North Somerset Council

North Somerset Council
Type
Type	Unitary authority
History
Founded	1 April 1996 (1996-04-01)
Preceded by	Avon County Council Woodspring District Council
Leadership
Chair of the Council	Cllr David Shopland, Independent since 10 May 2019
Leader of the Council	Cllr Donald Davies, Independent since 10 May 2019
Deputy Leader of the Council	Cllr Mike Bell, Liberal Democrats since 17 October 2018
Chief executive	Jo Walker
Structure
Seats	50 councillors
Political groups	Administration (37)   Independent (13)   Liberal Democrat (11)   Labour (6)   Portishead Independents (4)   Green (3) Opposition (13)   Conservative (13)
Length of term	Whole council elected every four years
Elections
Voting system	First-past-the-post
Last election	2 May 2019
Next election	4 May 2023
Meeting place
Weston-super-Mare Town Hall
Website
www.n-somerset.gov.uk

North Somerset Council is the local authority of North Somerset, England. It is a unitary authority, having the powers of a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. It provides a full range of local government services including Council Tax billing, libraries, social services, processing planning applications, waste collection and disposal, and it is a local education authority. The council meets at Weston-super-Mare Town Hall.

Powers and functions

The local authority derives its powers and functions from the Local Government Act 1972 and subsequent legislation. For the purposes of local government, North Somerset is within a non-metropolitan area of England. As a unitary authority, North Somerset Council has the powers and functions of both a non-metropolitan county and district council combined. In its capacity as a district council, it is a billing authority that collects Council Tax and business rates, processes local planning applications and is responsible for housing, waste collection and environmental health. In its capacity as a county council, it is a local education authority, responsible for social services, libraries and waste disposal.

Political composition

North Somerset unitary council is elected every four years, electing a total of 50 councillors in 20 single-member wards and 15 two-member wards. Since the first election to the unitary authority in 1995, the council has either been under Conservative party control, or no party has held a majority. The Conservatives gained a majority at the 2007 election and retained control until the 2019 election.

The current political composition of the council is:

Political group		Councillors
		2003	2007	2011	2015	2019	Current
style="background-color: Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Conservative	24	43	42	36	13	13
style="background-color: Template:Independent (politician)/meta/color |	Independent	3	6	7	6	12	12
style="background-color: Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color" |	Liberal Democrat	23	5	6	4	11	11
style="background-color: Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color" |	Labour	10	3	5	3	6	6
style="background-color: Template:Green Party of England and Wales/meta/color" |	Green	1	1	1	1	3	3
style="background-color: Template:Portishead Independents/meta/color" |	Portishead Independents	-	-	-	-	4	4
Total		61	61	61	50	50	50

Current Councillors

Ward	Party		Councillor
Backwell	style="background-color:Template:Green Party of England and Wales/meta/color;width:3px" |	Green	Bridget Petty
Banwell and Winscombe	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Conservative	Ann Harley
	style="background-color:Template:Green Party of England and Wales/meta/color;width:3px" |	Green	Karin Haverson
Blagdon and Churchill	style="background-color:Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Liberal Democrat	Patrick Keating
Clevedon East		Independent	David Shopland
Clevedon South		No Description	Mark Crosby
Clevedon Walton	style="background-color:Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Liberal Democrat	Caroline Cherry
Clevedon West	style="background-color:Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Liberal Democrat	Geoffrey Richardson
Clevedon Yeo	style="background-color:Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Labour	Richard Westwood
Congresbury and Puxton	style="background-color:Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Liberal Democrat	Stuart Treadaway
Gordano Valley	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Conservative	Nigel Ashton
Hutton and Locking		Independent	Mike Solomon
	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Conservative	Terry Porter
Long Ashton	style="background-color:Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Liberal Democrats	Ashley Cartman
	style="background-color:Template:Green Party of England and Wales/meta/color;width:3px" |	Green	Stuart McQuillian
Nailsea Golden Valley		Independent	Andy Cole
Nailsea West End		Independent	James Tonkin
Nailsea Yeo		Independent	Mike Bird
Nailsea Youngwood		Independent	Sandra Hearne
Pill		Independent	Donald Davies
Portishead East		Portishead Independents	Caritas Charles
		Portishead Independents	Paul Gardner
Portishead North		Portishead Independents	Timothy Snaden
Portishead South	style="background-color:Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Liberal Democrat	Huw James
Portishead West		Portishead Independents	Nicola Holland
		Independent	John Cato
Weston-super-Mare Central	style="background-color:Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Liberal Democrats	Mike Bell
	style="background-color:Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Liberal Democrat	Robert Payne
Weston-super-Mare Hillside	style="background-color:Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Liberal Democrats	Mark Canniford
	style="background-color:Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Liberal Democrats	John Crockford-Hawley
Weston-super-Mare Kewstoke	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Conservative	Lisa Pilgrim
	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Conservative	Roz Willis
Weston-super-Mare Mid Worle	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Conservative	Gill Bute
Weston-super-Mare Milton	style="background-color:Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Labour	Richard Tucker
	style="background-color:Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Labour	Catherine Gibbons
Weston-super-Mare North Worle	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Conservative	Marc Aplin
	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Conservative	Marcia Pepperall
Weston-super-Mare South	style="background-color:Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Labour	James Clayton
	style="background-color:Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Labour	Ian Parker
Weston-super-Mare South Worle	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Conservative	Peter Crew
	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Conservative	David Hitchins
Weston-super-Mare Uphill	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Conservative	Peter Bryant
		Independent	John Ley-Morgan
Weston-super-Mare Winterstoke	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Conservative	Sarah Codling
	style="background-color:Template:Labour Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Labour	Ciaran Cronnelly
Wick St Lawrence and St Georges	style="background-color:Template:Conservative Party (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Conservative	Ruth Jacobs
Winford		Independent	Hugh Gregor
Wrington		Independent	Steve Hogg
Yatton		Independent	Steve Bridger
	style="background-color:Template:Liberal Democrats (UK)/meta/color;width:3px" |	Liberal Democrat	Wendy Griggs

See also

• North Somerset Council elections

External links

• Official website