Cheshire East Council | |
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![]() Coat of arms | |
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Type | |
Type | |
History | |
Founded | 1 April 2009 |
Leadership | |
Rob Polkinghorne since 3 January 2024 [3] | |
Structure | |
Seats | 82 councillors [4] |
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Political groups |
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Length of term | 4 years |
Elections | |
Plurality-at-large | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
Motto | |
Working together for excellence | |
Meeting place | |
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Westfields, Middlewich Road, Sandbach CW11 1HZ | |
Website | |
cheshireeast |
Cheshire East Council is the local authority for Cheshire East, a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. It has been under no overall control since 2019, being run by a coalition of Labour, local parties and independent councillors, led by Labour councillor Sam Corcoran. The council's main offices are in Sandbach, but there are plans to move them to Crewe.
The council and district were created in 2009, covering the combined area of the former districts of Congleton, Crewe and Nantwich and Macclesfield. The new council also took on the functions of the abolished Cheshire County Council in the area. Cheshire East is both a non-metropolitan district and a non-metropolitan county, but there is no separate county council; instead the district council performs both district and county functions, making it a unitary authority. [5] For the purposes of lieutenancy and shrievalty, Cheshire East remains part of the ceremonial county of Cheshire. [6]
The new district was awarded borough status from its creation on 1 April 2009, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. The council's full legal name is therefore Cheshire East Borough Council, although it styles itself Cheshire East Council. [7]
The council provides both district-level and county-level functions. In its capacity as a district council it is a billing authority collecting Council Tax and business rates, and it is responsible for town planning, housing, waste collection and environmental health. In its capacity as a county council it is a local education authority, and is responsible for social services, libraries and waste disposal. [8] The whole borough is covered by civil parishes, which form a second tier of local government. [9]
Until May 2019 the council was controlled by the Conservatives. At the 2019 elections the council was left under no overall control. On 22 May 2019, the newly elected councillors met for the first time and elected Labour's Sam Corcoran as leader, after the party came to an agreement with independent councillors. [10] A similar coalition, still led by Corcoran, continued to form the council's administration following the 2023 elections. [11]
The first election to the council was held in 2008, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until it came into its powers on 1 April 2009. [5] Political control of the council since 2009 has been as follows: [12] [13]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Conservative | 2009–2019 | |
No overall control | 2019–present |
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Cheshire East. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The first leader, Wesley Fitzgerald, had been the last leader of the old Macclesfield Borough Council. The leaders of Cheshire East Council since 2009 have been: [14]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Wesley Fitzgerald | Conservative | 1 Apr 2009 | 16 May 2012 | |
Michael Jones | Conservative | 16 May 2012 | 25 Feb 2016 | |
Rachel Bailey | Conservative | 25 Feb 2016 | 22 May 2019 | |
Sam Corcoran | Labour | 22 May 2019 | 17 Jul 2024 | |
Nick Mannion [15] | Labour | 17 Jul 2024 |
Following the 2023 election and subsequent by-elections and changes of allegiance up to May 2024, the composition of the council was as follows: [16]
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Conservative | 33 | |
Labour | 29 | |
Independent | 10 | |
Residents of Wilmslow | 5 | |
Tytherington Independents | 2 | |
Liberal Democrats | 2 | |
Alderley Edge First | 1 | |
Total | 82 |
Seven of the independent councillors sit with the local parties Residents of Wilmslow, Tytherington Independents and Alderley First as the "Independent Group", which forms the council's administration in coalition with Labour. The other three independents (one of whom describes herself as "independent socialist") do not form part of a group. [17] The next election is due in 2027.
The council's main administrative offices are at Westfields on Middlewich Road in Sandbach. [18] The building was opened in 2008 as the headquarters of the former Congleton Borough Council, one of Cheshire East's predecessors. [19] Council and committee meetings are held at various venues across the borough, including Crewe Municipal Buildings, Macclesfield Town Hall, and Sandbach Town Hall. [20]
In 2023 the council decided to close Westfields and make its existing building at Delamere House in Crewe the headquarters instead. [21] Delamere House was completed in 1974 as a joint facility for both the old Crewe and Nantwich Borough Council and Cheshire County Council, and has served as Cheshire East Council's local offices in Crewe since the reorganisation in 2009. [22] The closure of Westfields has yet to take place as at May 2024. [23]
Since the last boundary changes in 2011 the council has comprised 82 councillors representing 52 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years. [24]
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.
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.
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.
Sandbach is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire East borough of Cheshire, England. The civil parish contains four settlements: Sandbach, Elworth, Ettiley Heath and Wheelock. It lies close to the cities of Stoke on Trent, Manchester, Chester, Liverpool and Salford.
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.
Congleton is a parliamentary constituency in Cheshire, represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Sarah Russell of the Labour Party.
Eddisbury was a constituency in Cheshire last represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2019 by Edward Timpson, a Conservative who left office at the dissolution of parliament in advance of the 2024 United Kingdom general election, at which this former constituency was replaced.
Macclesfield is a constituency in Cheshire represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2024 by Tim Roca, a member of the Labour Party.
In the context of local authorities in the United Kingdom, no overall control is a situation in which no single political group achieves a majority of seats, comparably to a hung parliament. Of the 248 councils who had members up for election in the 2019 local elections, 73 resulted in a NOC administration. In the 2021 local elections, 14 resulted in no overall control. Outside of the UK, the term may be applied to other local authorities, such as the local councils of Malta and the General Assembly of Budapest in Hungary.
Betchton is a civil parish in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. According to the 2001 census it had a population of 620, increasing to 677 at the 2011 Census. The parish is immediately to the east of Sandbach, and includes Betchton Heath, Malkin's Bank and Hassall Green.
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.
Crewe was a constituency of the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom from 1885 to 1983. It elected one Member of Parliament (MP) by the first past the post system of election.
Wheelock is a large village in the civil parish of Sandbach which is in the unitary authority of Cheshire East and the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. It is south of Sandbach on the road to Crewe. It was named after the River Wheelock.
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.
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.
Cheshire West and Chester Council is the local authority for Cheshire West and Chester, a local government district with borough status in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England. The council is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. It has been under Labour majority control since 2023. Full council meetings are held at Wyvern House in Winsford, and the council's main offices are at The Portal in Ellesmere Port.
Elections to Cheshire East Council took place on Thursday 2 May 2019 in all 52 wards, with each ward returning between one and three councillors to the council. The Conservative Party lost overall control of the council, losing 17 seats; the Labour Party gained 9 seats, independents gained 6 and the Liberal Democrats gained 2.
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.