East Cambridgeshire District | |
---|---|
Sovereign state | United Kingdom |
Constituent country | England |
Region | East of England |
Non-metropolitan county | Cambridgeshire |
Status | Non-metropolitan district |
Admin HQ | Ely |
Incorporated | 1 April 1974 |
Government | |
• Type | Non-metropolitan district council |
• Body | East Cambridgeshire District Council |
• Leadership | Alternative – Sec. 31 (Conservative) |
• MPs | Steve Barclay Lucy Frazer |
Area | |
• Total | 251 sq mi (651 km2) |
• Rank | 53rd (of 296) |
Population (2022) [2] | |
• Total | 89,394 |
• Rank | 267th (of 296) |
• Density | 360/sq mi (140/km2) |
Ethnicity (2021) | |
• Ethnic groups | |
Religion (2021) | |
• Religion | List
|
Time zone | UTC0 (GMT) |
• Summer (DST) | UTC+1 (BST) |
ONS code | 12UC (ONS) E07000009 (GSS) |
OS grid reference | TL535799 |
East Cambridgeshire (locally known as East Cambs) is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. Its council is based in the city of Ely. The district also contains the towns of Littleport and Soham and surrounding rural areas, including parts of the Fens.
Since 2017 the district has been a constituent member of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority, led by the directly elected Mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough. [4]
The neighbouring districts are South Cambridgeshire, Huntingdonshire, Fenland, King's Lynn and West Norfolk and West Suffolk.
The district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The new district covered the area of three former districts, which were all abolished at the same time: [5]
The new district was named East Cambridgeshire, reflecting its position within the wider county. [6]
East Cambridgeshire District Council | |
---|---|
Type | |
Type | |
Leadership | |
John Hill since 2000 | |
Structure | |
Political groups |
|
Elections | |
Last election | 4 May 2023 |
Next election | 6 May 2027 |
Meeting place | |
The Grange, Nutholt Lane, Ely, CB7 4EE | |
Website | |
www |
East Cambridgeshire District Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Cambridgeshire County Council. The whole district is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government. [7]
The council has been under no overall control since a change in allegiance in August 2024, which left the Conservatives with exactly half the council's seats. They continue to form the council's administration by virtue of holding the chair's casting vote. [8]
The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements came into effect on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: [9] [10]
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Independent | 1974–1999 | |
Liberal Democrats | 1999–2003 | |
No overall control | 2003–2007 | |
Conservative | 2007–2024 | |
No overall control | 2024–present |
The leaders of the council since 2011 have been: [11]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Peter Moakes | Conservative | 24 May 2011 | 14 May 2013 | |
James Palmer | Conservative | 14 May 2013 | May 2017 | |
Charles Roberts | Conservative | 25 May 2017 | 5 May 2019 | |
Anna Bailey | Conservative | 30 May 2019 |
Following the 2023 election and a by-election in April 2024 and change of allegiance in August 2024, the composition of the council was: [12] [13]
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Conservative | 14 | |
Liberal Democrats | 13 | |
Independent | 1 | |
Total | 28 |
The next election is due in 2027.
Since the last full review of boundaries in 2019 the council has comprised 28 councillors, representing 14 wards. Elections are held every four years. [14]
The council is based at The Grange on Nutholt Lane in Ely. The building was originally a large Victorian house. It served as a maternity hospital from the 1940s until the 1970s. The building was acquired around the time East Cambridgeshire was created in 1974 and converted to offices. Several large extensions have since been added. [15]
The Fenland Survey of archaeological finds carried out in the 1980s mentions an enumeration of findings made between 1884 and 1994 in the region to the north of Devil's Dyke and Cambridge, from the Stone Age, the Bronze Age and the Iron Age (the region south of Devil's Dyke is not yet included in the survey). By far the greatest quantities of bronze objects found in England were discovered in East Cambridgeshire.
The most important Bronze Age finds were discovered in Isleham (more than 6500 pieces), Stuntney, Soham, Wicken, Chippenham, Coveney, Mepal and Wilburton. These findings include swords, spear-heads, arrows, axes, palstaves, knives, daggers, rapiers, armour, decorative equipment (in particular for horses) and many fragments of sheet bronze. The greater part of these objects have been entrusted to the Moyse's Hall Museum in Bury St Edmunds while other items are in the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology in Cambridge. Other finds include traces of cremations and barrows, golden torques, an extensive ditch system and a wooden track-way between Fordey Farm (Barway) and Little Thetford. [16] Bronze razors have also been found and it is well known that Celts shaved their cheeks. [17]
The whole district is divided into civil parishes. The parish of Ely holds city status, and the parish councils for Soham and Littleport take the style "town council". [18]
Cambridgeshire is a ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the west. The largest settlement is the city of Peterborough, and the city of Cambridge is the county town.
Soham is a town and civil parish in the district of East Cambridgeshire, in Cambridgeshire, England, just off the A142 between Ely and Newmarket. Its population was 12,336 at the 2021 census.
Fenland is a local government district in Cambridgeshire, England. It was historically part of the Isle of Ely. The district covers around 500 square kilometres (190 sq mi) of mostly agricultural land in the extremely flat Fens. The council is based in March. Other towns include Chatteris, Whittlesey and Wisbech.
Isleham is a village and civil parish in the English county of Cambridgeshire. It is part of the Fens. It has three pubs.
A civil parish is a country subdivision, forming the lowest unit of local government in England. There are 264 civil parishes in the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire, most of the county being parished; Cambridge is completely unparished; Fenland, East Cambridgeshire, South Cambridgeshire and Huntingdonshire are entirely parished. At the 2001 census, there were 497,820 people living in the parishes, accounting for 70.2 per cent of the county's population.
North East Cambridgeshire is a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament since 2010 by Steve Barclay, a Conservative.
South East Cambridgeshire was a constituency represented in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament from 2015 to 2024 by Lucy Frazer, a member of the Conservative Party who has served as the Culture Secretary since 2023. The constituency was established for the 1983 general election and was based on the cathedral city of Ely.
The Diocese of Ely is a Church of England diocese in the Province of Canterbury. It is headed by the Bishop of Ely, who sits at Ely Cathedral in Ely. There is one suffragan (subordinate) bishop, the Bishop of Huntingdon. The diocese now covers the modern ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire and western Norfolk. The diocese was created in 1109 out of part of the Diocese of Lincoln.
Fenland District Council in Cambridgeshire, England is elected every four years. Since the last boundary changes in 2023, the council has comprised 43 councillors representing 18 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors.
Ely Rural District was a rural district in England from 1894 to 1974. It was named after Ely, but did not include the city itself, instead covering the rural area to the west and north of it. It formed part of the administrative county of the Isle of Ely from 1894 to 1965, when this was merged into Cambridgeshire and Isle of Ely.
Cambridgeshire County Council is the county council for non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire, England. The non-metropolitan county is smaller than the ceremonial county, which additionally includes the City of Peterborough. The county council consists of 61 councillors, representing 59 electoral divisions. The council is based at New Shire Hall in Alconbury Weald, near Huntingdon. It is part of the East of England Local Government Association and a constituent member of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority.
Stuntney is a village in East Cambridgeshire, located between Ely and Soham. It is just off the main road going from Newmarket to Ely, the A142.
Huntingdonshire District Council is the local authority for the district of Huntingdonshire in Cambridgeshire, England. The council is based in the town of Huntingdon. The district also includes the towns of Godmanchester, Ramsey, St Ives and St Neots and surrounding rural areas. The district covers almost the same area as the historic county of Huntingdonshire, which had been abolished for administrative purposes in 1965, with some differences to the northern boundary with Peterborough.
An election to Cambridgeshire County Council took place on 2 May 2013 as part of the 2013 United Kingdom local elections. 69 councillors were elected from 60 electoral divisions, which returned either one or two county councillors each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office. The electoral divisions were the same as those used at the previous election in 2009. No elections were held in Peterborough, which is a unitary authority outside the area covered by the County Council. The election saw the Conservative Party lose overall control of the council.
The 2017 Cambridgeshire County Council election was held on 4 May 2017 as part of the 2017 local elections in the United Kingdom. All 61 councillors were elected from 59 electoral divisions, which returned either one or two county councillors each by first-past-the-post voting for a four-year term of office.
Nik Johnson is a British Labour Co-op politician and paediatrician who has served as the mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough since 2021.