St Helens Council

Last updated

St Helens Council
All out elections every four years
St Helens Borough Council logo.svg
Council logo
Type
Type
History
Founded1 April 1974
Leadership
Lynn Clarke,
Labour
since 17 May 2023
David Baines,
Labour
since 22 May 2019
Kath O'Dwyer
since March 2020 [1]
Structure
Seats48 councillors
StHelensCouncil2022.svg
Political groups
Administration (29)
  Labour (29)
Other parties (19)
  Independent (7)
  Green (6)
  Liberal Democrat (4)
  Conservative (2)
Joint committees
 Liverpool City Region Combined Authority
Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority
Merseyside Police and Crime Panel
Elections
Multiple member first-past-the-post
Last election
 5 May 2022
Next election
2026
Meeting place
St Helens Town Hall.jpg
Town Hall, Corporation Street, St Helens, WA10 1HF
Website
www.sthelens.gov.uk

St Helens Council, also known as St Helens Borough Council and St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council, is the local authority of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens in Merseyside, England. It is a metropolitan district council, one of five in Merseyside and one of 36 in the metropolitan counties of England, and provides the majority of local government services in St Helens. It is a constituent council of Liverpool City Region Combined Authority. [2]

Contents

History

From 1889 to 1974 the town of St Helens was a county borough, independent of any county council. [3] Under the Local Government Act 1972 it had its territory enlarged and became a metropolitan borough, with Merseyside County Council providing county-level services. Following the abolition of the county council in 1986 St Helens Council became responsible for all local government-services.

Political control

The first election to the reconstituted borough council was held in 1973, initially operating as a shadow authority before coming into its revised powers on 1 April 1974. Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows: [4] [5]

Party in controlYears
Labour 1974–2004
No overall control 2004–2010
Labour 2010–present

Leadership

The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in St Helens, usually being held by a different councillor each year. Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1974 have been: [6]

CouncillorPartyFromTo
Len Williams Labour 1974May 1978
Gerald Baxter [7] Labour May 19781983
Brian Green [8] [9] Labour May 19831985
Marie Rimmer [10] [11] Labour 198521 Apr 1993
Dave Watts [12] [13] Labour May 1993May 1997
Mike Doyle [14] [15] Labour 19971999
Marie Rimmer Labour 19992006
Brian Spencer Liberal Democrats 200619 May 2010
Marie Rimmer Labour 19 May 201015 May 2013
Barrie Grunewald Labour 15 May 201318 Apr 2018
Derek Long Labour 18 Apr 201822 May 2019
David Baines Labour 22 May 2019

Composition

Following the 2022 election, the composition of the council was as follows: [16]

PartyCouncillors
Labour 29
Independent 7
Green 6
Liberal Democrats 4
Conservative 2
Total48

Of the independent councillors, three sit together as "The Independents" group, two form the "Newton-le-Willows Independents" group and the other two do not belong to any group. The next election is due in 2026.

Premises

The council is based at St Helens Town Hall on Corporation Street, overlooking Victoria Square in the town centre. The building was built in 1876 for the old borough council. [17]

Elections

Since the last boundary changes in 2022, 48 councillors have been elected from 18 wards, with elections held every four years. [18]

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References

  1. ↑ "Kath O'Dwyer". The MJ. Retrieved 4 May 2024.
  2. ↑ "Proposal to establish a combined authority for Greater Merseyside" (PDF). Department for Communities and Local Government. November 2013. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  3. ↑ "St Helens Municipal Borough / County Borough". A Vision of Britain through Time. GB Historical GIS / University of Portsmouth. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  4. ↑ "Compositions calculator". The Elections Centre. 4 March 2016. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  5. ↑ "St Helens". BBC News Online . Retrieved 21 February 2015.
  6. ↑ "Council minutes". St Helens Borough Council. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  7. ↑ "Surprise new team". Liverpool Echo. 10 May 1978. p. 7. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  8. ↑ "Council chief calls in minders". Liverpool Echo. 26 May 1983. p. 1. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  9. ↑ "Labour probe to end feud". Liverpool Echo. 13 June 1985. p. 18. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  10. ↑ "Chief denies Labour rift". Liverpool Echo. 5 July 1985. p. 2. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  11. ↑ "'Why I had to quit as leader'". Liverpool Echo. 22 April 1993. p. 8. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  12. ↑ "St Helens bids to lure investors". Liverpool Echo. 17 May 1993. p. 12. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  13. ↑ "A sober supremo". Liverpool Echo. 2 May 1997. p. 7. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  14. ↑ "Home help". Liverpool Echo. 17 May 1997. p. 11. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  15. ↑ "Hundreds mourn Mike Doyle". St Helens Star. 19 January 2009. Retrieved 28 August 2022.
  16. ↑ "Your Councillors". St Helens Borough Council. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  17. ↑ "Council committee information". St Helens Borough Council. Retrieved 14 June 2023.
  18. ↑ "The St Helens (Electoral Changes) Order 2021", legislation.gov.uk , The National Archives, SI 2021/1424, retrieved 28 August 2022
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