Crawley Borough Council

Last updated
Crawley Borough Council
Crawley Borough Council logo.jpg
Type
Type
Leadership
Sharmila Sivarajah,
Labour
since 24 May 2024 [1]
Michael Jones,
Labour
since 27 May 2022 [2]
Ian Duke
since 25 September 2023 [3]
Structure
Seats36 councillors
UK Crawley Borough Council 2023.svg
Political groups
Administration (25)
  Labour (25)
Opposition (11)
  Conservative (11)
Length of term
4 years
Elections
Last election
 2 May 2024
Next election
7 May 2026
Meeting place
New Town Hall, Crawley.jpg
Town Hall, The Boulevard, Crawley, RH10 0ZZ
Website
crawley.gov.uk

Crawley Borough Council is the local authority for Crawley in West Sussex, England. It consists of 36 councillors and is currently controlled by the Labour Party, led by Michael Jones. The administrative headquarters are at Crawley Town Hall.

Contents

History

Prior to 1956 Crawley had been governed as a rural parish within the Horsham Rural District. The parish was significantly enlarged in 1933 when the neighbouring parish of Ifield was abolished. Following the designation of Crawley as a new town in 1947, [4] the parish was further enlarged in 1953 to take in the Three Bridges area from the neighbouring parish of Worth. [5]

The parish of Crawley was made an urban district in 1956. [6] [7]

The urban district was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, gaining the parts of the parishes of Slaugham and Worth within the designated area for the new town, plus Gatwick Airport and adjoining areas from the Surrey parishes of Charlwood and Horley. [8] [9] The reformed district was awarded borough status at the same time, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. [10]

Governance

Crawley Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by West Sussex County Council. [11] There are no civil parishes in the borough, which is an unparished area. [12]

Political control

The council has been under Labour majority control since 2022. [13]

Political control of the council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows: [14] [15]

Party in controlYears
Labour 1974–2006
Conservative 2006–2006
No overall control 2006–2007
Conservative 2007–2014
Labour 2014–2020
No overall control 2020–2022
Labour 2022–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Crawley. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been:

CouncillorPartyFromTo
George Waller [16] Labour 19741978
Ben Clay [17] Labour 19781980
Alf Pegler [17] [18] Labour 19801982
Tony Edwards [19] [20] Labour 19821983
Ben Clay [21] [22] Labour 19831986
Alf Pegler [23] [24] Labour 19862 Sep 1996
Tony Edwards [25] Labour Sep 199622 Jun 2000
Chris Redmayne [26] [27] Labour 26 Jul 2000May 2006
Bob Lanzer [28] [29] Conservative 26 May 2006Aug 2013
Howard Bloom [30] [31] Conservative 26 Sep 2013May 2014
Peter Lamb [32] [33] Labour 13 Jun 2014May 2022
Michael Jones [34] Labour 27 May 2022

Composition

Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was: [35] [36]

PartyCouncillors
Labour 25
Conservative 11
Total36

The next election is due in 2026.

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2019 the council has comprised 36 councillors representing 13 wards. Each ward elects two or three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with a third of the council being elected each time for a four-year term of office. West Sussex County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections. [37]

Premises

Old Town Hall: Council's headquarters 1964-2022 Crawley Town Hall 01.JPG
Old Town Hall: Council's headquarters 1964–2022

The council is based at Crawley Town Hall on the Boulevard, purpose-built for it on the site of the old Civic Hall (in the Town Hall complex built in 1964 for the urban district council) and formally opened on 21 March 2023. [38] [39] [40]

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References

  1. ↑ "New Mayor of Crawley". Crawley Borough Council. 29 May 2024. Retrieved 18 June 2024.
  2. ↑ "Council minutes, 27 May 2022" (PDF). Crawley Borough Council. Retrieved 10 September 2022.
  3. ↑ "New Chief Executive appointed". Crawley Borough Council. 18 September 2023. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  4. ↑ "No. 37849". The London Gazette . 10 January 1947. p. 231.
  5. ↑ "Crawley Chapelry / Ancient Parish / Civil Parish". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  6. ↑ "Relationships and changes Crawley Urban District through time". A Vision of Britain through Time . Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  7. ↑ "Crawley Urban District Council". The National Archives . Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  8. ↑ "The English Non-metropolitan Districts (Definition) Order 1972". legislation.gov.uk . Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  9. ↑ "Charlwood and Horley Act 1974", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1974 c. 11, retrieved 13 January 2024
  10. ↑ "District Councils and Boroughs". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard) . 28 March 1974. Retrieved 3 September 2022.
  11. ↑ "Local Government Act 1972", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, 1972 c. 70, retrieved 31 May 2023
  12. ↑ "Election Maps". Ordnance Survey. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  13. ↑ "New leader, Cabinet and Mayor appointed at Crawley Borough Council". Sussex Express. 30 May 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  14. ↑ "Compositions Calculator". The Elections Centre. University of Exeter. Retrieved 26 November 2024. (Put "Crawley" in search box to see specific results.)
  15. ↑ "England council elections". BBC News Online . 10 May 2011. Retrieved 8 January 2012.
  16. ↑ "Labour group ousts leader". Crawley and District Observer. 26 May 1978. p. 66. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  17. 1 2 Morrissey, Charles (16 May 1980). "Council Labour group picks a new leader". Crawley and District Observer. p. 1. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  18. ↑ "SDP foiled - by jingo". Crawley Observer. 13 May 1982. p. 12. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  19. ↑ Morrissey, Charles (17 June 1982). "In the steps of Nye Bevan: Left wing fighter from a true blue home". Crawley Observer. p. 10. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  20. ↑ "Who's who in council expense claims table". Crawley Observer. 12 May 1983. p. 15. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  21. ↑ "Stop the rot!". Crawley Observer. 30 June 1983. p. 11. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  22. ↑ "Ground heave leads to soil tests". Crawley Observer. 12 March 1986. p. 3. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  23. ↑ "Road fears stop nightspot". Crawley Observer. 4 June 1986. p. 1. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  24. ↑ Burrell, Mike; Wright, Chris (4 September 1996). "'People say Alf was well known and that he did a lot of work for the town. But he was more than that - he WAS Crawley.'". Crawley Observer. p. 4. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  25. ↑ "LGC People Page". Local Government Chronicle. 7 July 2000. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  26. ↑ "Chris gets top post". Crawley Observer. 26 July 2000. p. 2. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  27. ↑ "Tories win Crawley after 30 years". BBC News. 5 May 2006. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  28. ↑ "Council minutes, 26 May 2006" (PDF). Crawley Borough Council. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  29. ↑ "Bob Lanzer resigns as leader of Crawley Borough Council". BBC News. 9 August 2013. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  30. ↑ "Council minutes, 26 September 2013" (PDF). Crawley Borough Council. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  31. ↑ "Crawley Conservatives elect new leader". The Argus. 28 May 2014. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  32. ↑ "Council minutes, 13 June 2014" (PDF). Crawley Borough Council. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  33. ↑ "Sussex election results 2022: Labour wins control of Worthing for first time". BBC News. 6 May 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  34. ↑ "Council minutes, 27 May 2022". Crawley Borough Council. Retrieved 30 December 2024.
  35. ↑ "Crawley election result". BBC News.
  36. ↑ "Your Councillors". Crawley Borough Council. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  37. ↑ "The Crawley (Electoral Changes) Order 2019", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2019/198, retrieved 28 January 2024
  38. ↑ "Crawley's New Town Hall is officially opened". Sussex World. 22 March 2023. Retrieved 23 April 2023.
  39. ↑ "Crawley New Town". Crawley Encyclopedia. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
  40. ↑ "Milestone as council takes possession of new Town Hall". Crawley Borough Council. 1 November 2022. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
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