Cheshire East

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Cheshire East shown as 2 on this map of ceremonial Cheshire

Cheshire East is the name for a new unitary authority area in the ceremonial county of Cheshire. It will come into force from April 2009 as part of the 2009 structural changes to local government in England, when the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Act^[1] is enacted, and will replace the boroughs of Macclesfield, Congleton and Crewe and Nantwich. The equivalent unitary authority in the other half of the county will be called Cheshire West and Chester. The decision to create the Cheshire East unitary authority was announced on 25 July 2007 following a consultation period, in which a proposal to create a single Cheshire unitary authority was rejected. The new unitary authority will have a population of around 350,000.^[2]

The electoral wards proposed for the new unitary authority would be the same as those used in the former Cheshire county council elections, with each ward electing 3 councillors.^[3]. Since the Cheshire County Council election, 2005 there have been 15 Conservative controlled wards, 6 Labour controlled wards, 5 Liberal Democrat controlled wards and 1 ward controlled by an independent within the proposed unitary authority boundaries, suggesting that the council would notionally be controlled by the Conservatives with a majority of 9 councillors.^[4]

The first elections for the new council took place on 1 May 2008, with the Conservative Party taking overall control. The council will act as a "shadow" council until May 2009 to prepare for the council structure changes. Elections are to be held every four years from 2013.^[5]