Wokingham Borough Council | |
---|---|
Type | |
Type | |
History | |
Founded | 1 April 1974 |
Leadership | |
Susan Parsonage since March 2019 | |
Structure | |
Seats | 54 councillors |
Political groups |
|
Length of term | Third of council elected three years out of four |
Elections | |
Plurality-at-large | |
Last election | 4 May 2022 |
Next election | 2024 |
Meeting place | |
Civic Offices, Shute End, Wokingham, RG40 1BN | |
Website | |
www |
Wokingham Borough Council is the local authority of the Borough of Wokingham in Berkshire, England. It is a unitary authority, being a district council which also performs the functions of a county council. [1]
The town of Wokingham was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1885. [2] [3] The municipal borough was abolished in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, merging with the surrounding Wokingham Rural District to become a new non-metropolitan district called Wokingham. [4] [5]
Until 1998 Wokingham was a lower-tier district council, with Berkshire County Council providing county-level services to the area. The county council was abolished in 1998 and Wokingham became a unitary authority, taking over the county council's functions in the area. [6] The council was awarded borough status in 2007, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor. [7]
Since 2022 the council has been under no overall control, being run by a Liberal Democrat-led coalition with Labour and the independent councillors. [8]
The first elections to Wokingham District Council were held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows: [9] [10]
Non-metropolitan district
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
No overall control | 1974–1976 | |
Conservative | 1976–1995 | |
No overall control | 1995–1996 | |
Liberal Democrats | 1996–1997 | |
Conservative | 1997–1998 |
Unitary authority
Party in control | Years | |
---|---|---|
Conservative | 1998–2000 | |
No overall control | 2000–2002 | |
Conservative | 2002–2022 | |
No overall control | 2022–present |
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Wokingham, and is usually held by a different councillor each year. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1995 have been: [11]
Councillor | Party | From | To | |
---|---|---|---|---|
Simon Etheridge | Conservative | 1995 | 1996 | |
Alan Spratling | Liberal Democrats | 1996 | 1997 | |
Simon Etheridge [12] [13] | Conservative | 1997 | 1999 | |
Perry Lewis [14] | Conservative | 1999 | 2000 | |
Alan Spratling [15] | Liberal Democrats | 2000 | 2002 | |
Frank Browne [16] | Conservative | 2002 | 4 May 2008 | |
David Lee [17] | Conservative | 22 May 2008 | 12 Jun 2014 | |
Keith Baker [18] | Conservative | 12 Jun 2014 | 18 May 2017 | |
Charlotte Haitham-Taylor [19] | Conservative | 18 May 2017 | 22 Nov 2018 | |
Julian McGhee-Sumner [20] | Conservative | 14 Dec 2018 | 5 May 2019 | |
John Halsall [21] | Conservative | 22 May 2019 | 19 May 2022 | |
Clive Jones [22] | Liberal Democrats | 19 May 2022 | 18 May 2023 | |
Stephen Conway [23] | Liberal Democrats | 18 May 2023 |
Following the 2023 election, the council composition is: [24]
Party | Councillors | |
---|---|---|
Liberal Democrats | 26 | |
Conservative Party | 22 | |
Labour | 5 | |
Independent | 1 | |
Total | 54 |
The next election is due in 2024.
Since the last boundary changes in 2004, the council has comprised 54 councillors elected from 25 wards. Each ward elects one, two or three councillors. Elections are held in three out of every four years, with one third of the seats being elected each time for a four-year term of office. [25]
The council's main offices are the Civic Offices at Shute End in Wokingham. The building began as a house, built c. 1870 as the rectory for nearby St Paul's Church. It was purchased by Wokingham Rural District Council in 1939 and converted to become their offices. The building passed to the new Wokingham District Council when local government was reorganised in 1974. A large extension was added to the west of the original house in 1988. [26]
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