "Council minutes". Warrington Borough Council. Retrieved 4 September 2022.
  12. "Push-button vote call". Liverpool Echo . 2 May 1973. p. 7. Retrieved 8 August 2023.
  13. "Committees elected" . Cheshire Observer. Chester. 25 May 1979. p. 43. Retrieved 8 August 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  14. "Labour faces battle over pledge on cuts" . Liverpool Echo . 14 May 1981. p. 9. Retrieved 8 August 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Liberal move robs Labour of leadership" . Liverpool Echo . 29 October 1982. p. 5. Retrieved 8 August 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Controversial Ken will be county's new leader". Crewe Chronicle . 27 October 1983. p. 7. Retrieved 4 September 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Ken's back on top". Liverpool Echo . 28 October 1983. p. 19. Retrieved 8 August 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  18. "Lab-Lib pact on a joint budget" . Chester Observer. Chester. 25 May 1984. p. 37. Retrieved 4 September 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  19. "Landslide Labour majorities" . Cheshire Observer. Chester. 10 May 1985. p. 10. Retrieved 8 August 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  20. Body, Cynthia (2 June 1993). "County in a swing to the right". Winsford Chronicle. p. 11. Retrieved 8 August 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  21. "Jobs lost in budget cutbacks". Winsford Chronicle. 26 February 1997. p. 17. Retrieved 8 August 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  22. "Councillors summoned to County Hall for last time". Chester Chronicle. 3 April 1998. p. 6. Retrieved 4 September 2022 via Newspapers.com.
  23. Glendon, Eddie (27 March 1998). "Workers are told not to worry, at least for the time being
    Redundancy precautions"
    . Chester Chronicle. p. 7. Retrieved 8 August 2023 via Newspapers.com.
  24. "Extracts from the Chronicle Files "50 years ago"". Glancing Back. Congleton Chronicle . 4 April 2024. p. 6.