Hertfordshire County Council

Hertfordshire County Council
Type
Type	Non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire
Leadership
Chairman of the Council	Bernard Lloyd, Conservative
Leader of the Council	Robert Gordon, Conservative
Members	77
Elections
Voting system	First past the post
Last election	4 June 2009
Meeting place
County Hall, Pegs Lane, Hertford
Website
http://www.hertsdirect.org

Hertfordshire County Council is the upper-tier local authority for the non-metropolitan county of Hertfordshire, in England, the United Kingdom. It currently consists of 77 councillors, and is controlled by the Conservative Party, which has 55 councillors, 17 Liberal Democrats, versus 3 Labour councillors, one Green, and one English Democrats.

Composition

Main article: Hertfordshire County Council elections

Elections are held every four years, interspersed by three years of elections to the ten district councils in the county.

Party		Councillors	Change (on 2005)
	Conservative	55	+9
	Liberal Democrat	17	+3
	Labour	3	-13
	Green	1	-
	English Democrats	1	+1
Total		77	-
Source: Hertfordshire County Council

Conservative candidates represent most of the county's rural areas, and almost all of eastern Hertfordshire is Conservative-controlled. St Albans and Watford are disproportionately represented by Liberal Democrats, whilst Stevenage is Labour's strongest area. All seats in the districts of Broxbourne and East Hertfordshire are represented by Conservative councillors.

The 2009 elections saw Labour lose 13 seats, the Conservative Party strengthen, and the British National Party gaining its first Hertfordshire County Council seat in South Oxhey. Hertfordshire County Council website shows that the BNP member, Deirdre Anne Gates, has since defected to the English Democrats.

Cabinet

The Cabinet consists of the Leader of the Council and 9 Executive Members.

Office	Name		Term	Party
Leader of the County Council		Robert Gordon		Conservative
Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Resources and Economic Wellbeing		David Lloyd		Conservative
Executive Member for Environment, Planning and Waste		Derrick Ashley		Conservative
Executive Member for Business Transformation		Frances Button		Conservative
Executive Member for Children's Services		Jane Pitman		Conservative
Executive Member for Highways and Transport		Stuart Pile		Conservative
Executive Member for Community Safety and Culture		Keith Emsall		Conservative
Executive Member for Performance and Partnership		Richard Roberts		Conservative
Executive Member for Adult Care and Health		Richard Smith		Conservative
Executive Member for Education and Skills		Richard Thake		Conservative

Council history

Year	Control
1973		No overall control
1977		Conservative
1981		Conservative
1985		No overall control
1989		Conservative
1993		No overall control
1997		No overall control
2001		Conservative
2005		Conservative
2009		Conservative

External links

• Official Hertfordshire County Council website