Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| Leadership | |
Mayor of Stockport | David Wilson, Labour Party |
Leader of the Council | |
Chief executive | Caroline Simpson since January 2022 |
| Structure | |
| Seats | 63 councillors |
 | |
Political groups |
|
Joint committees | Greater Manchester Combined Authority Greater Manchester Police, Fire and Crime Panel |
Length of term | 4 years |
| Elections | |
| First past the post | |
Last election | 2019 (one third of councillors) 2021 (one third of councillors) 2022 (one third of councillors) |
Next election | 2023 (all councillors) 2024 (one third of councillors) |
| Meeting place | |
 | |
| Stockport Town Hall, Edward Street | |
| Website | |
| stockport | |
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council is the local authority for the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Greater Manchester, England.[2] The council is currently run by a Liberal Democrat minority administration. At the 2022 local elections, the Liberal Democrats gained two more seats, increasing their lead over the Labour Party to three seats, and took control of the council at the following full council meeting. The Liberal Democrats currently have 28 seats, Labour 24, Conservatives 4, Heald Green Ratepayers 3, and Greens 2.
There are now two Independent councillors. Matt Wynne resigned to sit as an independent following what he called moves by the extreme left to deselect him for the 2023 elections. Councillor Alanna Vine was expelled from the Conservative Party following an investigation into racist tweets.[3]
History
Stockport became incorporated in 1835 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835. In 1888, the County Borough of Stockport was created under the Local Government Act 1888.[4][5] The Borough would be enlarged in 1901 and 1903, absorbing urban districts such as Reddish and Heaton Norris from the counties of Lancashire and Cheshire.[5]
The Local Government Act 1972 would abolish this county borough, creating the Metropolitan Borough of Stockport within Greater Manchester.
Wards and councillors
There are 21 wards, each represented by three councillors.[2]
1 Bramhall North
2 Bramhall South & Woodford
3 Bredbury & Woodley
4 Bredbury Green & Romiley
5 Brinnington & Central
6 Cheadle & Gatley
7 Cheadle Hulme North
8 Cheadle Hulme South
9 Davenport & Cale Green
10 Edgeley & Cheadle Heath
11 Hazel Grove
12 Heald Green
13 Heatons North
14 Heatons South
15 Manor
16 Marple North
17 Marple South & High Lane
18 Offerton
19 Reddish North
20 Reddish South
21 Stepping Hill
| Parliamentary constituency | Ward | Councillor | Party | Term of office | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cheadle | Bramhall North | Francesca Singleton | Liberal Democrats | 2022–23 | |
| Alanna Vine | Independent[a] | 2019–23 | |||
| Linda Holt | Conservative | 2021–23 | |||
| Bramhall South and Woodford | Ian Powney | Liberal Democrats | 2022–23 | ||
| Mike Hurleston | Conservative | 2019–23 | |||
| Brian Bagnall | Conservative | 2021–23 | |||
| Cheadle and Gatley | Ian Hunter | Liberal Democrats | 2022–23 | ||
| Graham Greenhalgh | Liberal Democrats | 2019–23 | |||
| Keith Holloway | Liberal Democrats | 2021–23 | |||
| Cheadle Hulme North | David Meller | Labour Co-op | 2022–23 | ||
| Tom Morrison | Liberal Democrats | 2019–23 | |||
| Jilly Julian | Liberal Democrats | 2021–23 | |||
| Cheadle Hulme South | Helen Foster-Grime | Liberal Democrats | 2022–23 | ||
| Suzanne Wyatt | Liberal Democrats | 2019–23 | |||
| Mark Hunter | Liberal Democrats | 2021–23 | |||
| Heald Green | Catherine Stuart | Independent[b] | 2022–23 | ||
| Carole McCann | Independent[b] | 2019–23 | |||
| Anna Charles-Jones | Independent[b] | 2021–23 | |||
| Stepping Hill | Christine Carrigan | Labour | 2022–23 | ||
| Grace Baynham | Liberal Democrats | 2019–23 | |||
| Rory Leonard | Labour | 2021–23 | |||
| Denton and Reddish[c] | Reddish North | David Wilson | Labour | 2022–23 | |
| Roy Driver | Labour | 2019–23 | |||
| Kate Butler | Labour | 2021–23 | |||
| Reddish South | Liz Crix | Green | 2022–23 | ||
| Janet Mobbs | Labour | 2019–23 | |||
| Gary Lawson | Green | 2021–23 | |||
| Hazel Grove | Bredbury and Woodley | Vince Shaw | Liberal Democrats | 2022–23 | |
| Stuart Corris | Liberal Democrats | 2019–23 | |||
| Sue Thorpe | Liberal Democrats | 2021–23 | |||
| Bredbury Green and Romiley | Angie Clark | Liberal Democrats | 2022–23 | ||
| Mark Roberts | Liberal Democrats | 2019–23 | |||
| Lisa Smart | Liberal Democrats | 2021–23 | |||
| Hazel Grove | Paul Ankers | Liberal Democrats | 2022–23 | ||
| Lou Ankers | Liberal Democrats | 2019–23 | |||
| Oliver Johnstone | Conservative | 2021–23 | |||
| Marple North | Steve Gribbon | Liberal Democrats | 2022–23 | ||
| Becky Senior | Liberal Democrats | 2019–23 | |||
| Malcolm Allan | Liberal Democrats | 2021–23 | |||
| Marple South and High Lane | Colin MacAlister | Liberal Democrats | 2022–23 | ||
| Aron Thornley | Liberal Democrats | 2019–23 | |||
| Shan Alexander | Liberal Democrats | 2021–23 | |||
| Offerton | Will Dawson | Liberal Democrats | 2022–23 | ||
| Wendy Meikle | Liberal Democrats | 2019–23 | |||
| Oliver Harrison | Liberal Democrats | 2021–23 | |||
| Stockport | Brinnington and Central | Amanda Peers | Labour Co-op | 2022–23 | |
| Kerry Waters | Labour | 2019–23 | |||
| Andy Sorton | Labour | 2021–23 | |||
| Davenport and Cale Green | Elise Wilson | Labour | 2022–23 | ||
| Dickie Davies | Labour | 2019–23 | |||
| Wendy Wild | Labour | 2021–23 | |||
| Edgeley and Cheadle Heath | Louise Heywood | Labour | 2022–23 | ||
| Matt Wynne | Independent[d] | 2019–23 | |||
| Georgia Lynott | Labour | 2022–23[e] | |||
| Heatons North | John Taylor | Labour | 2022–23 | ||
| Dena Ryness | Labour | 2019–23 | |||
| David Sedgwick | Labour | 2021–23 | |||
| Heatons South | Tom McGee | Labour | 2022–23 | ||
| Dean Fitzpatrick | Labour | 2019–23 | |||
| Colin Foster | Labour | 2021–23 | |||
| Manor | Susan Glithero | Labour | 2022–23 | ||
| Laura Clingan | Labour | 2019–23 | |||
| Charlie Stewart | Labour | 2021–23 | |||
- ^ Elected as a Conservative councillor but was suspended from the party on 13 July 2022[6] and subsequently expelled in September.[7]
- ^ a b c Sponsored by the Heald Green and Long Lane Ratepayers Association
- ^ this parliamentary constituency includes the Denton, Dukinfield and Audenshaw wards of Tameside Council
- ^ Elected as a Labour councillor but resigned to sit as an independent on 7 October 2022[8]
- ^ by-election following the death of Sheila Bailey on 3 August 2022[9]
Structure
Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council (Stockport Council) uses a Leader and cabinet system. There are eight cabinet members, including the leader of the council; each has a separate portfolio containing responsibilities for different services and areas of the council. There are also six scrutiny committees which scrutinise decisions made by the cabinet.
Cabinet
The Cabinet of the Council consists of eight Councillors:[10]
- Leader of the Council: Mark Hunter
- Children, Families and Education: Wendy Meikle (Deputy Cabinet Leader)
- Finance and Resources: Malcolm Allan
- Climate Change and Environment: Mark Roberts
- Highways, Parks and Leisure Services: Grace Baynham
- Economy & Regeneration: Colin MacAlister
- Communities and Housing: Helen Foster-Grime
- Health and Adult Social Care: Keith Holloway
Politics
Stockport Council has 63 elected members, belonging to five different parties. The Liberal Democrats have 28 seats, Labour 24, Conservatives four, Heald Green Ratepayers three, Greens two, and there are two independent councillors.[3] No party has overall control: the council is led by a Liberal Democrat minority administration.
In the 2004 election, all councillors on the council were put up for election at the same time. This election was conducted exclusively by postal voting. Each elector was given three votes, and asked to pick three candidates. The number of votes each candidate received then determined when they would next stand for election.
Elections were then scheduled for 2006, 2007, and 2008.
In the council elections on Thursday 1 May 2008, in which one third of the seats were up for re-election, there were two main changes. In the Cheadle & Gatley ward, incumbent councillor Paul Carter of the Liberal Democrat party lost his seat to the Conservative candidate Mick Jones. Similarly in the Brinnington and Central Ward, Labour councillor Maureen Rowles lost her seat to the Liberal Democrat candidate Christian Walker.[11] However, a short time after this election, he chose to serve as an Independent Councillor,[12] then returned to the Liberal Democrats,[13] then declared himself Independent again.[14]
During 2009, which was supposed to be a "fallow year" (one without elections), there were three by-elections following the deaths of serving councillors.[15][16][17] Subsequently, Labour councillor Anne Graham joined the Liberal Democrat group, bringing them to 36 Councillors of 63.[18]
On 2 February 2011, Councillors David White, Roy Driver and Anne Graham all resigned from the Liberal Democrat Group. All three cited unhappiness with the national party's involvement with a "Tory-led" government. They became Independent Left Councillors, forming the Independent Left Group on the Council, whilst awaiting the result of membership applications to the Labour Party and subsequently joined the Labour Group after the 2011 elections.[18] Roy Driver was not selected for a seat in the May 2011 and unsuccessfully contested Bredbury and Woodley for Labour in May 2012.[19] He was eventually elected councillor for Reddish North in 2015.[20]
On 21 January 2012, Patrick McAuley, Labour councillor for Manor since May 2011, announced on Twitter that he had resigned from the Labour Party but that would continue to serve as a councillor;[21] he subsequently joined the Liberal Democrat group in December 2012,[22] but quit in April 2016, a month after being re-elected.[23]
In October and November 2014, Stockport Labour lost 3 seats with Brian Hendley, Paul Moss and Laura Booth all leaving the party. Hendley was deselected without his knowing, Moss resigned due to house building on Reddish Vale Country Park and Booth quit over allegations of a "culture of systematic bullying".[24]
Heald Green Ratepayers are the only non-mainstream candidates to win seats.
Following the 2022 Local Elections, the Liberal Democrats became the largest group on the council and Mark Hunter became leader.[25]
References
- ^ Statham, Nick. "Manchester Evening News local democracy reporter coverage of the council leadership vote". Retrieved 19 May 2022 – via Twitter.[non-primary source needed]
- ^ a b Stockport Council
- ^ a b "Your Councillors". Government of the United Kingdom, Stockport MBC. 21 May 2022.
- ^ Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). . Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
- ^ a b Kelly's Directory of Cheshire 1914. Kelly's Directories Ltd. pp. 583–586. OCLC 1131686510.
- ^ Statham, Nick (13 July 2022). "Councillor suspended by Tories after retweeting claims mosques are 'hiding secret arsenals'". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
- ^ Statham, Nick (13 September 2022). "Stockport councillor thrown out of Tory party for Twitter posts 'deemed discriminatory towards those of the Islamic faith'". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
- ^ Statham, Nick (7 October 2022). "Labour councillor deemed 'unfit' to stand for election delivers blistering attack on local party as he resigns during meeting". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
- ^ "Death of Councillor Sheila Bailey". 4 August 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
- ^ "Cabinet 2022/23" (PDF). democracy.stockport.gov.uk. Stockport Council. Retrieved 29 June 2022.
- ^ Morley, Victoria (7 May 2008). "It's alright on the night for Lib-Dems". Stockport Express. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Manchester Evening News (18 April 2010). "Councillor guilty of race abuse". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Scapens, Alex (10 November 2010). "Race case councillor voted back into the party he quit". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Manchester Evening News (16 June 2011). "Defection number four from Stockport Lib Dems". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Williams, Jennifer (8 April 2009). "A sad goodbye to a 'Lib-Dem legend'". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Manchester Evening News (24 July 2009). "Labour hold onto North Reddish seat". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Devine, Peter (8 July 2009). "Tributes paid to 'true gentleman'". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ a b Manchester Evening News (3 February 2011). "Control of Stockport council hangs in the balance after defections". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ "Election results for Bredbury & Woodley: Local Election 2012 – Thursday, 3rd May, 2012". Stockport.gov.uk. Stockport MBC. 4 May 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ "Councillor Roy Edward Driver". Stockport.gov.uk. Stockport MBC. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Oldham, Steven (30 March 2012). "Stockport Councillor believes George Galloway". Mancunian Matters. Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ "Councillor Patrick McAuley joins Stockport Lib Dems". stockportlibdems.org.uk. Stockport Lib Dems. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Scarens, Alex (13 April 2016). "Second Stockport councillor resigns in row sparked by proposed market move". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 23 March 2018.
- ^ Davis, Matthew (5 November 2014). "Third councillor quits Stockport Labour Party in a month". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
- ^ "Liberal Democrats lead Stockport Council after crunch vote". BBC News. 19 May 2022.
