Chester (district)

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City of Chester
CheshireChester.png
Area
  1974110,729 acres (448.10 km2) [1]
Population
  1973116,820 [1]
  1992119,500 [2]
  2001118,210
History
  OriginChester County Borough
Chester Rural District
Tarvin Rural District
  Created1 April 1974
  Abolished31 March 2009
  Succeeded by Cheshire West and Chester
StatusNon-metropolitan district, city
ONS code13UB
GovernmentChester City Council
   HQ Chester
   Motto Antiqui Colant Antiquum Dierum (Let the Ancients worship the Ancient of Days)
Subdivisions
  Type Civil parishes

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.

Contents

Apart from Chester itself, which was the principal settlement, the district covered a large rural area. Other settlements included Malpas and Tarvin.

History

The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972, by the merger of the existing city and county borough of Chester with the Chester Rural District and Tarvin Rural District. It was a non-metropolitan district, with county-level services for the area provided by Cheshire County Council. [3] [4]

The new district was awarded borough status from its creation, allowing the chairman of the council to take the title of mayor. [5] The city status which had previously attached to the old county borough of Chester was extended to cover the enlarged district on 28 May 1974, a few weeks after the changes came into effect, allowing the council to call itself Chester City Council. [6] [7]

In 2006 the Department for Communities and Local Government considered reorganising Cheshire's administrative structure as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England. The decision to merge Vale Royal with the districts of Chester and Ellesmere Port and Neston to create a single unitary authority was announced on 25 July 2007, following a consultation period in which a proposal to create a single Cheshire unitary authority was rejected. [8]

The Chester district was abolished on 31 March 2009, with the area becoming part of the new unitary authority of Cheshire West and Chester from 1 April 2009. [9] Chester's city charter is retained through the appointment of charter trustees. [10]

Lord mayoralty and shrievalty

The office of mayor of Chester was continued in 1974 by virtue of the charter, the title being borne by the chairman of the council. The mayor of Chester had, since at least 1528, enjoyed the additional honorific title of "Admiral of the Dee". The title was confirmed by letters patent dated 15 May 1974. [11] In 1992, as part of celebrations of the fortieth anniversary of the accession of Elizabeth II, the mayor's title was raised to Lord Mayor of Chester by letters patent dated 10 March 1992. [12]

Under the charter granted in 1974 the new council was permitted to continue to appoint any traditional "officers of dignity" that the predecessor city and county borough had been entitled to appoint. Accordingly, in June 1974 it was decided to continue the office of Sheriff of Chester that dated from the early twelfth century. [11]

The offices of lord mayor and sheriff of Chester were held by serving councillors, and there was an annual rotation of the posts between the three main parties.

Coat of arms

In 1977 the city council was regranted a "differenced" version of the sixteenth century arms of the predecessor Corporation of the City and County Borough of Chester. The historic arms of Chester was based on the Royal Arms of England (three golden lions on a red shield) combined with three gold wheatsheaves on blue of the Earldom of Chester. A gold border bearing acorns was added to the arms to represent the rural areas added in 1974. The crest of the corporation was a depiction of the city sword. To this was added two branches of oak for the two rural districts combined with the county borough. The supporters of the city arms were a gold lion representing England and a white wolf for Hugh Lupus, 1st Earl of Chester. In 1977 they were altered slightly by the addition of red castles hanging about their necks. The Latin motto was Antiqui Colant Antiquum Dierum or Let the ancients worship the ancient of days. [13]

Civil parishes

Chester district contained a comparatively large number of civil parishes. There were 46 parish councils operating in the district in 2008, some of which were grouped parish councils covering more than one civil parish. Some smaller parishes were not covered any parish council, leaving parish level representation to be administered through a parish meeting. [14]

Map of civil parishes within the former City of Chester district Chester District civil parish boundaries.jpg
Map of civil parishes within the former City of Chester district

The main built-up part of Chester was an unparished area, corresponding to the area of the former county borough. One anomaly was that there was a small civil parish just covering the area around Chester Castle, which was surrounded by the unparished area. This was the civil parish of Chester Castle, which had not been part of the pre-1974 Chester County Borough, but had been a detached part of the Chester Rural District. [16]

Political control

The city of Chester had been a county borough, independent from any county council, from 1889 to 1974. [17] The first elections to the enlarged district created under the Local Government Act 1972 were held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council from 1974 until its abolition in 2009 was held by the following parties: [18]

Party in controlYears
Conservative 1974–1986
No overall control 1986–2007
Conservative 2007–2009

Leadership

The leaders of the council were:

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Cecil Eimerl [19] Conservative 1 Apr 19749 May 1976
Hugh Jones [20] Conservative 19 May 1976May 1979
Derek Owens-Kaye [21] Conservative May 1979May 1985
Cecil Eimerl [22] [23] Conservative May 198521 May 1986
John Bramall [24] [25] Conservative 21 May 1986May 1989
Richard Short [26] Conservative May 1989May 1990
John Price [27] Labour 21 May 1990May 1991
Richard Short [28] Conservative May 199120 May 1992
No leader20 May 1992Jan 1993
Richard Short [29] Conservative Jan 1993May 1993
No leader [30] May 1993May 1995
John Price [31] Labour May 199514 May 2003
David Evans [32] [33] Liberal Democrats 14 May 20032006
Paul Roberts [34] Liberal Democrats 20062007
Margaret Parker Conservative 20072009

Premises

Chester Town Hall, Northgate Street, with The Forum shopping centre and municipal offices in background to its left. Chester Town Hall.jpg
Chester Town Hall, Northgate Street, with The Forum shopping centre and municipal offices in background to its left.

The council had its main offices at The Forum on Northgate Street, Chester, being offices above a shopping centre. [35] The offices at The Forum had been opened on 4 April 1973 for the old city council when it was a county borough, but in anticipation of the reforms due to come into effect in 1974. [36] The offices immediately adjoined Chester Town Hall, where council and committee meetings were held.

Council elections

2006 Election

The Conservative Party gained 5 seats in Lache, Newton St. Michael's, Handbridge, Elton and Upton Grange. Labour lost three seats to the Conservatives, and avoided losing Boughton and City to the Conservatives, and College to the Liberal Democrats. The Liberal Democrats lost two seats to the Conservatives, and only avoided losing a safe seat, Vicars Cross, to the Conservatives. In addition, a Liberal Democrat Councillor (Jeff Clarke, Waverton) defected to the Conservatives. The Conservatives also won a by-election in Autumn 2006, taking another seat from the Liberal Democrats.[ citation needed ]

2007 Election

The Conservative party gained 7 seats in Lache, Newton Brook, Huntington, Tattenhall, Upton Grange, Kelsall and Boughton Heath. They also regained Christleton after the seat had been vacant for four months. The Liberal Democrats were defeated in five seats, Labour in one, and one long-serving Independent (Doug Haynes, Tattenhall) was beaten. Labour were beaten into fourth place in one ward (Malpas) by the English Democrats. The Liberal Democrats narrowly avoided finishing in fourth place in Blacon Hall and Blacon Lodge. Labour held College by just 7 votes, with the Liberal Democrats in second place.[ citation needed ]

2008 Election

The 2008 elections were cancelled due to local government re-organisation. Elections to a shadow Cheshire West and Chester (CWC) unitary authority were instead held. This meant that councillors elected in 2004 served for an additional year before the city council was disbanded. Therefore, the Conservatives remained the governing party until April 2009, when the new CWC Council replaced the city council.

By-election results

Vicars Cross By-Election 1 May 1997
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Kenneth Holding1,46642.5−8.3
Labour Sara Barnsley1,15133.3−0.3
Conservative Peter Moore-Dutton83424.2+8.7
Majority3159.2
Turnout 3,451
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
College By-Election 26 June 1997
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour 66474.9+6.3
Conservative 12013.5−4.6
Independent 536.0+6.0
Liberal Democrats 505.6−2.5
Majority54461.4
Turnout 88716.0
Labour hold Swing
Newton Brook By-Election 21 September 2000
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Robert Jordan?57255.1+11.2
Conservative 40138.6−5.6
Labour 656.3−5.6
Majority17116.5
Turnout 1,03833.8
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
College By-Election 7 June 2001
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour 1,15051.8−2.8
Liberal Democrats 57025.6+6.0
Conservative 50222.6−3.2
Majority58026.2
Turnout 2,222
Labour hold Swing
Hoole Groves By-Election 7 June 2001
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Alex Black88641.4+12.9
Liberal Democrats 81137.9−20.2
Conservative 40619.1+7.6
Independent 351.6+0.7
Majority753.5
Turnout 2,103
Labour gain from Liberal Democrats Swing
Malpas By-Election 6 September 2001
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Keith Ebben48254.3−19.5
Liberal Democrats 40545.7+31.4
Majority778.6
Turnout 88720.8
Conservative gain from Independent Swing
Blacon Hall By-Election 1 August 2002
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Alan Tushingham59277.1+2.3
Independent 11915.5+15.5
Liberal Democrats 577.4+7.4
Majority47361.6
Turnout 76813.8
Labour hold Swing
Blacon Hall By-Election 14 August 2003
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Norman Stainthorp71466.2+0.2
Conservative Charles Isaac20418.9+5.8
Liberal Democrats 16014.8+8.2
Majority51047.3
Turnout 1,07820.0
Labour hold Swing
Boughton By-Election 29 July 2004
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Susan Atkinson42744.9−7.9
Conservative Mark Williams37739.6+11.0
Liberal Democrats Joanne Crotty (?)14715.5+4.5
Majority505.3
Turnout 95135.0
Labour hold Swing
Blacon Lodge By-Election 18 November 2004
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Labour Ethel Price50562.9+4.1
Conservative John Burke ?24330.3+6.2
Liberal Democrats 556.8−10.3
Majority26232.6
Turnout 80321.5
Labour hold Swing
Hoole All Saints By-Election 5 May 2005
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Liberal Democrats Barry Sullivan76551.2−8.6
Labour 49633.2+10.9
Conservative 23315.6+7.0
Majority26918.0
Turnout 1,49465.0
Liberal Democrats hold Swing
Curzon & Westminster By-Election 27 October 2005
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Max Drury87563.8−1.1
Liberal Democrats Allan Stobie25818.8+1.9
Labour Alexandra Tate23817.4−0.8
Majority61745.0
Turnout 1,37141.0
Conservative hold Swing
Newton St. Michaels By-Election 26 October 2006
PartyCandidateVotes%±%
Conservative Adrian Walmsley51841.9−0.1
Liberal Democrats Molly Hale49740.2+8.1
Labour Alex Black19715.9−2.9
Green Diana Wilderspin-Jones241.9−5.2
Majority211.7
Turnout 1,23646.2
Conservative gain from Liberal Democrats Swing

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53°11′N2°53′W / 53.183°N 2.883°W / 53.183; -2.883