Leicester City Council
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Leicester City Council is a unitary authority responsible for local government in the city of Leicester, England. It consists of 54 councillors, representing 22 wards in the city. It is currently controlled by a coalition of Liberal Democrat and Conservative councillors, and is led by Roger Blackmore. The main council building is the New Walk Centre, but council meetings are held in the 19th century Town Hall.
As a unitary authority, the council is responsible for running nearly all local services in Leicester, with the exception of the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service and Leicestershire Constabulary which are run by joint boards with Leicestershire County Council and Rutland County Council.
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[edit] History
The Council traces its roots to the Corporation of Leicester, and before then to the Merchant Gild and the Portmanmoot. The Portmanmoot consisted of 24 Jurats, elected from the burgesses (members of the Gild Merchant, or freemen), along with two bailiffs, and a clerk. It appears to have existed before the Norman Conquest in 1066. In 1209, the lead member of the Portmanmoot, the Alderman, became known as a mayor. The Gild Merchant and the Moot overlapped in membership and had probably become effectively merged in the 14th century. Membership of the Twenty-Four appears to have been by co-option, chosen by themselves.
Traditionally, the general populace attended some meetings of the Moot and Guild, but this was restricted to burgesses in 1467. Later, in 1489, this changed to a system where the Mayor and the Twenty-Four chose Forty-Eight burgesses to represent the others, and the Twenty-Four and the Forty-Eight would govern jointly.
After doubts as to the ability of the Moot and Gild to hold property arose in the 16th century, the Corporation was formed, replacing the Gild and Portmanmoot, in 1589. A second charter was granted in 1599, reconfirming this, to The Mayor, Bailiffs and Burgesses of the Borough of Leicester. The 24 Jurats became known as the Aldermen of the Corporation, and the 48 other Burgesses as the Common Council. The members of the Corporation chose the burgesses to send to the House of Commons.
The Corporation, as with most English municipal corporations, continued effectively unreformed until the Municipal Reform Act of 1835, although the freemen in general obtained the right to participate in the election of MPs after the Restoration. The Municipal Reform Act replaced the existing system of co-option for members of the council with elections by rate-payers. This led to a prolonged spell of Liberal control of the council.
Leicester became, in 1889, under the Local Government Act, a county borough. The Corporation was replaced in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, with the modern Leicester City Council, a non-metropolitan district council under Leicestershire County Council. Leicestershire County Council's jurisdiction over the City of Leicester was transferred to the City Council on April 1, 1997, making it a unitary authority, as part of the 1990s UK local government reform.
[edit] Mayoralty
The position of Lord Mayor of Leicester is mainly a ceremonial post, and is combined with that of chair of the council.The position is elected yearly by members of the council, and rotates. The current mayor is Paul Westley (2006-May 2007). Here is a history of Leicester's Lord Mayors:
- James Thomas (1927-1928)
- Harry Hand (1928-1929)
- William Hincks (1929-1930)
- Harry Carver (1930-1931)
- Walter Wilford (1931-1932)
- Arthur Hawkes (1932-1933)
- William Billings (1933-1934)
- Ernest Grimsley (1934-1935)
- Richard Hallam (1935-1936)
- Arthur Swain (1936-1937)
- Frank Acton (1937-1938)
- Thomas Gooding (1938-1939)
- George Parbury (1939-1940)
- William Joseph Cort (1940-1941)
- Elizabeth Rowley Frisby (1941-1942)
- Sydney Taylor (1942-1943)
- Charles Edward Gillot (1943-1944)
- John Minto (1944-1945)
- Charles Edward Worthington, C.B.E. (1945-1946)
- William Henry Smith (1946-1947)
- John Newton Frears (1947-1949)
- John William Wale (1949-1950)
- Alderman Frederick Ernest Oliver (1950-1951)
- Aderman Thomas Rowland Hill (1951-1952)
- Alderman Geoffrey Morris Barnett (1952-1953)
- Alderman Charles Robert Keene (1953-1954)
- Alderman Cecil Herbert Harris (1954-1955)
- Alderman Samuel Cooper (1955-1956)
- Alderman Alfred Harkyard (1956-1957)
- Alderman Frederick John Jackson (1957-1958)
- Alderman Sidney Brown (1958-1959)
- Alderman Bertram Powell (1959-1960)
- Alderman Dorothy Russell (1960-1961)
- Alderman May Goodwin (1961-1962)
- Alderman Harold Heard (1962-1963)
- Alderman Constance Elizabeth Jackson (1963-1964)
- Alderman Archibald Henry William Kimberlin (1964-1965)
- Alderman Sidney William Bridges (1965-1966)
- Alderman Mrs. Monica Mary Trotter (1966-1967)
- Alderman Sir Mark Henig (1967-1968)
- Alderman Kenneth William Bowder (1968-1969)
- Alderman Edward Marston (1969-1970)
- Alderman George Baldwin (1970-1971)
- Alderman Percy Watts (1971-1972)
- Alderman Herbert Stanley Tomlinson (1972-1973)
- Councillor Clarence Arnold Wakefield (1973-1974)
- Councillor Mrs, Anne Irene Pollard (1974-1975)
- Councillor Mrs, Lily Roma Marriott J,P. (1975-1976)
- Councillor Bernard Toft (1976-1977)
- Councillor Albert Turner Baker (1977-1978)
- Councillor Albert Sylveter Watson (1978-1979)
- Councillor William Henry Scotton (1979-1980)
- Councillor Herbert Henry Snowden (1980-1981)
- Councillor Archibald Berridge (1981-1982)
- Councillor William Page (1982-1983)
- Councillor George Billington (1983-1984)
- Councillor Michael Cuffllin (1984-1985)
- Councillor Mrs Janet Setchfield (1985-1986)
- Councillor Sydney St.John Phipps (1986-1987)
- Councillor Gordhan Parmar (1987-1988)
- Councillor Guy Collis (1988-1989)
- Councillor David Anthony Taylor (1989-1990)
- Councillor Peter Kimberlin (1990-1991)
- Councillor Colin Grundy (1991-1992)
- Councillor Robert Wigglesworth (1992-1993)
- Councillor Henry Dunphy (1993-1994)
- Councillor Margaret Bell (1994-1995)
- Councillor Michael Johnson (1995-1996)
- Councillor Culdipp Bhatti (1996-1997)
- Councillor Raymond Flint (1997-1998)
- Councillor John Mugglestone (1998-1999)
- Councillor Phil Swift (1999-2000)
- Councillor Mrs Barbara Chambers (2000-2001)
- Councillor John Allen (2001-2002)
- Councillor Maggie Bodell-Stagg (2002-2003)
- Councillor Ramnik Kavia (2003-2004)
- Councillor Piara Singh Clair (2004-2005)
- Councillor Mary Draycott (2005-2006)
- Councillor Paul Westley (2006-present)
[edit] Wards
The City is divided into various electoral wards, each of which returns two or three councillors, using the bloc voting system, as follows
| Ward | Councillors | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Abbey | 3 | from Abbey Park up to Stocking Farm and Mowmacre Hill |
| Aylestone | 2 | |
| Beaumont Leys | 3 | |
| Belgrave | 2 | the northern half of the Belgrave area |
| Braunstone Park and Rowley Fields | 3 | including most of Braunstone |
| Castle | 3 | city centre, Southfields, Clarendon Park |
| Charnwood | 2 | Northfields, around Charnwood Street |
| Coleman | 2 | Crown Hills and North Evington, around Coleman Road |
| Evington | 2 | |
| Eyres Monsell | 2 | |
| Fosse | 2 | |
| Freemen | 2 | Knighton Fields and the Saffron estate |
| Humberstone and Hamilton | 3 | including Nether Hall |
| Knighton | 3 | |
| Latimer | 2 | the southern half of the Belgrave area |
| New Parks | 3 | Braunstone Frith |
| Rushey Mead | 3 | |
| Spinney Hills | 3 | including parts of Highfields and Evington Valley, and the St Matthew's estate |
| Stoneygate | 3 | also including parts of Highfields |
| Thurncourt | 2 | Thurnby Lodge, around Thurncourt Drive |
| Westcotes | 2 | |
| Western Park | 2 |
The current ward boundaries were adopted for the 2003 local elections. [1] Prior to this, there had been 28 wards, each electing 2 members. Wards that had existed and been abolished were Crown Hills, East Knighton, Mowmacre, North Braunstone, Rowley Fields, Saffron, St Augustine's, West Humberstone, West Knighton and Wycliffe.
[edit] Political control
The Council had been under the control of the Labour Party from 1979 until the 2003 local elections, where No Overall Control was established. The results were as follows
| Liberal Democrats | 25 |
| Labour Party | 20 |
| Conservative Party | 9 |
By-elections changed this to the following make-up
| Liberal Democrats | 23 |
| Labour Party | 20 |
| Conservative Party | 10 |
| Independent | 1 |
The political balance as at October 2006 is:
| Liberal Democrats | 18 |
| Labour Party | 20 |
| Conservative Party | 9 |
| Focus Team | 7 |
The Council has adopted the Leader and Cabinet system, and initially the Liberal Democrats formed an administration, with the backing of the Conservatives. This collapsed in November 2004, and was replaced by a minority Labour administration. [3] This in turn collapsed in 2005, and was replaced by the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives once more.
The current Leader of the council is Roger Blackmore of the Liberal Democrats, and the Deputy Leader is Roman Scuplak of the Conservatives. They are also the leaders of their respective groups.
Ross Willmott is the Labour group's leader, and served as Leader during the Labour minority administration from 2004 to 2005, and before the 2003 elections. [4]
[edit] Elections
Historic general elections to the council :
| Date | Labour | Conservative | Liberal Democrat |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | 37 | 11 | 0 |
| 1976 | 21 | 27 | 0 |
| 1979 | |||
| 1983 | |||
| 1987 | |||
| 1991 | |||
| May 4, 1995 | 45 | 4 | 7 |
| May 2, 1996 | 41 | 7 | 8 |
| May 6, 1999 | 30 | 10 | 16 |
| May 1, 2003 | 20 | 9 | 25 |
The May 1996 elections were held out of sequence because of the upcoming unitary authority status, which came into effect on April 1, 1997.
Former leaders include
- Jim Marshall (1970s)
- Peter Soulsby (1981-1999)
